Once the sun comes out and we warm up a bit, we often do things that we can't or wouldn't do while it's cold and/or snowy. I thought it might be interesting to know what sort of things you do when Spring (i.e. warm weather) rolls around. (I know some of you warm up later than others. You don't need to point that out.)

I'm thinking about anything from household & gardening projects to day trips and/or vacations - short or long. Some of the things you do may allow others of us to live vicariously through you! I, for one, seldom go on vacations or even day trips, so I'll enjoy hearing what you're doing.

Feel free to add relevant photos to your post but, as in other threads, try to keep them sort of small. (I always set mine to a maximum of 8" x 10" with a dpi of 72. Just sayin'.)

So get posting.

Me? I'm going to try to get my front yard to look significantly better than it has in past years. I'd like to have mostly grass this year instead of mostly weeds. :-D I'm also going to try to paint my house (outside) all by myself, because the guy I hired to paint it became very unreliable and left it half-painted. (Front half - the part the world can see.) I'm pretty self-sufficient, but I'll be 65 in June, so it'll be fun. :-|

I also painted my new front porch. Finally. Although it still needs a second coat. I'll post some pix soon.

Your turn.

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~Sue~

Still waiting for the first frost of the year to hit the ground here.

Cheers.

Still waiting for the first frost of the year to hit the ground here.

Cheers.

You folks down under will have to start your own Spring-related thread next year! ;-)

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~Sue~

Spring:)
Best part of the year.
The smell of newly cut grass.
Blackbirds singing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB1lgjg9e4Y
The sight of and the smell of Anemones.

Happy dogs.
Happy humans:)
Perhaps an icecream.
Just a perfect day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wxI4KK9ZYo

I like those anemones(windflowers). We used to have some periwinkles in the backyard. I'd like to get some violet colored anemones as a ground cover. I like pachysandra, too, as a low-growing ornamental, but a lot of these delicate plants don't do well in direct sun.

I really don't have a green thumb. I just try to maintain and keep things looking neat. That said, I've been putting off cutting the grass, but I'm going to do that for the first time this Spring, on Tuesday. I've never done the first mow this late, but we had a really deep cold winter and I think that kept the grass at bay.

Little day trips? Maybe. I'm pretty much a home-body, but I'm also pretty spontaneous. ;~)

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I haven't seen any violet anemons.
However blue.
They also grow where the white one does.
But they are very uncommon. Here we even not allowed to pick them according to law.

Mow the lawn?
Today our property manager did that on a Sunday!
I wonder why...

Tulips are in bloom around Puget Sound - Skagit Valley's a bit north of Everett, and Mt. Baker's peak is in the background - my local county volcano.


Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2006 (1)
[CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], by Missy Leone from Everett, WA, USA
(Tulips and Mt. Baker uploaded by X-Weinzar), from Wikimedia Commons

Try to find the Bluebonnets flowering around the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex.
Bluebonnets are bountiful around DFW, even if that perfect photo eludes you

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Rojbas:)
After a long, dark and cold winter.
Today it's Valborgsmässoafton or Walpurgis Night at last.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night
Some say it's only an accuse to get drunk:)
Is this tradition only Christian?
No. In Iran they have the same tradition.
Actually I have celebrated Valborgsmässoafton together with Iranians.
We Swede supported the bonfire and songs.
The Iranians the music.
Where you might think?
In the so called, by Trump and some others, "no-go" zones in Rinkeby/Tensta/Hjulsta in Stockholm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj10eGkbsds

Try to find the Bluebonnets flowering around the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex.
Bluebonnets are bountiful around DFW, even if that perfect photo eludes you

Your link now goes to a story about a man being shot. :-O

This one works: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article207948644.html

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~Sue~

I finally got outside and mowed the front yard this afternoon. The azaleas have been in bloom for about a week. Love them. We planted those back in the 70's. The variety is Hotshot. The little green bushes along the foundation are dwarf boxwood I planted a few years ago to replace some way too big pyracantha and yews - It was my fault for letting them get out of hand.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I finally got outside and mowed the front yard this afternoon. The azaleas have been in bloom for about a week. Love them. We planted those back in the 70's. The variety is Hotshot. The little green bushes along the foundation are dwarf boxwood I planted a few years ago to replace some way too big pyracantha and yews - It was my fault for letting them get out of hand.

OMG! Those are gorgeous!! I think I'll get some for a spot near my porch. Maybe mine will be as beautiful as yours in 40 years!!

Do you do anything special? Pruning? Feeding? Anything?

How long do they flower? All summer, or is it a one and done?

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~Sue~

They started flowering about a week and a half ago, and they are at peak, right now. They'll lose those blossoms by next week, and that will be that, until next Spring. I call them "Derby" azaleas because they always bloom coinciding with the Kentucky Derby, which is run the first Saturday in May, here in Louisville.

I didn't trim them at all last year, but as you can see, they are starting to encroach on the porch steps, so I need to prune, but the key is to wait until the last blossom falls. You definitely never want to prune before they bloom in the Spring. If you do, you'll be trimming off the future flower buds. Prune as soon as possible after the flowers are finished, and that will allow the bushes to reset their buds for next year.

After pruning, we've* always used a 30-10-10 fertilizer(Nitrogen-Phosphate-Potash), one tablespoon mixed with one gallon of water per bush, once a week, through May and June and then stop. Azaleas like a naturally acidic soil condition(pH below 7). I tested the soil here last year, by sending a sample to a state agency and it came in at 6.0. As far as watering, once established, bushes like this only need a fair amount of rain(4 inches a month) to thrive, and it gets hot and humid here, but they seem to like it, ok.

*I say "we've", but it's been me doing it ever since my dad died in 1982, and my mother let me take over the yard and stuff. I moved back in to the house in 2014 when my mother got sick so I could take care of her, and it's my pride and joy to keep it up on my own, now that she's gone, too.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I see the fruits of your labor coming up there. Very nice!

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I admire your attitude, Gnu. I'd never tackle something that large. I can barely deal with putting a few flowers in the ground! (You can see these are crooked, and one was planted about an inch higher than it should be. The blue one that's leaning forward.) I've realized that this little spot will look better with some mulch. Also, I'll put a little topsoil down to help that blue plant.

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~Sue~

What types of flowers are those? They look very delicate.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

At spring we people drink birch sap or birch water in our countries around the Baltic Sea.
Actually you can make beer from birch sap, Björköl as it called here.
Instruction video from Estonia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Es92wIrto

I love Birch trees. I planted one in the front yard, for Mother's Day, 2015, and this is a picture of it, in late November 2016. It's in the foreground, and two very nice Lace Bark Elms we planted in 1998 are in the gassy strip between the sidewalk and street. The tip of one of our azaleas is in the immediate foreground.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

And the Birch, today:

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

What types of flowers are those? They look very delicate.

I was afraid someone would ask. ;-)

I always keep the little plastic things they put with the plant to identify it, but I can't figure out where I put them. I'm sure I'll find them one day when I'm not looking for them. I'm 95% sure the pink/red ones are dianthus. The blue ones also start with a D and are perennials, but I don't recall the name. Sorry.

I always get perennials so I don't have to plant again next year!

If/when I find the label, I'll post the name.

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~Sue~