Gloomy Days Are Still Really Pretty In A Vermont Spring

Wet flowers and spring leaves in a rainy St. Albans,
Vermont garden on Sunday 

As forecast, Sunday was a washout in Vermont. 

A steady, soaking rain fell all day. We kind of needed it, as the middle of the month was so warm and dry. 

Of course, a rainy Sunday meant outdoor activities were pretty much not going to happen.  Or maybe they could, in a limited sense anyway. 

Unlike in, say, November or March, a rainy day when everything is sprouting for spring isn't all that gloomy. As you can see in a couple photos in this post and the video below, there are pops of color everywhere. 

I've intentionally planted a lot of perennials around my St. Albans, Vermont house that bloom early in spring. After a long winter, I need some green and some bright colors. This year is not disappointing. 

Emerging sugar maple leaves on a rainy Sunday in
St. Albans, Vermont. 

It's way ahead of schedule. Leaves are sprouting on most of the trees already.  You usually don't see that until we start getting into the second week in May. 

Sure, the poplars are early birds and spring to life at the end of April. But not the sugar maples and beeches. They're usually smart enough to wait until May. But not in this warm spring.

I got a good idea of how ahead we are this year when one of those "memories" posts came up on Facebook. 

 It showed my gardens on April 23, 2018.  My gardens are bigger now than they were then, but I still had a fair number of daffodils. 

But on this date in 2018, the shoots were barely out of the ground. There were no daffodil blossoms to be found. And the trees in the background of the photo were as leafless as they would be in January. 

As long as we don't get a hard freeze, I'm OK with this early spring.  Like I said, I need some life and nature around the house. 

Rainy day garden in St. Albans, Vermont. 

It does look like the pace of spring will slow down for awhile.  Remember, in one of yesterday's posts in this here blog thingy, I said that we're in for a long stretch of mostly cool, showery, weather. 

That remains true. Although we might get a bit of a break from the showers toward Friday and Saturday, there's no super warm air in the forecast for the foreseeable future. 

This cooler weather, and the more leisurely pace of spring, will let us savor the season all the more. 

Maybe the cooler weather will also postpone the black flies, which would be nice

I've got my video ready for you. Hope you like the rainy garden tour. 

Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that.