Despite optimistic predictions otherwise, spring failed to arrive this week. Perhaps next week, but today it seems a long way off.

Indeed, earlier in the week the foot deep snow melted by half so that a few hellebores barely emerged from beneath the covering. But, here is another storm that buries blooms that would open with only another day or two of warmth. After the next few chilly days this snow might not depart for another week, and of course this further delay in spring’s arrival has only deepened the gardener’s anxiety.

Snow in March is not unusual in northwestern Virginia, but the gardener fully expects that warmer temperatures will result in quick melting. And so, I look forward to seeing lawn again, and possibly being able to restart my efforts to clean up the garden next weekend.

In a garden that can barely be managed by one person, every day in early spring is required to complete tasks prior to April, when many perennials emerge to complicate efforts. As is, the typical work day through this season is too often interrupted to admire the blooms of paperbushes and early irises, so more discipline will be necessary if I am to have any hope of catching up prior to spring growth. Good luck.

Of course, this will not be the first time, and I only have to look back a year to recall an early spring when warmer temperatures were delayed until late into March. How I ever caught up, I don’t know, but most everything was accomplished and more with the pruning of dead wood and removal of a few dead shrubs that was required after an exceptionally cold winter.

Forecasts look better for the next week, though they also looked better for this week, and look at it snowing. This followed a day of ice, and only a single day that even approached typical temperatures, so it’s difficult to get too excited while the snow continues to bury the garden.