There's something magical about those first days of spring when the garden begins to stir from its winter slumber. Here in our Zone 6A garden in upstate New York, we're witnessing those thrilling first signs of life—crocus blooms, emerging bulbs, swelling buds, and the promise of the growing season ahead. Join us for a walk through our garden as we share what's happening and our plans for the season to come.

First Blooms: The Welcome Committee

The official heralds of spring in our garden are undoubtedly the crocus. This year, we're enjoying a beautiful bouquet of purple varieties, including what we believe is 'Pickwick' with its distinctive variegated petals and striking yellow stamens. These fall-planted bulbs return reliably year after year, bringing much-needed color when the landscape is still largely dormant.

Nearby, we're seeing the emergence of Muscari (grape hyacinth) that we planted last fall, their blue tips just beginning to show. These will create a beautiful edging effect in front of our Invincible Spirit II hydrangeas once fully grown.

Bulbs: The Underground Awakening

One of the most exciting early spring developments is watching our alliums emerge. Their tips are adorned with an almost lipstick-like hot pink coloration that adds unexpected color to the early spring garden. We've planted a mix of 'Gladiator' and 'Ambassador' varieties that will provide stunning purple spheres later in the season.

We're particularly looking forward to seeing our allium and hydrangea pairings reach maturity. The arborescens hydrangeas (Annabelle types) will provide fresh, clean foliage that conveniently hides the alliums' fading leaves after they bloom—a perfect partnership in garden design.

Shrubs and Trees: Structural Beauty

Even before leafing out, our woody plants provide essential structure and interest:

Tri-color Beech: This specimen is fully budded up and ready to burst into leaf. We've been pleased that it hasn't required any pruning this winter or spring, allowing its natural form to develop beautifully.

Oak Leaf Hydrangea 'Gatsby Pink': This hydrangea is reaching spectacular size and structure. Being an old-wood bloomer, we're careful not to prune it, as this year's flower buds are already formed on last year's growth.

Royal Frost Birch: This standout provides year-round interest with its wonderful peeling bark and wispy structure. Soon it will leaf out with striking dark foliage.

River Birch: These provide spectacular peeling bark in warm cinnamon tones. We have several clumps throughout the garden, with our favorite being a multi-stemmed specimen that creates an impressive focal point.

Wine & Roses® Weigela: Our 'Checkmark Trilogy' variety will soon display its gorgeous tri-color blooms in ruby red, pink, and white all at the same time. It creates a beautiful combination with the blue of our columnar Scotch pine.

Roses: Recovery and Protection

This winter brought significant rabbit damage to many of our roses, so we're implementing a protection strategy using black chicken wire cages. These cages are nearly invisible once the plants leaf out but provide crucial protection from hungry rabbits.

For roses like 'Teasing Georgia' on our Jardin tower, we're planning substantial pruning to reclaim the elegant form we started last year. We began training it in a cyclone pattern around the obelisk but lost our way as the growing season progressed. This spring gives us a chance to reestablish control and create the structure we envisioned.

Hydrangeas: Types and Treatments

Our garden features all major types of hydrangeas, each requiring different spring care:

Panicle Hydrangeas (Quick Fire Standard): These bloom on new wood, so we've pruned them in early spring to encourage strong branching.

Smooth Hydrangeas (Invincible Spirit II): Also blooming on new wood, we've reduced these by about one-third to promote sturdy stems.

Oak Leaf Hydrangeas (Gatsby Pink): Since these bloom on old wood, we leave them completely unpruned to preserve flower buds.

Big Leaf Hydrangeas (Light-O-Day, Wee Bit Innocent): These macrophylla types have required extra winter protection with chicken wire cages wrapped in frost cloth. We're hoping this care will preserve their flower buds and allow them to bloom this year.

Mountain Hydrangeas (Tough Stuff Top Bun): These serata types are also protected to ensure the earliest possible blooms from their old-wood buds, though their reblooming habit provides insurance against winter bud damage.

Hellebores: Winter's End Celebration

Our hellebores are putting on a spectacular show with varieties ranging from deep red to white with lime tones and picotee edges. Many of these came from Trader Joe's, which we've found to be a surprisingly good source for reasonably priced, healthy specimens.

What makes hellebores so remarkable is their ability to bloom when little else is flowering, even after being completely covered by other plants during the growing season. They emerge from winter unscathed, ready to shine in the earliest days of spring.

Garden Evolution: Spaces in Transition

The garden is constantly evolving, and this spring brings exciting new projects:

Water Feature Plans

One of our most anticipated additions this season will be a new water feature in the area where our Limelight hydrangeas previously grew. While we're being a bit cryptic about the specifics, we can share that it will involve boulders, trickling water, possibly water plants, but no standing water or fish. This feature will become a gorgeous focal point and bring the soothing sound of moving water to our garden.

Container Gardens

Our terrace and entrance area feature impressive Karima planters from Campania International that we're eager to plant. After experimenting with roses in containers last year (which looked perfect for the first half of the season but became unwieldy by fall), we're switching to annual displays. We've already installed drip irrigation tubes to ensure consistent watering throughout the season.

Raised Bed Refresh

Our elevated planter boxes will be getting a fresh coat of Vermont Natural Coatings stain—an all-natural, food-grade safe product that protects the wood while keeping our edible gardens safe. This maintenance helps extend the life of our beds while keeping them looking beautiful.

Spring Garden Lessons

As we assess our early spring garden, several valuable lessons emerge:

Winter Protection Worth the Effort

The extra care we took to protect certain hydrangeas and other tender plants appears to be paying off. By comparing protected and unprotected specimens of the same variety, we'll be able to determine which protection methods are truly worth the effort.

Watching for Heaving

The freeze-thaw cycles this winter caused some newly planted perennials to "heave" out of the ground. Plants like salvias and lavender that went in last fall haven't had time to establish deep root systems, so the soil's expansion and contraction pushed them upward. We'll simply tuck them back in and provide mulch to stabilize soil temperatures.

Rabbit Defense

After a winter of significant rabbit damage, we've learned to be more proactive with protection. Our black chicken wire cages provide crucial defense for roses and other vulnerable plants without being visually intrusive.

Experimental Mindset

Not everything survives winter as expected. Our experiments with protected versus unprotected plants (like the purple leaf sandcherry 'Stay Classy') will provide valuable information on what works in our specific garden conditions.

Looking Forward

Spring is all about promise and anticipation. As we survey our awakening garden, we're excited about the seasonal progression ahead—from the earliest crocus to the emerging alliums, from hellebores to hydrangeas, and all the beauty yet to unfold.

The gardening year has barely begun, but already we're making plans, noting tasks, and dreaming of the garden at its peak. There's comfort in these familiar rhythms and joy in witnessing each new sign of life.

For a gardener, the promise of spring is truly like no other—what signs of awakening are you noticing in your garden this season?

Thanks for growing with us!