Pilchuck Chapter ARS

 

This is the time of year when my juices begin to flow and my fingers begin to tingle at the prospect of the coming spring. I employ a whole cadre of experts to help me determine when spring will arrive, when the seeds should be planted, and when the annuals should be removed from the greenhouse and left to the harsh outdoors. 

Weather prediction is a tricky business, especially for the gardener who must integrate all the events of the past to arrive at a baseline from which to predict the future. One day at 20 degrees F is way different than a week or two at 20 degrees F. Fifteen degrees with a foot of snow on the ground is a different world from that of 15 degrees on the bare soil. 

In the Gorge, we sure notice the difference between 30 degree F with no wind and 30 degrees F with a 30 mile per hour wind.  So we need experts with an ability to take not only spot readings from the previous fall and winter, but with the computational ability to collect, accumulate, weigh and then disseminate all this knowledge for the benefit of a simple gardener.

At great expense, I have assembled a group of experts whose collective wisdom will be offered free of charge to the members of the American Rhododendron Society:

· Grape hyacinths and crocuses are employed to herald the coming of spring. When they pop their flowers up through the soil, you will know that Old Man Winter is in retreat and that spring is around the corner. However, these small bulbs are like teenagers. They are wild, energetic and sometimes charge out into the open and get cold running about naked. 

· A more reliable servant is Christmas Cheer.  She does not lose her head over a few warm days. She is a more studious expert who holds back heralding the arrival of spring until she is confident that her resplendent new robe will not be tarnished by the new fallen snow. 

· Standing nearby is Cheer. She is waiting until Christmas Cheer has broken the news that spring is arriving, and then Cheer is ready to endorse the announcement with her own ovation.