Shooting Stars, Warm Weather, Invasions

It is still hard to do much of anything in the garden, because I’m tired a lot, and I can’t lift more than 10 pounds at a time.  So I have to ask Bill to do the heavy work, and he’s already pretty busy preparing and painting the house, foot by foot. 

But the yard has a lot going for it, and as long as I can keep things from getting away from me it will continue to reveal its beauty. 

Today, the fish are showing themselves in the shallow parts of the pond – the Great Blue Heron of last fall finally has escaped their memory it seems.  The Water Lily leaves have broken the surface of the water finally, and it won’t be long now til they cover a significant portion of it. 

The Shooting Star plant has made one bloom, and will soon make more.  Seems late, considering how far ahead most things are.  But the native plants tend to be more careful than other things for sure, emerging later and not being as responsive to the oddities of the particular year.  The Pasque flowers are pretty much right on schedule.  It’s hard for me to be so disciplined.  I’ve moved several plants outside, perhaps earlier than usual.  Have to keep an eye on them, but I hope it will be OK.

Today we planted Cannas, earlier than usual,  but in fact a week or so later than last year.  I still have quite a few in the basement, and will have to find a place for them soon or they will be wasted.  My favorite tulips are the Darwin varieties.  The yellow ones that I planted in the first year or so in this yard have spread and I’ve moved them around, til there are great clumps in several places.  Very beautiful for a week or two in spring.

The big event of today was finding a clump of garlic mustard along the creek.  They were blooming, but not yet seeding.  This is an invader that I really don’t want to gain a foothold for sure.  So we spent some time this morning pulling up the plants, making sure to get every one, and putting them into a black plastic bag in which we can bake them in the sun and then toss them out.  Keeping the creekside free of loosestrife, garlic mustard, buckthorn, and other invasive plants is a constant challenge. 

Spring Marches on Quickly

Since the challenge of keeping something in bloom once the Winter Aconite started, there has been little challenge.  It has been such a warm gentle spring that things are just jumping up and into full bloom, sometimes faster than I can keep up with them.  Was away for a week last week, and the change in the yard was unbelievable.  The crocuses have bloomed and are done.  Daffodils are fully out now, some even past prime.  Tulips, Hyacinth, Squills, Grape hyacinth, all emerging. 

The Bloodroot came up, bloomed, and is done, pretty much all while I was in the hospital.  There is a single Trilium coming up next to the clump.  And Forget-me-nots are blooming there too, though I never planted them.  The Marsh Marigold has a single blossum, at least it comes up each year.  Forsythia is pretty much done, though it may have lasted longer if we didn’t have the 5 inch snow a week and a half ago.  Many Pulmanaria around the yard are blooming, as are the Pasque flowers.  Prairie Smoke is beginning, and so are the Darwin Tulips in the first berm.  Snowdrops have come and gone.  Shooting star is just getting ready to burst forth.  And I think the Japanese Lilac will be next. 

We had fresh asparagus from the garden for dinner tonight.  Not a lot, but enough to whet our appetites for more.  Also fresh chives for the baked potato, and a little mint just to smell nice.  And the frogs are singing in either our pond or the neighbors each night.  Hope we get tadpoles again this year.

It is surely good to be home.  Going to be difficult to keep up with all the changes in the next few weeks, but most things can make it on their own.  I poke around doing tiny jobs, and ask Bill to do the big things.  He’s also painting the house this spring, so he’s busy for sure.  Not sure when the garden will be plowed, but we are really still at least a month out from major planting time.  I should be able to do more by then, I hope.  

Spring Work Resumes

Oh Boy!  We worked pretty hard the last couple of days transitioning the yard from Winter to Spring.  Many of the things that had been bent and broken by the first snowstorm back in early December were just so obtrusive now that the snow cover had receded.  And it was a dramatic melt for sure.  A week ago it was Winter, and snow still covered most of the yard. Yesterday and today it has seemed like mid summer.  And the snow is almost totally gone from everywhere except the front porch, where the piles left from shoveling are protected by the shade of the house.  

Yesterday and today we worked a few hours each day to begin the cleaning up process.  I cut or pulled the dead old stalks and shoots of perennials around the mailbox, around the pond, around the gazebo, and in the Evergreen garden.  Bill spent the days cutting down about 20 or 25 Green Ash saplings, which could have become nice trees but which we feared would become just more that we'd have to pay to cut down once the Emerald Ash Borer made its way into Outagamie County.  As it is, There are still 15 or 20 that are too large for us to cut down ourselves, and some day they will cost us a pretty penny.

We have a pile of stuff that needs to be burned soon, but have to go get a permit first, and also let the warm air dry things out a little bit more.  And then wait for a calm day of course.  We put most everything that we can in the compost, and put out the woody brush to be shredded.  but there is still this stuff in between.  Some of the neighbors have trailers and cart theirs away every couple of weeks.  I don't really like to burn, but what else?  

