It's hard to believe, but we're already entering late Spring! So, I thought it would be a good time to update what’s blooming in my sunny & shady perennial gardens since my last gardening post!  The view in my gardens change nearly every day – I love it! Gardening is so peaceful... the connection with the earth... I really can feel the positive vibrations from the plants - it uplifts me!

So back down to earth.  A few of the photos below are of flowers newly planted this Spring (sweet william, stratheden, scabiosa, & yarrow), so they may be blooming out of turn.  I’ll have to wait until next year to see where they fall in the blooming cycle – I usually end up moving things after a year or so depending on height and bloom time.

So here’s what’s in bloom right now (courtesy of my iPhone)!

First, the sunny garden:

Cranesbill with Stratheden (one of my favorite spots in the sun garden)

Alstilbe

Sweet William

Daylily

Coral Bells (these grew so TALL this year!)

Yarrow (with Phlox not yet in bloom, behind)

Scabiosa

Next, the shady garden: 

Oxalis

Lamium (this is a super-quick spreader... I wouldn't mind if it took over most of the shade garden - so pretty!)

Rose

So, what's growing in YOUR garden? I'd love to know!

We went hiking this weekend for Mother’s Day.  It was the first real, long hike we’ve taken A.C. (after children); and Adam and I used to hike and backpack quite a bit B.C. (before children).  We were super-excited, and at the same time, not quite sure how it would play out. Truth be told, it ended up as the perfect trip; I couldn’t have planned a better Mother’s Day if I’d tried.  The children had a blast - they are naturals in the outdoors!  And Adam and I rekindled our love of hiking.  Can't wait to plan the next trip - even thinking of trying a backpacking/camping hike next time!

The hike we chose this past weekend was in the Delaware Water Gap national recreation area in Northern New Jersey/Pennsylvania.  It’s positively beautiful in that area (yes, New Jersey!) – breathtaking views, fresh air, even wild blueberries (though of course not yet in season). The weather on Sunday was nearly perfect – mid-60’s in the sun.  It was delightfully cool for hiking with a pack (or child) on your back, though a bit chilly for the children, who didn’t have packs, so it kept us all moving.  The coolness and breeze also kept the bugs at bay, which was a blessing.

We hiked a circuit trail up/down Mt. Tammany.  The whole hike was approximately 2.5mi, with an elevation gain of 1,200ft – I’d call it a moderate hike in difficulty.  It had varied terrain – a bit flat, most rocky, some small boulders, some gravel.  It’s a very clearly marked (blazed) trail, and well maintained.  Perhaps best of all, the trail was sparsely populated, even for a holiday weekend, which allowed us the freedom to move at our own pace – taking in the sights and sounds of nature, relatively uninterrupted. 

We chose to hike the trail in “reverse” – starting at the Appalachian Trail which is a bit less steep at the beginning, crossing the cascading Dunfield Brook, transferring to the “blue dot” trail, and descending on the “red dot” trail.  All told, with several brief rests on the ascent, a half hour stop at the top for lunch, a short tantrum, and a sleeping toddler strapped to my back for the descent, it took us a bit less than four hours.  With a 2 year old and 5 year old, on moderately difficult terrain, I call that a huge success.

For more information on the Mount Tammany hike, here are a few good links:

http://delawarewatergap.org/MountTammany.aspx

http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=HGN141-001

http://www.purdes.com/njhiking/tammany/index.html

Along the way, we enjoyed beautiful overlooks, streams, birds, new spring growth, and the peace and inner focus that I’ve only ever found with exertive backwoods hiking. We even picked up few cans left behind by less-than-conscientious previous hikers (pack it in, pack it out, folks!).  

I rediscovered my love of hiking on this trip.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it just as much as I remembered it B.C., and perhaps even more as viewed within the new, innocent perspective of my children – who just happen to be natural hikers and gentle embracers of the beauty of nature. What a blessing to realize that we could share something we enjoyed so much, with our kids – and find that they really enjoy it too.  We're really looking forward to our next trip!

We managed to capture some of the sights along the way with our iPhones (the joys of modern technology).  Enjoy!

So here we are once again, “Springing forward” with our clocks, and wreaking havoc with our circadian rhythms.  In my personal experience, children respond the least well to DST, or, perhaps it’s that we adults don’t like to take things slowly, and wish kids could just “get” the concept of moving the clocks means going to bed/getting up earlier.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could gradually ease into DST – say, moving each day back by 8 minutes and 57 seconds for the week preceding?  Okay, maybe not.  

But as it is, I find the Spring forward part of the time changes particularly difficult: Bam! Wake up earlier! Slam! Go to bed earlier! No one really responds well.  I find myself wandering around in a haze in the mornings for a week or so, and unable to fall asleep in the evening.  For the children, nap, bedtime, and waketime become so much more dramatic.

After a particularly irritable day yesterday (granted, it has been raining here for the last three days), I decided to research a bit, to find out the reasons behind Daylight Saving Time. Really, I guess I was looking for someone to blame. 

