It's late April and I'm pleased that the Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) might flower this year at Oak Hill. Its frozen for 2 years in a row. The gardener can't help but be a little disappointed when these things happen, especially when there's such effort in maintaining wisteria. Gardening is like that. Frost, heavy rains, spring storms, they can foul up our plans. I remember a year when we had frost on May 21st (fortunately it only happened once). These downs come with ups, like the time my Lilium 'Yelloween' reached 92 inches or my brugmansia had over 100 flowers. These are glorious moments in the garden, enough to keep us going.

I truly believe that these unplanned events keep the gardener's mind healthy. Bumps in the road for now, but we were probably already thinking about the next season, or the next year. A gardener would function poorly if they weren't thinking ahead. My zinnia seeds were shipped a month ago, I know exactly where my tomato tie is, and the summer bulbs are in a box together, soon to be planted.

This morning I counted 50 buds on 1 tree peony, will the weight of a spring rain snap some stems? Probably so. The figs have died to the ground again and the hydrangeas took a hit (just like last year). The dogwoods look spectacular, I bought an annual Osteospermum 'Pink Spoon', just to be frivolous, and I have completely eradicated the weed hairy bittercress from my garden.

The spinach is ready and delicious, the spring peepers are still peeping and the peonies are going to be beautiful. The gardener is ever hopeful.