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<hr noshade color="#9999FF" width="85%" size="4" align="left"> <h2 class="title"><a href="http://www.montanaheritageproject.org/index.php/MichaelUmphrey/ap/">April gardening: more winter</a> But there's fresh compost under that snow</h2> by Michael L. Umphrey <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/umphrey/2427469598/" title="Fritillaria-yellow crown imperial by Michael Umphrey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2092/2427469598_764b8ec216_o.jpg" width="525" height="828" alt="Fritillaria-yellow crown imperial" /></a> Spring was doing nicely. My yellow Fritillaria Imperialis (Crown Imperial) isn’t in full bloom yet but it’s getting there. It’s been a cold, snowy spring, and most weekends when I’ve had time to pay attention to the garden snow flurries kept my motivation cool. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/umphrey/2427469844/" title="Mulching flower beds by Michael Umphrey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/2427469844_3840669184_m.jpg" width="240" height="155" alt="Mulching flower beds" /></a>But things started well. I’ve just put a new clutch in my old truck and it seemed to be running well, so I loaded a couple yards of compost and began mulching the beds. The guy with the front end loader at Eko Compost dumped his whole bucket on my little half-ton truck. It looked more like three yards and my rear tires went nearly flat. I made it to Cenex and added air, then drove slowly home. When I finally got there, I was glad for the big load. I have lots of places to put it. However, I didn’t even finish getting the truck unloaded when the snow began again. It was a nice snow, thick with huge flakes drifting softly through the air. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/umphrey/2427470284/" title="Tulips in snow by Michael Umphrey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2144/2427470284_1a301dde31_o.jpg" width="525" height="301" alt="Tulips in snow" /></a> Within a couple hours, my beds look like this. Neither the daffodils nor the tulips mind much, of course. And in most ways I don’t either. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/umphrey/2426655901/" title="Autumn Joy Sedum in snow by Michael Umphrey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2381/2426655901_011473000b_o.jpg" width="525" height="609" alt="Autumn Joy Sedum in snow" /></a> I was glad I hadn’t yet cleared last year’s Autumn Joy Sedum from the beds. It’s quite gorgeous in winter--for the moment, it’s the most striking thing I see in my April garden. Copyright 2008 Michael L. Umphrey