Phenology Report

The crocus in the lawn are fading.  We've had crocus consistently since Feb. 10 in a few distinct waves, starting and ending with yellow.  In succession: little golden yellow crocus, dark purple bulb iris, pale purple and white crocus, dark purple crocus, and now large golden yellow crocus with a few bright blue squill coming in.
Cherries and pears started opening March 14, but we've had such erratic weather since then, that they are just now in full bloom.  Similarly, the lilac buds have stalled from when they started to swell two weeks ago.  Meanwhile, the elms have moved on and are now in fruit, the roses have full leaves, and my spicy currant is now in flower.
Without looking, I think we are about a week behind normal and three weeks behind last year.
Photos to come someday.
What's blooming where you are?

STIR Flowers and Other Fun

SalSis and I are reading Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers (found here on Amazon) for STIR for April.  I know nothing about it, except that the novel kept getting mentioned when I was searching for Victorian Language of Flowers information for a class recently and a facebook friend stayed up all night reading it the same week.  I just purchased it and it looks good.  Let me know if you are interested.
Krista and I will be reading Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White one of these times.  It's a crazy plot twisted Victorian thriller and I am much looking forward to it.  Again, let me know if you are in.
Soon, I will be offering up a notice that My Mother was correct and Louise Penny is excellent and I'm so angry at all of you for not mentioning her before, but I can't write about that now because I have 40 pages left in the book (and another one to start right after that).

Floraphilic Personalities

"Flowers!  Could there be anything more unlike what I design?" scoffed a contestant on Project Runway a few weeks ago during a challenge in which they had to use materials from a florist in a fashion design.
I was a little stunned at the comment.  I fully understand not being into large flowery prints, or dainty girly-girl blossoms or choosing living plants over cut flowers, but to find nothing that could inspire you at a flower shop?  How is that possible?
Which is part of the reason I've been hung up on whether or not I have a flowery personality recently.  I curled my hair (slept in boing boing rollers and the whole bit) and wore my new flowery blouse for the first week of floraganza, and the results (which for some reason  am posting on-line) were not pretty.  "I clearly am not," I decided, "a flowery print person, or, for that matter, a blouse person.  This wearing something flowery every month is going to be such a stretch for me.  I like flowers, but I like getting my hands dirty growing them."

Yes, I paid good money for this.  Yes, I ordered it on-line and no, I did not pay much money.  At least the poppies are recognizable.

But then I loved the smell of the sticky sweet hyacinths in the office, even when they were overpoweringly floral.  And I would love to make a dress with items from a florist shop.  And, upon further examination, my wardrobe has a pretty high number of flower items, including a flow-y sweet floral print dress that I will happily wear on Easter and to some tea party that I'll throw which will include violets in the ice cubes.
I'll admit it, I have a flowery side.

First day of class January 2013

Still, for the record, this is how I see myself this semester.

Hyacinths and Flowery Personality

In my office, I have a pot of three forced hyacinths in full bloom.  Their sweet perfume overwhelms me each time I come in the door.  Each time I think, "Wow, that's too much.  I'm not really a very floral person."
But they've stayed in my office all day.
Meanwhile, my colleague couldn't stand the single stem I gave her for an hour.
To some, I am the pinnacle of floral (I'm celebrating floraganza for a year after all).  Later this week I will provide photographic evidence that I am most definitely NOT a flowery person. In the meantime, I'd appreciate comments on floral, flowery, and floraphillic personality traits and which ones we each possess.

First daffodil

Our first daffodil is in bloom on the SE corner of our house.
The snow remains on the north side.
Elms and maples are in bloom.  Pear buds are quickly swelling.