The plants we saved over the winter are still waiting in the basement.

While the new annuals take root inside, it’s still plenty cold outside in March and April. We even had our typical mid-April snowfall to remind us that winter wasn’t done yet.

As you can see, we usually get fooled with an early spring, then a snow in mid-April. It’s very common for us to get frost any time through April, and even into early May. But, by mid May, we are really starting to see signs of blooms, like these phlox.

Soon we’ll be able to really head outside to plant the new annuals and really enjoy our spring weather. Can’t wait to see how all the plants do this year!

We like to keep as many of our annuals as we can from year to year, and one of the easiest plants to propagate is the coleus. Each fall we take some clippings of our favorites and use them to brighten up the kitchen sink windowsill while they take root, preparing them for next year. These were brought inside early October 2018. If you look, you might be able to see the leaves changing color in the background.

I always love these early autumn days, as the leaves are changing but the days are still sunny and warm. It’s one of my favorite times of the year.

Later in the winter, you can see we’ve moved some of the coleus into the basement seed starting area, nursing them along until warmer weather comes in May.