Picking up speed...Spring is here...in our greenhouse and the skies.

As the title of this post suggests, we have to look a little harder for signs of Spring right now.  The temperature is feeling like March and the moisture is abundant, with lots of cloudy, rain soaked days.  The rain has melted most of the snow in the yard and more and more birds have arrived.  So far we are seeing the Junco's and Redpoles (just a stopover on their way to Northern Saskatchewan), Bluebirds, Catbirds, Robins, Killdeer, Hawks, Northern Flicker and the Tree Swallows.  There are a couple of Owls that are very vocal in the evenings.  Perhaps they are communicating their mating calls or maybe they are already nesting.  The Sandhill Cranes are once again back in abundance, such a wonder to hear and watch them congregate in large numbers.  We have also seen a Blue Heron in the area so slowly things are feeling like Winter is behind us.

Recycling feathers for the Tree Swallows to line their nests.

The greenhouses are full of plants and many more germinating in the house and many yet to be planted, so lots of busy times ahead.

Few of the Dahlias

We are excited about the upcoming growing season as their will be lots of changes, lots of new plants, flowers and more.  Today I wanted to talk about a few of the vines we are growing for cut flower production this summer.  Some of the items we are growing are Jasmine, Passion Flower, Love in a Puff, Sweet Peas, Gloriosa Lily, Red Hyacinth Bean. and Firecracker Vine.  I plan on adding one or two Hops plants to our perennial plantings along with a few more Clematis.  The Gloriosa Lily's are now starting to show growth and we are looking forward to observing the growth and flowering of these interesting vines. We will have a few of all of the vines available as plant purchases in the next month or so.

Gloriosa Lily

Jasmine

One of the changes we are incorporating into our business plan this year is participating in the Warman Farmers Market.  We will be there Thursdays from 2:00pm - 6:00pm, weather permitting, early May.  We will also be at the Saskatoon Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8:00 - 2:00 starting sometime in May (depending on the weather), and into June with our various plants, including Dahlias.