Listening to Wild Mountain Thyme by Stephen Wake, and reveling in the glory that is March. The flora is continuing its slow awakening to the warmer days. If you sit still and listen closely enough, you can almost be a part of the awakening.

This Delphinium plant is exploding in beautiful blooms!

The white Larkspur is a showy plant with gorgeous feathery blooms stacked on top of each other.

The Poppy plant opened its papery white blooms that followed the sun across the sky.

For the second year, I am participating in a national seed trial. This year, I am growing tomatoes, basil, and peppers. I hope I have better luck with the tomato seeds this year. Last year, they made absolutely beautiful plants, with no fruit at all.

I find that I enjoy growing plants from seeds just as much as from planting seedlings. While I can appreciate the mature plant quicker with a nursery-bought seedling, the experience of watching a sprout develop from a seed I plant in soil is infinitely more fulfilling. I placed about 500 earthworms in my garden beds last night in the hopes that they will help the soil just by being themselves. That is what I love about nature. We can find homeostasis with pests by using natural predators and helping the soil retain its nutrients by harnessing the power of the beasts that naturally live there.

Our home was a new build almost 10 years ago, and the builder spent no time considering the soil under the grass they planted in the yard. I have spent years adding fertilizer and organic matter to improve the soil in our yard. We are embarking on an adventure with a different grass in the backyard. I am excited to experience the longer-leaved and longer-rooting grass that should grow better in the shade we have across the back of the house. Although it is not a native grass, it puts down much deeper roots and needs less water, so it should be an improvement. Here’s hoping!

I will continue to post updates on the new grass and the other growth in the quiet wild this spring. There is a good soaking shower taking place outside right now, so things will really start to grow. Plants just react more aggressively to rainwater than water from the sprinklers. Something in the natural elements of rain gives a boost to plants. As always, I marvel at nature’s balancing act.

Until next time…