Portland has decided that March the first is a capital time to begin spring, vernal equinox be damned. I must say, it was a wonderful thing to be greeted by when I hauled out the recycling this morning. Especially after a cold, damp weekend of being sick and moody with my moody and sick husband.*

Naturally I just had to skip on down to JacIva’s for a lemon poppyseed muffin, which is really a muffin and cupcake hybrid. While doing so I reflected that of course this means I’ll have to pay attention to the yard again, really pay attention, unlike last year.

I was doing so well until last year, slowly changing the yard to a more attractive lower maintenance drought tolerant one. I did make some improvements, discovered the wonders of wormwood (no, not those wonders) and such. But I also had some interrupted and neglected projects, for example, my transferring of one of my iris beds. Got them dug up, planted the Heavenly bamboo that’ll suit the space they were in much better, hauled the 20 or so bulbs to where I wanted to replant them—and twisted my ankle and then got caught up in other matters. I remembered them sometime in winter when I saw their jumbled and brown foliage in a sad heap. After that I tended to avert my eyes, firmly planning to clean up the evidence with the first springtime overhaul of the yard.

So how surprised and delighted was I when I came back from the bakery, muffin in hand, and spotted all these new iris sprouting right where I left them? Not only didn’t the bulbs rot and dry out, but I didn’t have to cut sod, treat soil and mulch. Then, these are the same iris I had rescued from the totally unsuitable place someone had planted them previously, the north side of house, right next to the foundation—amazing how tall they got and how many colors they became with transplanting them in fertilized soil in a sunny spot. So, I guess after years languishing they just won’t give up now (need more plants like that).

Anyway, yard aside, this fine weather is going to be hell on my Schedule of Getting Things Done. I’m going to loose all the lead I had gained this weekend in just a few minutes here, ’cause cherry blossoms wait for no woman.

*except when he had to go into work on Saturday with a fierce head cold.