SPRING!!

T.S. Eliot famously wrote, "April is the cruelest month."  He had something there, but how about March.  Know why they call it March madness?  I assure you it has nothing to do with basketball.

In the Northeast, we are getting little teases.  The days are longer, little green shoots pop up, snow (by this time dirty grey) has finally disappeared, and we have these seductive days that flirt with 60+ degrees.

If you live in a more southern latitude, I'm not talking to you, and frankly I'm tempted to delete any sunny comments you might post about how beautiful and fragrant it is there.

I may want to whine and complain like a good (though not native) New Yorker, but being a cockeyed optimist, I won't.  Instead, I'll just post some pretty photos and hope for the best.

The legendary English gardener, Christopher Lloyd, also had a love of natural plantings.  (photo by  Alexandre Bailhache for H&G)

Mass plantings at a Connecticut farmhouse  (photo by Peter Brown for H&G)

An orchard of apple trees on Long Island (photo by Richard Felber for H&G)

The Connecticut gardens of Annette and Oscar de la Renta are a treat all year long, but most notably in early spring, as seen in the photos below, taken by Richard Felber.

An alée of pear trees frames the statue of a Florentine boar

White and almost black tulips are most appropriate for a fashion designer.

Evergren topiaries, as seen through an early spring mist create a haunting image.

And this, dear readers, is what I have to look forward to in the very near future:

Daffodils grow happily at the base of an ancient apple tree in my side yard.

In about 4 to 6 weeks, this is what my cutting garden will look like (I hope.)

Kitty's on mole patrol.

Happy spring, everybody!  The continuation of my Curtain Call! series will resume this Wednesday.

Thanks for reading.