Forsythia

Until yesterday, this was my large forsythia.

What? You aren't overwhelmed with it's beauty?? Me neither!

 Finally, yesterday morning I woke up to those cheery yellow blooms.  The rain has kept me from taking a photo, but they look much the same as last year (see photo below), although we've done some pruning to the bush.

Such a happy sign of spring.

Thanks to Jason and his data back to 1929, I know that the average date of forsythia bloom around here (well, a little South-West of me) is April 23.  The earliest bloom date he had recorded until last year was April 14 and the latest was May 4th. I never did find out what Jason's exact bloom date was at his Ontario home last year, but mine was in full bloom on April 3rd and had actually bloomed a few days before that.  I didn't think to record an exact date at the time but I'm sure I will record the forsythia bloom forever more! The continuation and spread of tradition :-)

So, although this year (my 2nd spring here),  felt extremely late to me, it is probably well within normal ranges. This does not help me much since my pepper seedlings are huge and NEED to go outside!! That's for the next garden  post.