Janice Leach | Contributor

Here is our strategy for an almost instant garden.

Both the same species, the Large Flowered Trillium's brilliant white slowly changes to pink as it gets older. Which of these flowers is older?

Rick Meader | Contributor

Quick! Move fast! This warm weather is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing for obvious reasons, wearing shorts without getting goose pimples is one. It’s a curse because our wonderful spring ephemerals display their beauty for a much shorter period of time.

Given that, I have a suggestion for you that you should follow if at all possible, especially if you live in Ann Arbor, and it’s this. Visit the Washtenaw County Farm Park’s Britton Woods in the next few days.

Lefurge Woods, a preserve of the Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy, is a beautiful, mature woods that has fallen trees, and some pit and mound topography, as shown here. Try to visit it - you'll be glad you did.

Rick Meader | Contributor

And, once a tree dies, especially a showy maple, a stately oak, or a towering elm, we mourn its passing. The thing is, ecologically speaking, a good chunk of that stately oak’s work has yet to be done when it has breathed its last “breath.”

The horizontal branching of a cluster of Hawthorns (Crataegus spp.) gives passing drivers something nice to enjoy.

Rick Meader |Contributor

Since our springs are typically random weather crap-shoots as to what a particular day will bring, our native trees and shrubs are typically smart enough to keep their leaves huddled in their buds until April or May when the days are much longer. As such, we still have time to enjoy the skeletons of winter, and enjoy some of the shapes presented by our native trees and shrubs. So, in a category format, let’s take a look at some of the shapes and features that will be covered with leaves in a couple of months.

Janice Leach | Contributor

Maybe you tried gardening for the first time last year, and now you just have to go back for more. You find yourself lingering around every seed display, and you are sneaking more and more of those brightly colored packages into the house. Although the ground is still frozen, you are already making notes and plans about which plants are going where and possibly toying with the idea of perennials.

Or maybe your “friend” started with just a couple tomato plants, and everyone thought “that’s no big deal.” But now, he or she is anxious for the snow to melt and keeps talking about getting his or her “hands dirty again.” Maybe he or she is hanging with a new crowd, which includes the man down the block who grows roses or that helpful woman at the garden center. Perhaps your friend is even talking about starting a compost pile!

These are just some of the possible signs of a Gateway Gardener.

Not exactly what you want to hear when he opens your Valentine’s Day gift… And yes, it is possible to give such a bad gift that giving nothing would be an improvement.

For my research into this delicate subject, I consulted... what else? The Internet!

What I found both surprised and disturbed me. Read on!