Anyhow, the idea of Summer Time/Daylight Saving Time was first introduced by George Vernon Hudson in 1895. I’d imagine he’s no longer alive for me to give a piece of my mind. Harumph. It was first implemented during World War in an effort to conserve coal for war production (the theory being that by taking advantage of the greater hours of daylight in the Spring & Summer for work, less coal would be burned in the evenings, as people would be sleeping).  In 2007, due to the passing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, four extra weeks were added to extend Daylight Saving Time - extending our previously observed DST of 1^st Sunday in April – Last Sunday in October to where it stands now: The second Sunday in March – the first Sunday in November. Again, in an effort to further reduce energy consumption. While that theory of energy saving by DST still holds today, it doesn’t seem to be an open & shut case.  Wikipedia indicates that “recent research is limited and reports contradictory results” linking actual energy reduction to DST implementation.  Also that, “several studies have suggested DST increases motor fuel consumption”.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Of course I appreciate the extra “daytime” as the days naturally lengthen; it helps us wake with the sun, spend more time in the sun during the day, and thereby increase our ability to produce all-important Vitamin D, and improve our mood and health overall.  And certainly, if there are energy savings to be had by through the implementation of DST, then I’m all for its continuation. Yet, I wish there were a more gradual transition, particularly for the children.  Because when it comes right down to it, it’s just not easy explaining to a 2-year old, who “isn’t tired yet”, that they need to go to bed an hour earlier than they are used to because we moved the clocks forward in order that we may help reduce our country’s energy consumption by 1%. Yeah. On these first few evenings after the time change, I’m temped to go the way of Hawaii (and parts of Arizona), and not observe Daylight Saving Time at all.

Yesterday, I found myself reading Amber Strocel’s blog and was inspired, as I often am, by her zest for life - and motherhood. In her post from Friday, she introduced me to the concept of a nature table.

Now, it’s been raining here all day; and if you believe the weather report, is supposed to continue for the next three days.  A long rainy weekend with two little kids necessitates an engaging indoor activity! What better activity for a rainy day than creating a nature table?

First, we brought the old craft table down from the attic.  It had recently been retired due to its small size & copious coatings of glue and paint. I couldn’t bear to just throw it out when we replaced it – and good thing – as it’s just the perfect size for its new life of holding little treasures. 

The children covered it with my daughter’s old receiving blanket. It has roses on it & we considered that the first nature-y part of our nature table.

Next up, we scoured our house for items brought in from outside, or things that reminded us of being outside.  It was really interesting to watch my children choose items – the two year old chose a soap dish shaped like a flower.  The five year old chose a flower sun catcher she’d painted. They added flower stickers, a beanie baby worm, two small plants, a painting, a photograph, animal figurines, two plants, and some seeds. 

We assembled the collected items and observed.  As lovely as it looked, we all felt like something was missing.  So…we donned our rain gear & headed out into the deluge! Outside was the real nature we were missing: rocks, leaves, seed pods, pine needles!
 

A half hour later, soaked to the bone, but happy as clams, we returned with our cold hands full of nature’s gifts:

We dried off our haul, added it to the table, and came up with this finished work:

I think it turned out beautifully!  Yet, more importantly, when we were finished, my 5-year-old announced: “This was really fun Mom!”  And truly, that’s all I needed to hear.  Thanks again Amber for inspiring an afternoon of fun, education, and the simple (and free!) wonder and beauty of nature.

According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the Vernal Equinox occurs this year on March 20^th at 1:32 pm. It marks the day of the year when the amount of sun and the amount of darkness are exactly equal. Though, more importantly, the Vernal Equinox signals the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring in our hemisphere!

Here in New Jersey, 16 days out from glorious Spring, we’re already starting to see the first signs that it’s on its way.

Firstly, it nearly hit 50 degrees!

Now, though the thermometer reads like Spring, we still have snow in our back yard and through the woods. But, out in the front yard, which is Western exposure, we only have one tiny patch remaining:

Our first robin made her appearance a few weeks ago, just as the snow was starting to melt.  I don’t know where they go for the winter, but they surely are the first harbinger of Spring. And just today we lovingly observed the Canada Geese pairing off. 

As for our gardens, the narcissus are well up and heading towards budding. Although, to be fair, they’ve been up since an unseasonably warm day in January, because in New Jersey weather is just weird sometimes (can anyone say snowpocalypse 2010?), and a few days in January felt more like October.

Our tulips are pushing up through the old mulch in a couple of places, and even our daffodils in the back yard (in the shade), are coming up!

 
Our favorite garden store is open for the season, and yes, we did drive by already, though they don’t have anything much out yet besides mulch.  Wait a week though, and that will change, for sure.  I can’t wait to fill our poor winter bare wine barrel planter with some color!

Once the snow is completely gone, we’ll be out with rakes to get rid of the old leaves & sticks that have built up on the beds, trim back any branches that didn’t make it through the snow, and put down mulch. Sadly, we lost a rhododendron at the end of the season last year, after nursing it through the summer, so I’ll be replacing that first. I’d like to put in a stone path this year through the front bed, and figure out some low-light, low-growing, green ground cover for the “lawn” part of our tiny back yard.  We'll be installing a new bird (squirrel) feeder in the back, and, trading out our snowman garden flag for one that has spring flowers on it. 

We just can’t wait for the warmer days of Spring: the return of song birds, the sweet smell of lilacs, the rainbow colors of tulips, and many glorious afternoons spent in the garden!