Cold weather 'a comin'

Well, this unusually warm, spring-like weather is about to end for us here in Northern Indiana. We are supposed to get severe storms this evening and snow by tomorrow morning! Compared with today, which is about 70 degrees, this will be a really frigid blast. I figured that my blooming daffodils will either be beaten by the storms this evening or ruined by the cold air, so I cut most of the ones that were already in bloom. I am leaving all the ones with buds and ones that don't even have buds yet, hoping that the freezing cold doesn't do any damage to them.

On the bright side of this all, I was able to bring some gorgeous daffodils inside for some springy flower arrangements. I even cut some spirea branches and used them to accent the daffodils in my larger vase. They are brightening up my kitchen, and giving me some hope that spring will return again.

Signs of Spring!

I'm finally seeing some fun signs of spring in my yard. The daffodils (see first picture) started blooming this week and lots of perennials (such as bleeding hearts, second photo) are starting to pop up out of the ground. I've also done a ton of yardwork during the past week.
Weed pulling has been my biggest chore. If you live in an area like mine, where the ground is still pretty soft, now is a great time to pull weeds. They come out of the ground easily, and they probably haven't had the chance to flower yet. There are a few flowering in my yard, but most of them aren't that mature yet.
It's also a good time to cut bad old perennial foliage that has been left to dry all winter long. Trim them back now so you can enjoy the beauty of the new growth. Removing old plant debris reduces the chances of having disease or pest problems around your plants.
New growth is also popping up on a lot of shrubs. I really dislike the spireas in my yard, and have gotten rid of all but two, however I love the lime green leaves they are getting right now (see third photo). They are so bright, they almost look like flowers. Unfortunately, those leaves will soon grow and I'll be annoyed by the shrub's weedy look again. They just grow too doggone fast and clog up an otherwise pretty landscape very quickly. The two spireas in my yard keep my dog out of a planting area, so I'm keeping them even though I'm not in love with them.