There are times in our lives, and in our gardens, when little seems to change. And there are other times when so much changes, everywhere, all at once that we have trouble noticing and understanding everything as it happens. Sometimes understanding only comes as we look back at what once was, and how things have become. It wasn’t enough to keep up with daily changes in our garden this week; it seemed that changes appeared hourly.

This has been a week of changing, changeable weather with sunny mild days in the 70s followed by downpours, wind, lighting, and chilly nights just above freezing. The wind has swung around the compass wildly, too, bringing those rapid changes with it. Abundant rain, fog, misty days, and warmth all worked their magic to awaken our slumbering garden.

The Spring Equinox this week tipped the balance from our wintery garden to one filled with springtime magic. Buds have opened on trees, shrubs, and flowers even as the ferns finally awakened and began to unfurl by Thursday afternoon.

I ordered three special ferns that I have been wanting to grow for ages from Plant Delights Nursery near Raleigh, NC. I ordered a special Dryopteris that is supposed to have more reddish tint than is usual on its new growth, D. erythrosora var. prolifica , because of its unusual lacy texture unusual color. I finally brought it, and its companions outside on Thursday because the weather seems to have settled enough that they will adjust without any shock from cold nights.

But I wasn’t ready plant it out in the garden since our evergreen ferns have taken so much abuse this winter from both the hungry deer and the weather. Our remaining ferns are tattered and ragged, and so I transplanted the Dryopteris, and the Coniogramme jinggangshanensis ‘Shishi’, into containers. I only planted the Woodwardia unigemmata ‘Ping Wu’ into the garden directly, and I’m hoping for the best. The crested bamboo fern is replacing a Japanese holly fern, Cyrtomium falcatum, that had lived in the container for several years and was both pot bound and badly burned by this winter’s cold. All of its foliage had browned this winter. So after trimming it back above and below ground, I found a quiet and protected spot in the garden where I hope it will recover.

Both the holly fern and the Woodwardia went into one of our moss and fern gardens and so now I will need to help speed up a blanket of moss regrowing around them. Working with moss is a slow process where either patience or complete neglect seems to work. Moss grows on bricks and stones and patches of lawn with no encouragement or care. Getting moss to grow in where I want it can take years, and requires keeping the area moist and clean of debris. Transplanting small bits of the desired moss species to the open ground, and stepping on them firmly, helps, too.

Redbuds finally bloomed here by Friday, and our Magnolia liliifloras have covered themselves with purple buds and hints of green where leaves will emerge. A native plum tree budded out by Friday and should bloom later today. New leaves are emerging on all of our Hydrangeas now, and even the oaks are showing a hint of green as they awaken.

Narcissus of so many different sizes and varieties are blooming now. While they were slow to begin this spring, it seems the early and mid-season daffodils are all blooming at once. And the late season varieties are beginning to break ground with the tips of their leaves. While the Galanthus are going to seed now, the Leucojum have begun to bloom, growing into clouds of tiny white flowers beneath some of our Camellias.

Are you acquainted with any gnomes, fairies, sprites, and other elemental beings who tend to plants and oftentimes share our gardens? It is difficult, nearly impossible, for our limited human senses to hear sounds and see light at wavelengths beyond our own sensitivities. Cameras can often reveal what our senses don’t perceive. But nature spirits are far older than humankind, and they carry on their work of helping plants to grow whether we acknowledge them, or not. They are attuned to the landscape and are a part of our Earth’s energies. And their awakening and activities at spring equinox is key to the unfolding of spring growth.

This week has found me cleaning up and starting fresh in several areas of our gardens. Snipping away old growth, cutting aggressive vines, removing old leaves, picking up sticks, refreshing pots, planting, and spreading deer repellent may not be glamorous work, but it is so important to clear away the old in order to appreciate the new. I have (finally) cleaned out an old, leaking pond liner that we inherited here, and am preparing to fill it with compost and plant it up with water loving Iris in the week ahead.

There is always something interesting to do in the garden, but the real magic happens whether we do anything, or not.

With appreciation to Jim Stephens of Garden Ruminations, who

hosts Six on Saturday each week.