AT LAST!! SPRING IS HERE! Never mind that there's still a few inches of snow in shady spots and piles of semi-frozen yuk along the streets - things are melting, and I'm ready to start outdoors garden activities.

In defiance of the last winter dregs hanging on, I planted asiatic lilies today. The soil along my back fence faces full south, and is one of the first places to thaw in my yard. Under a scant 1/4 inch of frozen soil (no match for a determined woman with a trowel and a serious case of spring fever) was some LOVELY friable garden soil. I planted two clumps, 'Grand Cru' and 'Nerone,' both from a local store. Nothing fancy, but just planting SOMETHING feels SO good. I covered both plantings with wire mesh, to deter the squirrels.

I also ordered more daylilies. I said I wouldn't, I was VERY stern with myself, I promised - and I caved in anyhow. Just a SMALL order, a whim, from Wilds ('Route Sixty Six,' 'Black Friar,' and 'Moorish Beauty'). And I'm trying for one of Jan's seedlings on the LA. But that's ALL. I'm done. Really! (Stop snickering out there, I know you're laughing at me! LOL here too. I've still got my Betty's Country Gardens catalog sitting by the computer, with a dozen or more things circled. . . .)

So, who else has spring fever, and has had to go start planting, pruning, and rearranging the landscape, especially in the semi-frozen north?

Laurel