Hi GPODers and Happy Earth Day!
Today is the 55th annual celebration of Earth Day, which marks and serves as tribute to the start of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Started by Senator Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes, a young activist he recruited, the initial goal was to galvanize U.S. university students into activism against air and water pollution in a similar way to the anti-war protests that were happening at the time. Hayes was the one that saw the potential to inform and inspire Americans of all ages, and over the years the holiday has spread across the globe. If you’d like to learn more about the history and impact of Earth Day, check out this informative graphic on earthday.org: Our History.
Undoubtably, this holiday is built around action. Earth Day is a great day to participate in a park or beach clean up, plant something native and beneficial, or even to make a call to your local representative to speak your mind about policies that have an impact on our environment. I highly encourage all GPOD readers who are able to visit the earthday.org website or connect with your local community to explore the various ways you can continue your eduction, get involved, and spread awareness. However, I also encourage you all to take a little piece of today to just reflect on nature and our environment. To celebrate Earth Day this year, I’ve been making a concerted effort to get outside more often and to take pictures of the signs of spring that are inspiring me. I hope you enjoy this selection of spring color, and that it encourages you to get outside today and celebrate all of the beauty our planet has to offer.
One of the firsts signs of spring I’ve seen over the past couple of weeks has been flowering trees opening up into a flurry of color in front yards and in parks across town. These were spotted outside the restaurant at the local golf course. I was happy to see that most of the trees were magnolias, but there was a couple dreaded Bradford pears (Pyrus calleryana ‘Bradford’, Zones 5–9) in the mix. Despite the downsides of this stinky, invasive tree being relatively well known, its sadly still pretty prevalent in public spaces.
Spring bulbs are just starting to reach their peak in Connecticut, but I’ve gotten a great first taste from garden center and nursery displays. These stunning Tete-a-Tete daffodils (Narcissus ‘Tete-a-Tete’, Zones 4–8) and ‘Blue magic’ grape hyacinth (Muscari aucheri ‘Blue magic’, Zones 4–8) were outside one of my favorite local garden centers, Woodbury Farm Market in Woodbury, CT, when I went to buy some soil and supplies. I resisted the urge to add a few trays to my basket, but they were such a lovely pairing I had to snap a picture.
As it is known to do, spring color did seemingly emerge over night. This past Saturday, daytime temperatures reached the high 70s and it forced out a lot of growth on trees and shrubs while sparking the bloom of our azaleas. And I was delighted to spot one of the first bees of the season making a visit! These are foundation plantings that were already established at our property, so I’m not sure of the variety.
Though not much else is in full bloom yet, buds are starting to pop up everywhere. Peony shoots also burst from the ground after the flash of warm weather this weekend. After a very harsh winter with more heavy snow and ice than we’ve had in a while, it’s always reassuring to see the new signs of growth from plants in spring. Though we must remain vigilant in her protection, Mother Nature always amazes with her resiliency.
Seedlings are looking decent! It’s been hard battling the crazy wind we’ve been having—thus the old weights and blocks holding down my garden cloche—but they’ve been holding up well so far. I started habanero seeds for the first time this year and they started out great, but I’ve lost three of the four that sprouted. One last seedling remains, so I’ll keep you guys updated on if I end up with a successful plant.
This last group of photos is from a trip I made over the weekend to an annual daffodil display in Litchfield, Connecticut. Laurel Ridge, a private property, opens up to the public every year as the fields fill with over 10,000 daffodils. You won’t find a website for this site, or even a specific address, but if you’re in-the-know (or happen to be driving through the Litchfield hills in late April or early May) you’ll find a line of cars parked along Wigwam Road and people of all ages enjoying a sea of yellow blooms.
I will be doing a more in-depth post on this trip next week, but I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures and highlights. Admittedly, these rustic stairs were a lot nicer to take a picture of than actually climb up and down, but seeing the mixed varieties of daffodil bringing color to the fallen leaves and gray stone was worth the treacherous stepping.
Speaking of varieties, I could have stayed here for hours getting close to all the different blooms and trying to find as many variations as I possibly could. For a genus that doesn’t stray outside of a yellow, white, and orange color scheme, I was amazed at the number of different varieties I saw. Be sure to keep an eye on GPOD next week to see more of the gorgeous blooms I saw during my visit.
I hope you all enjoyed my sampling of spring in Connecticut for this Earth Day! If you’re doing any activities for this holiday, or just plan on spending some quality time in your garden, let us know in the comments. If you take any photos while you’re enjoy Mother Nature, consider sending photos to Garden Photo of the Day! Follow the directions below to submit photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.
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