March Right In

Two things define March in Kansas: incessant winds and roller coaster weather.
For the past few days we have had the winds. Howling wind that continues into the night, making it difficult to stand sometimes and creating such energy that it can be difficult to sleep.
Then you have the roller coaster ride.

I took the above photo of a cluster of white crocus yesterday. Clouds covered the sky and the wind blew, but it was warm, with a high temperature exceeding 70. The air was humid in anticipation of rain.
The following photo of the same crocus group was taken this morning. Sleet had fallen overnight and covered the ground.

The icy pellets will melt this afternoon, as the temperature climbs into the upper 40s, and I will head out to gather my first harvest of nettles. By Monday, we will see upper 60s and 70s again.

I promise that today is the last day this year I will post crocus photos. Some of the daffodils are nearly ready to open.....

And the apricot tree is covered with flower buds.

I spoke with a neighbor last night and she said that her apricot trees were blooming already. I assured her that nothing would happen like last year when I had snow on my apricot blossoms. Ooops. I guess she has sleet-covered blossoms today.

Yesterday I finished (mostly) the pruning and training of the apple and pear trees. I kept the pear pruning minimal, as late winter pruning invigorates growth and pears tend to grow pretty vigorously already. All that lush, rapid, tender new growth is more susceptible to things such as fire blight, so I will prune out the excess in a few weeks, when pruning is less invigorating. Then we'll start pruning the apricot, cherries and other stone fruits.

The hardening off of cabbage and other brassica seedlings has started, to prepare the little plants for the move to their new home in a couple of weeks. Spring is springing!
 Below is a closeup of the elm tree flowers that have been feeding our honey bees.