Spring has sprung, or has it!?

East Tennessee had the mildest winter ever I do believe and the warmest March recorded.  Needless to say I am not complaining. Our heat bill was under $600 for the months of Jan. Feb. and March which is a blessing, and I didn't have to bundle up all winter.  However, with that said Spring came early.  With average temperatures ranging from 65-80 for several weeks in a row everything is either blooming or about to bloom.  In fact we opened our pool on March 26th (of course we wont swim in it until June it is still nice to view).

The dogwood trees, tulips, forsythia, and cherry trees were amazing...and so were Chloe's and Ricky's allergies.  Chloe's issues will require another post, but trust me the pollen count has been deadly here.  We have loaded up of Zyrtec, Allegra, and other concoctions in hopes for relief.  Needless to say nothing has worked really good.

Tonight, however our lovely flip flop wearing weather has faded.  Tonight I spend an hour covering all of my non-blooming plants hydrangea, lilacs, roses, and azalea in hopes the blooms don't freeze and die.  You see if the blooms freeze then these plants will not bloom the rest of the spring/summer season and being a plant lover I would be devastated.  I know it's not the end of the world but to a gardener a spring freeze is about as scary as a non swimmer in a boat.  You can try to prevent damage but in the end mother nature will decided.  This is our "Dogwood Winter" which will be followed by blackberry winter in the summer. Of course the weather for Sunday is 80 again and looks great all week!  Geesh sweaters of capris---who knows!