The pond is now completely ice free, and fish are beginning to be visible.  We took out the aerator and the heater, and cleaned up around enough to start up the pump.  It took a little cleaning and a little pushing of water through with the hose, but it's working now, and should be able to keep an open area unless the temps fall below 20 for more than a few days.  The water isn't as clear as I wish it would be, and the fish are hard to spot.  But I've seen at least 6 or 7 at a time, and I'll find a way to clear the water soon, I hope.  

In the last couple of days we've seen Robins, Bohemian Waxwings, red-breasted Nuthatches, heard Sandhill Cranes overhead, and of course, the usual Chickadees, various Finches, Mourning Doves, etc.  The Juncos are still around, but I imagine they'll leave any day now. There have been many ducks in the creek over the last week or so, and small groups flying overhead.  And the Cardinals are certainly sizing each other up and claiming territory.  I'm still waiting for the first song of the Red-Winged Blackbird - the true sign of spring.  

Oh, and the first flower of the season has bloomed - the Winter Aconite.  I looked for it yesterday and found nothing.  But today, there were two new emergences, each with a simple yellow flower.  More will come over the next week or two.  This bloom is about 9 days earlier than last year, and it signals the beginning of the challenge I have each year to keep something in bloom from the first bloom in spring until at least the end of October. 

Ducks, Hawks, and new Sprouts

The snow is receding from any thermal retentive surfaces, and the sun is stronger and stronger.  There is an almost 3 foot wide open space along the south side of the house for Kate to explore, and it expands outward in a few places under trees.  She is in heaven, but she is sharing the space with another cat, a visitor who appears to be well cared for but who has been around for several days.  We see  tracks all around the neighborhood that are clearly cat tracks, and we have seen the butterscotch tabby itself almost every evening for awhile.  It runs when we open the door, so we haven't been able to check for a collar or an ID tag.  Hope it finds its way home soon.

Today was the first day I actually found things growing outside, Though I'd not be surprised if I've missed a few things lately.  Because of my surgery, I haven't felt safe walking around out in the snow, so I haven't gotten out to the far reaches of the yard.  But near the deck today I found the first allium sprout, a couple of mushrooms, and the first growth of the hardy amaryllis. 

We've been seeing ducks in the creek, at least two males and one female, maybe more (I find it hard to recognize ducks as individuals...)  The Cardinals and Chickadees still dominate the bird feeders.  My neighbors said there was a flock of robins in one of our trees two weeks ago.  I didn't see them, so I can't count them.  Waiting for my first of the spring.  Should be any day now I think.   

Signs of Spring are Adding Up

The sun is stronger, usually melting any light snow in a few hours.  And the days are surely longer.  The light is brighter, even when it is cloudy.  The birdsong is sprightlier, the “cheer” of the Cardinals is beginning to predominate.  I swear there are buds beginning to swell on some trees.  The roads are clear by mid-morning, even without the plows coming through. 

I’ll bet, if I could get over to the place, that I’d find a few alliums beginning to poke through the soil beneath the snow.  And, because the snow has melted along a strip in the South and East sides of the house,  Kate is finding her way around the southeast corner of the house and all the way to the other end of the east side.  Her world has expanded.  We saw her gazing longingly at the creek today, though the snow is still keeping her from attempting to get there. 

My orchids are all putting forth flower stalks, and even the 20 year old hoya that has never bloomed is setting buds.  (that last could be related to my having moved it into a bright south window after years of keeping it against a wall on the other side of the room.) 

It’s time to start propagating the geranium cuttings hanging in the basement, and soon to take out the cannas and assess their winter survival.

Snow Again

Just got another 5 or six inches of snow, to cover the dirty piles that had been melting for several weeks.  Looks beautiful again outside.  It is mid-February, though, and it would be nice to start seeing things move toward spring.  The days are getting longer for sure, it was still light at 5:30 last night.  And the stronger sun clears the deck in short order.

The aerator and small heater are easily keeping up with the cold and snow, maintaining a patch of open water that should allow the fish to survive the winter outside.  Will be interesting to see if they regain their boldness that they lost after the encounter with the heron last fall.

This post was made as a demonstration for the Torch Club meeting tonight.

Thought this was supposed to be an "El Niño" Winter

Catchup post (preparing for a New Year's Resolution to start blogging again..): 

Maybe I just jumped to the conclusion that warmer temps would mean less snow.    But, so far that is not the case.  There was no snow at all until after Thanksgiving.  But then, on December 9th we got hit with about 15 inches of wet, heavy stuff.  It weighted down the white cedars and covered everything with a white blanket.  branches bowed down on nearly every tree, the pond aerator had a hard time keeping a spot open, and we had to turn on the small heater.   It was beautiful at first for sure.  The Pagoda Dogwood is particularly nice with its structure outline by the contrast between branches and the snow. 

The thick blanket may well keep the frost shallow this year, especially if we don't get a total melt down before really cold weather. 

And, looking now at the NOAA site about El Niño predictions, I find that around here for the next month or so we have "equal chances" of above and below normal temps and precipitation.  So far this year we've certainly had a mix of warm, cold, dry, wet.  What might come next?

Today, on Christmas, it is raining and 37 degrees in Green Bay where I'm staying with my Dad.  Supposed to get cold tonight, and the rain will likely change to snow before its all over.