Arriving at our Littleton, Colorado, farm last week, we found that the vegetation was well behind schedule. Thanks to an exceptionally cold winter and early spring, nothing was in bloom but the blue scilla, always the first bulb plant to make an appearance.
But once the snow melted, warm weather took hold and we are now in the midst of a heat wave, producing afternoon temperatures in the mid 80s F. Indeed, that heat wave, courtesy of a massive dome of high pressure, encompasses the middle half of the country and will soon drift toward the East Coast. Some towns on the Great Plains, recently raked by blizzards, will be in the 90s F.
The heat will surely put spring on a fast track here along the Front Range and we may catch up to a normal April landscape by the end of the week. In concert, a cold front will drop across the Divide and overnight snow might dust the flowers next weekend. Such is spring in Colorado.
