Early April in Illinois = gardens are starting to wake up. The weather is inconsistent, generally dreary and cool. One warmish day is flanked by two cool ones. The trees and shrubs, with a few exceptions, have tiny leaves and buds. If you’re not paying close attention, you’d assume they’re completely bare. Happily, I’m paying attention!

The blooming daffodils and hyacinths (no tulips here yet!) provide a shot of bright color to the otherwise leaf-strewn landscape, but if you look carefully, other flowering plants are beginning to come to life. I’ll be tracking these as changes happen — a painstaking yet satisfying endeavor rewarded, eventually, with flowers and pollinators.

A few examples of how the plants look in early April…

Early May update: deer munched on my Canadian Anemone! I’ve since been spraying with my handy deer repellant spray.

Early May update: see update above. Deer. Deer repellant helps. 😉

Notice how lush and beautiful the growth looks! The colors are amazing and shout “life!” to the world. Before I started gardening in 2020, I didn’t pay attention to any of these plants. I like to think I’ve awakened to a miracle I can enjoy each day. And if I pair my plant growth observations with the emergence of birds and insects, the miracle compounds.

Here are some other plants that are starting to come to life underfoot:

• Culver’s root
• Clematis
• Sweet William
• Yarrow
• New England Aster
• Elmleaf goldenrod
• Columbine
• Chives
• Day lilies
• Cup plant
• Ninebark
• Elderberry
• Red raspberry
• Strawberries
• Peony

There are so many more plants in my gardens, but these are the ones showing the most obvious new growth. I’m sure I’m missing some — it’s easy to get overwhelmed! — but I’ll be sure to cover them all in future posts.

I’ll also note here that I have seedling growth in all four of my winter sowing milk/water jugs: common milkweed, butterfly weed, snap dragons, and sweet alyssum.

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. – Audrey Hepburn