Taken by surprise

It was around 80 today as I took a last despairing look at the unweeded garden plots and litter of unfilled containers in the back garden, and trudged off to a 6 p.m. meeting. Up front, the cherry tree seems to have burst into bloom overnight and some of the tulips are already falling over. What happened to the erythronium? I'm suspecting that the buds were killed by a late freeze.

This year, the early spring flowers and corresponding dormant gardening period were skipped entirely; I now find myself in early summer mode, and with way, way too much to do.

Global warming? Inattention? Who knows? All I know is that I'll be in huge trouble if I don't take the weekend to get this garden into order, not to mention dig out and reconfigure all the plants needed for pond space.

In the meantime, however, I did manage to get the jasmine and gardenia outside. The jasmine is in full bloom; I must find time to sit outside and enjoy it.