Seasonal Guide to March

It's March! Time for flowers and mud and sun and wind.... I went to a local botanical garden a little while ago to get my fill of spring flowers. It felt a little bit like stumbling upon The Secret Garden, for no one was there but me!

What does March mean to you??

To me....

St. Patrick's Day and Corned Beef and Cabbage, of course!! I guess I get kind of unreasonably excited about this holiday. Considering I'm not Irish. Or Catholic. Or even particularly interested in leprechauns and green beer.

This month I'm also kind of on a Scotland kick. I bet Scotland does March well -- daffodils and dampness and mossy rocks and that kind of thing. I've been indulging this affinity for Scotland by following these two Edinburgh instagrammers: @edienthusiast and @gisforgeorgina

from Mynelle Gardens in Jackson, MS! I have to go back and see the irises bloom...

In a bit of serendipity, I picked up my first ever Dorothy Sayers mystery the other day: The Five Red Herrings. I had assumed all her books were set in England, but this one is set (most charmingly) in a Scottish town full of painters and fishermen! It's turning out to be a wonderful, cozy March read. (I've been really getting into Goodreads lately. Feel free to connect over there if you're a fellow bookworm!)

Another book I love to pull out every spring is The Country Diary of Garden Lore by Julia Jones and Barbara Deer. I think I stole it from my mom. (Sorry mom!) It's beautifully designed with photos of flowers and gardenly illustrations, and full of folklore. One of the notes for March: "Sweet peas sown on St. Patrick's Day are said to produce larger more fragrant blooms." Have you heard that one before?

Alas (or maybe yay?) It's also time for some Spring Cleaning. And not a moment too soon, as we seem to find that every sink drain in the house is leaking and attempting to incite mold.

I find myself going back over my old Spring Cleaning Challenge. There's definitely a few things on that list that I still need to get to at the moment. Windows, for sure! How is your spring cleaning coming?

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