It really makes me nervous though. We never have this kind of luck in spring without the late freeze sneaking up from behind and clobbering us. Next week I may be heartily sorry that I spent the last two days raking the leaves out of the backyard beds and bagging them (too wet to shred). This act will weight the decision to recover things or choose to gamble. Last year, a very late spring, had a gamble decision as late as May. I lost. So did nearly everyone in Minneapolis. The bulb blooms and most foliage was lost to 3 days of single digit temperatures! On the bright side. I haven't uncovered all the woodland perennials in the side yard. They are madly coming up through their mulch though. All my tender things had a wonderful winter and are telling me so.
The garden centers are being overrun. Everyone wants to plant things out now! It's too early to plant grass, in spite of what folklore says. The birds will get most of it before the ground gets to the 55-57 degree temperature where grass germinates. Though we are coming along nicely, that will still probably be three weeks or better. Only the sunny, sandy, south slopes will warm faster.
For the eager gardeners out there, the things you can do now are legion, so don't be in such a hurry to plant. All the tools can be assembled, checked out, repaired, sharpened or replaced as needed. Every year I say that I am going to paint all my handles bright yellow, so that we won't lose them as easily. Who knows? Maybe this year I will.
Rake out those leaves that fell on top of the snow last fall. I know you didn't go out and rake them then! Since they froze in place and were blown down after we were all snug in our winter nests, they are now soggy mats and really need to get off the grass as soon as possible. Do be careful though, you can really cause compaction and damage to grass crowns if you tromp around on wet soil and claw the leaves off with a steel tined bow rake instead of a leaf rake.
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