A Very Different Kind of Winter From Last Year

 Note the photos below from last March 8th.  Now here are a few from yesterday in Sunnyview Gardens, and there is more snow falling right now.  I'm ready for winter to leave, but it appears it will be here for awhile.

A Long HOT Summer

It’s been really hot all summer, and very dry.  Hardly any rain in June or July.  Many of the perennials were looking pretty shabby, until a recent rainfall did some amazing things.  I have never seen anything like this.  The purple coneflowers throughout the yard began sprouting new growth from the spent seedheads.  They are actually quite beautiful. 

Pretty much every clump of them has at least one head doing this.  I’m not sure what they will do next, whether those are flowers or new plantlets.  But for now, pretty special.

More Firsts

The first flower bloomed in the yard today.  It will be quite a challenge to ensure now that there is always something in bloom until next winter.  I can’t find many other things close, but there are many more of the snowdrops to come, so perhaps others will catch up. 

There have been robins in the yard for a week or so, and the cardinals are singing spring songs.  Juncos are still here, but I bet that won’t last long.  Many flocks of geese going North, and some ducks are sizing up the creek for nesting spots.  Still waiting to hear a redwing blackbird, though others have said they are around.

The pond is now completely thawed, and the fish seem happy for the ability to swim around more.  It seems they have made it through the winter quite well. 

 

Yesterday the temperature approached 60 degrees, with more warm temps headed our way.  Today is lower, around 40, but much nicer because the wind is diminished and the sun is out. 

Next to Emerge…

Some hybrid tulips on the South side of the house. 

 

And also the hardy Amaryllis. 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and the onions harvested from the garden last fall may not last much longer either, even though I’ve been keeping them in the basement right next to a wall.  Really wish I had a better root cellar. 

Allium is First Again

The first sprout of the spring was visible today, perhaps the earliest in some time.  Not a flower yet for sure, but a sign that some things at least have made it through this unusual winter. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, there have been shoots of various things visible for much of the winter – the chrysanthemums, some of the sedums, some of Bill’s favorite columbines – all establish some shoots at the end of the season that stay just above the ground for the winter.  With the snowless winter we’ve had, they have been exposed to much freezing and thawing, and I hope they are all OK. 

Clean New Snow

A light snow overnight has made everything pretty and white again.  Still not really much on the ground, but at least it looks like winter.  The birds are everywhere lately.  Lin next door gave me her peanut butter suet recipe, and we made a couple of birch log suet holders.  Many different birds seem to like them a lot, including the chickadees, a nuthatch, and woodpeckers. 

 

 

The favorite suet feeder in the yard seems to be the ceramic feeder in the gazebo.  It’s never worked well with seeds, because the holes are too large.  But stuffed with suet it attracts all types.  Looks pretty gross, but birds do seem to love it.

 

A group of English Sparrows has taken over one of the feeders, and they are also occupying the forsythia bush near the deck.  Don’t really want a sparrow tree in the yard, so I may discourage them. 

 

The new snow was pretty for sure.  I don’t love winter, and I don’t love snow.  But if I’ve got to put up with winter I would like some of the beauty of snow, especially in January. 

  

 

 

The gargoyle is still guarding the hole in the pond created by the aerator and sometimes the heater.  I haven’t been able to see the fish for awhile since the snow covered the ice over most of the pond.  Hope they are hanging on.  Looking forward to the melt in another month or two. 

 

Peanut Butter Suet Recipe:

Melt ½ pound Lard

Stir in 1 cup chunky Peanut Butter (or creamy PB and fine ground peanuts)

Add 2 cups yellow corn meal

2 cups quick oats

¾ cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

Store in Refrigerator or garage in winter.

January 9th? Seriously?

This winter has been amazing for sure.  We’ve had a little snow here and there, but it hasn’t stuck around for longer than a few days each time. 

Today the afternoon temperature is approaching 45 degrees.  It looks and feels like March, and its only the middle of January.  I’m sure that we will see some colder days in the coming weeks, but I’ll take this for as long as it goes.

Here are photos of the yard, including the remains of the willow tree that we had cut down in early December. They came to do it before the ground froze completely, so we will have work to do in the spring cleaning up. I hope the ruts work themselves out some before then. I think it will be nice to have that tree gone. Beautiful and dramatic as it was, it was messy for sure.

 

And the windstorm in early September really bent many of the branches and it was feeling dangerous to walk under there. I think we’ll also appreciate the earlier light on the vegetable garden, and the tree roots won’t be sucking up all of the nutrients we put out there.

The fish in the pond mostly hang around on the bottom, but come up to look around in the heat of the day.  There are so many of them that I’m afraid the air hose we have going may not be enough to sustain them if the pond freezes over more than it has.  But so far all are well.