After spending the past four months searching for her missing daughter, Demeter (a.k.a. Mother Nature) will finally be reunited with the lovely Persephone on March 20, 2017, at 6:28 a.m. Persephone will be released from the underworld at the vernal equinox. This marks the beginning of spring and the reawakening of the earth in the northern hemisphere.

Illustration by Leslie Watkins © 2017

To welcome Persephone back home, Demeter has arranged for a chorus of songbirds and spring peepers, along with a smattering of ephemeral wildflowers. Be on the lookout for blue violet Hepaticas, yellow violets, coltsfoot and bloodroot. In the garden, you may find snowdrops, winter aconites, Chionodoxa (glory-of-the-snow) and Leucojums. Returning to nest will be the American robin, Eastern phoebe, cedar waxwing, red-winged blackbird, American woodcock, great blue heron and chipping sparrow. They will join with the black-capped chickadees, cardinals, nuthatches and tufted titmice already present. Many hungry birds will be found in the fields, in crabapple trees, junipers and viburnums searching for the remains of last year’s bounty.

While we have a few more weeks to enjoy mud season and the cooler weather, we can get organized by starting a garden journal. These notebooks are extremely useful and can be great timesavers. In them you can sketch garden plans, write plant lists, keep field notes and add sketches or photos. You can plan ahead by jotting down your thoughts for next year and reference last year’s notes.

Get, recycle or make a journal with a tough water-resistant cover and a penholder attached. Keep it handy by your door and bring it with you as you make the rounds of your property, or when visiting other gardens. Make entries on pages pertaining to specific months and don’t forget to note seasonal tasks. For instance, if you see a peony that you adore blooming in June, be sure to make a note to plant it on a fall page. Ditto for spring flowering bulbs.

You may find that keeping a garden journal becomes a habit that crosses over into your travels, nature hikes and other routines. Diaries can record exercise programs, emotions, expenses, bird lists, habits and much, much more. The word journal comes from journey, the recounting of events over time. In this way they becoming powerful tools helping us to reference the past and predict the future. Spending time sketching or decorating your journal can be a pleasure in itself. There is no end to the ways to personalize your journal and create a unique record of your time, and no more inspirational time to do so than spring.

Garden Journal Entry Checklist

• Dates, seasons, months and weeks.
• Daily weather notes with temperature.
• Garden plans and ideas.
• Seed orders with planting times.
• Plant lists and combinations.
• Planting dates and locations.
• Color and fragrance notes.
• Bloom time, plant performance.
• Bird, insect and animal sightings.
• Wish list.