April 2 has become my barometer of how spring is going to go.
The first year we moved to the farm, the forsythia was blooming on April 2. It hasn’t been that early since.
Each year I take a photo of the forsythia on April 2 and try to evaluate how long until we see blooms.
Given the mild winter we had this year, I’m thinking the forsythia might be close, but so far there’s no sign of the yellow blossoms.
You might recall that the past two years haven’t been great for our forsythia. The yellow blossoms have been few and far between. I gave the bushes a pretty vicious pruning last spring in the hopes that it might encourage some new growth.
We have what I think might be a few buds. And you can see where I hacked off the woody stalks.
Things were looking a little green around the farm, but then we got a dusting of snow Saturday morning.
It had mostly melted by afternoon, but then we got several inches of snow Saturday evening and more snow rolled in yesterday afternoon, so we’re back to winter now.
Looking at the pictures from April 2 going back to 2012, the snow rather than the forsythia tells the story of what kind of winters we’ve had.
Just a week ago, the forsythia was coated in ice, thanks to the ice storm.
So far, this spring has been very up and down. I’m not making any predictions of when the forsythia will actually bloom.
What’s spring been like where you are? What signs of spring are you watching for?
Home on 129 Acres 
My friend spotted a rhododendron in full bloom around here the other day!
I’m not sure when rhododendron season is around here, but I’m pretty sure it’s a ways away still!
It’s a little earlier where I live than where my parents are, so I haven’t seen a rhododendron blooming myself either. There aren’t many of them in the city
My mom gave me a couple starts from her forsythia last week. I still have to find the right spot for it!
From your pictures, it looks like 2012 was a really rare year doesn’t it?
It has been a little chilly and VERY windy here the past few days. We sat out for my stepdaughter’s softball game yesterday and that wind just beat us to death! As I have mentioned, I have mowed our yard once and I think I am going to go over it a second time tomorrow!
Yes, I think 2012 was very much an anomaly. We’re very far away from mowing the yard or sitting outside for sports games.
Well…as usual we are way ahead of the Canada curve. There must be something to that latitude thing…
We are surrounded by blooms and blossoms, and have already finished several waves of various kinds of tree blossoms. Right now my yard has a bit of a carpet of white, but it’s petals from the plum blossoms as we had a windy weekend. I try not to mention these things to my fellow Canadians from other parallels, but take it as a sign that it IS COMING!! And it will be warm and bloomy and beautiful when it gets there! 🙂
Send it our way!
Doesn’t look like April much does it? The forecast calls for some better weather by next week – and the forecasters are saying that it will also be consistent as of then…fingers crossed!
Consistency is what we need. I keep feeling guilty I haven’t been out in the garden yet, but then snow comes and I’m glad there’s still leaves covering all of my little buds and sprouts!