This week in the garden

Running hither and thither for appointments and meetings this week left me little time to actually spend in the garden. And then, of course, there was our rain day.

On Tuesday, we got 2.7 inches of rain which puts us now officially above our monthly average rainfall for the first time in recent memory. The earth got a good soaking and all of the ponds in the area are now full of water. It is a wonderful thing to see.

Around the garden, spring is beginning to creep in already. We've not had very much winter at all yet and plants that have died back to the ground in the last two winters are beginning to put out green shoots. The fruit trees, too, are convinced that spring is just around the corner.

  The pomegranate tree that I planted this winter is already full of these tender buds.

My blueberries suffered terribly in last summer's drought and lost several limbs, but the limbs that remain are beginning to show some buds. I don't think my blueberry crop this year will be anywhere near as bountiful as it has in recent years, but it seems that there will be a few berries for my morning cereal.

The cheerful blossoms of the Carolina jessamine are beginning to open.

And the orange bulbine that has bloomed all winter continues to bloom.

My bulbs never seem to do very well, but in the front yard, a few of the daffodils are sending forth some pretty, little blossoms.

The signs of spring around my yard came as the USDA released its brand-spanking new 2012 hardiness zone map. When I went to their website and entered my zip code, I found that my garden had moved! My yard used to be in zone 8b, but with the new map, it is now in zone 9a (20 - 25F degrees for the low temperature). So without lifting a finger or packing a moving crate, I've moved to a more tropical zone. In fact, all across the  country, gardeners are now finding that they are in a warmer zone. Thus does global climate change affect us all.