Posts tagged: spring

Iced Coffee Season 4/27/26

Iced Coffee Season 4/27/26

Each season has its hinge.   It's not a particular date on the calendar, it's more like we become forest creatures and just know.  For me, it's the moment I slip the yard man an extra $20 to drag my tangerine tree from the sunroom out onto the patio.  Literally six inches from where it lives all winter, just the other side of the window pane, but with it comes a completely different social life.  The garden once again becomes my living room.

I read somewhere recently about the dawn of iced coffee season.  (You know I liked that.)  Even though I'm a hot coffee year round kind of gal.  Even when it's a hundred degrees with swamp-like humidity here in Washington.  Then there's my wonderful college roommate Nanny, who lives on the oft frozen north shore of Boston, but is a twelve-months-a-year disciple of Dunkin Donuts iced coffee.   What is it with New Englanders and Dunkin Donuts?   And why is it that the only donut I like, the butternut, is only sold in their New England stores?  Maybe that's actually a good thing for me. 

Where was I ... honoring the hinge.  Which reminds me of my dad.  READ MORE

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Florabration 4/6/26

Florabration 4/6/26

Consider the corner turned.  Spring is in bloom, we are dancing with the daffodils and tiptoeing through the tulips.  How inspired is this arrangement of rhubarb and ranunculus?  Miss Rhubarb - look at you.  Stepping into the chorus line, center stage across the table - instead of a Pyrex into the oven.  Hat's off, girlie!

This is the moment when everything starts to show off a little bit.  Nature's own version of  fireworks.  

I love hearing what's doing in everyone's garden, and noticing how far apart we all are.  Here's what's going on in mine, in Alexandria Virginia (zone 7):  a second wave of daffodils,  lilacs just opening, mid season tulips and Carolina jasmine in bloom.  Camellias have faded as the dogwoods begin to pop.    The azalea buds sit with lips pursed, about to burst into a technicolor wave of pink.   READ MORE

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Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My 3/23/26

Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My  3/23/26

Spring has sprung and I'm back in Virginia for a bit.  Gladly.  Not that I didn't love my time in Boca Grande with many dear friends (and thank you to all the ladies who came out for my best trunk show ever).  I loved relaxing in Longboat Key with my cousin Jennifer who's like my sister.  And yet, there's no place like home.  Especially when it's spring in Virginia.  As I'm fond of saying, that's why we live in Virginia - for the spring.

My daffodils welcomed me back, having mostly survived the wild swing from 84 degrees to a blanket of snow the very next day.  The parade of life emerging from my garden has begun in full force.  Camellias in bloom, lilies forcing their way up, and a goldfinch at the feeder.  Let the trumpets sound!  Limelights and tulips and birds, oh my!   READ MORE

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Fresh Lilacs, Spring Greens, & the Beauty of Change 4/14/25

Fresh Lilacs, Spring Greens, & the Beauty of Change 4/14/25
This weekend, I’ve been thinking about change.   Maybe it's the chill and constant rain which followed that "80 degree + blue sky + teaser of a day" Mother Nature had sent earlier last week.   Or perhaps it’s the rebirth that's erupting in the garden outside my window.   Yes, let's seize on the latter.
 
"Spring is a gentle reminder of how beautiful change can be." — Unknown

Good old change — it is the only thing we can always count on.

But change can also be a wee bit scary — at least in my experience.  Recently, I've been burrowing down a philosophical rabbit hole, searching for tools to better navigate change.  READ MORE

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Glories of the Garden 3/8/24

Glories of the Garden 3/8/24
Sometimes I feel as if our merry band of Love Note readers is essentially a support group for those of us who longingly await the birth of spring, and might need a little help in so doing.  I am grateful for you holding my hand, as I am clearly one of those in need, (I founded the support group, after all).  

Today,  I sit at my desk, watching a steady rain fall over my border resplendent with Angelique tulips, one of which rewarded me with a blue ribbon at this week's garden club meeting.  Behind me, a Carolina jessamine has robustly climbed up, over and around its trellis, this week reaching peak bloom.  My smile is wide, as a robin repeatedly visits the spines of our patio umbrella, in what I hope is a final housing inspection.  Please oh please build your nest right here.   READ MORE

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