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Finally, after a couple of false starts, spring seems to have arrived! On Saturday, the Farmers Market in Ferguson, about 3 miles from us, opened for the season. Most booths were selling plants, although the hormone-free meat and egg people were there, and the honey producers, and the pecan sellers. We concentrated on plants and found very healthy-looking Jet Star tomatoes at a reasonable price, along with some herb plants and some sturdy marigolds. We rewarded ourselves with half a dozen cookies from the organic flour booth on our way to the car.
Our next stop was Theis Farm Market, one of our regular stops for two decades. They have the best home grown produce in season, including strawberries and peaches. We had assumed the Easter weekend freeze had finished the strawberry plants but there were pints of berries for sale. They were (and are) as delicious as ever. But this time of year, the main feature is the acres and acres of greenhouses and irresistible bedding plants. We bought two flats worth of impatiens, begonias, and petunias, along with some stray coleus and some other foliage shade plants.
We'll have to go back next weekend for some more bedding plants, and also for some of their stunning geraniums. Of course we spent most of Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon, and this afternoon getting plants into porch boxes and the flower beds. Next entry will show some of our results, if the rabbits don't nibble everything overnight! This region is a great botanical crossroad that is gradually getting warmer. Plants that used to grow only as far north as Oklahoma when I was a child...crape myrtle, Rose of Sharon, lantana, hydrangea...are all hardy here now. Although we are stiff and sore from gardening (despite all of our good exercise classes) it still felt great to be outdoors in 80 degree weather, getting our fingernails dirty. (They are clean, now.)
Moments after the members of The Current staff (the student newspaper that I advise) learned that they had won 26 awards at the Missouri College Media Association, and that the Big One, Best in State, was also theirs, I got them to stop jumping up and down long enough to snap a picture or two. I am so very happy for them and proud of the hard work they have done all year. This is their honor and they definitely deserve it.
The conference was held at the Lake of the Ozarks' Lodge of the Four Seasons. Some 25 college staffs attended, and The Current competed against the largest schools, about 8 of them. We suffered through two dismal, rainy days on Friday and Saturday (while the rest of our families were battling snow, wind, tornadoes, and hail) but the sun came out this morning, revealing the beauty of this lovely place. All too soon we had to pack up, leave the lake view behind, and come home to work. The students are putting out their 30th edition of the year this evening, only two more to go before the end of their term. Advising college journalists is the best job I have ever had. 
Almost everyone is bundling up this Easter, and vegetation, crops and small creatures are no exception. An old weather saying is that it won't freeze after the oak leaves are as big as a squirrel's ear. These leaves were much larger than that last Monday, but we are in our 4th night of lows in the 20s, and we are probably in milder air than many who will read this. Some even have snow for Easter.
In the St. Louis area, our flowering trees and almost everything was about three weeks ahead of "normal." Even the Dogwoods were starting to bloom on April 1, instead of their usual third weekend of April peak time. We had lots of our Color Magic tulips and the azalea was blooming too.
Our redbud, given to Lois and Bob before they moved, looked great on Monday. Unfortunately, these blooms and our lilac and many other blooms, as well as the flowers on the shade trees, are history as Easter dawns. We'll have to wait and see if the trees will have to leaf out again.
On Monday while I was on campus I took this picture of a new water feature known as The Lakes, in front of the new Student Center. The fountains, the buds, the frolicking geese and strolling students gave the place the air of a resort, almost. It was the first day back after Spring Break.
One of the signature trees on the campus is this towering bald cypress planted just outside the old Student Union. Seeing it leaf out every spring is like greeting an old friend...something I've been able to do for 25 years now. Even for a retired person, the campus is always a lovely place to walk through in almost any season.
To all: have a blessed Easter day, no matter what the weather.
Finally, after a couple of false starts, spring seems to have arrived! On Saturday, the Farmers Market in Ferguson, about 3 miles from us, opened for the season. Most booths were selling plants, although the hormone-free meat and egg people were there, and the honey producers, and the pecan sellers. We concentrated on plants and found very healthy-looking Jet Star tomatoes at a reasonable price, along with some herb plants and some sturdy marigolds. We rewarded ourselves with half a dozen cookies from the organic flour booth on our way to the car.
Our next stop was Theis Farm Market, one of our regular stops for two decades. They have the best home grown produce in season, including strawberries and peaches. We had assumed the Easter weekend freeze had finished the strawberry plants but there were pints of berries for sale. They were (and are) as delicious as ever. But this time of year, the main feature is the acres and acres of greenhouses and irresistible bedding plants. We bought two flats worth of impatiens, begonias, and petunias, along with some stray coleus and some other foliage shade plants.
We'll have to go back next weekend for some more bedding plants, and also for some of their stunning geraniums. Of course we spent most of Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon, and this afternoon getting plants into porch boxes and the flower beds. Next entry will show some of our results, if the rabbits don't nibble everything overnight! This region is a great botanical crossroad that is gradually getting warmer. Plants that used to grow only as far north as Oklahoma when I was a child...crape myrtle, Rose of Sharon, lantana, hydrangea...are all hardy here now. Although we are stiff and sore from gardening (despite all of our good exercise classes) it still felt great to be outdoors in 80 degree weather, getting our fingernails dirty. (They are clean, now.)
