Category: Uncategorized

A day’s difference

What a difference a day, and especially two, make at this time of year.  Two days ago only the cherry trees had leafed out.  Today this site was common.

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Yesterday our ninebarks hadn’t leafed out.  Today they looked like this.

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Two days ago the clematis was inches closer to the ground.  Today it looked like this.

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The tulip are starting to show buds.  The sedum are starting to round out.  The daylilies are up 4-6″.   The asian lilies are popping up in back.  Even the new red asian lilies I planted in front popped up overnight.  And a few hostas are starting to come up.  Not as many as I’m used to this time of year, and that slightly concerns me.  We lost some very healthy full hostas during the 2017-2018  winter and I was at a loss as to what happened.  I’m hoping it doesn’t happen again.

But almost all the daylilies are up, including one from last year’s seedlings.  And THAT is very exciting.

Our “Guest in the Garden” gets a promotion

WHAT!!!???

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Yup, it’s true.  Since I started working from home, our “guest in the garden” has gotten a new set of responsibilities, and a promotion.  He is no longer a guest.  He is now the full-time monitor of the garden, and, more importantly, the office manager.

About an hour into the day he comes in to the office to make sure everything is up to snuff, then returns to his garden monitoring activities (and occasionally a snooze). When I call in for meetings, he hears the speaker phone and comes running to circle around on his office blankie and listen in.   And at the end of the day he reminds me not to over-work by prancing and sneezing to ask for his walk.

Sandy’s contributions have been invaluable and he has worked very hard for this promotion.  Everyone please congratulate Sandy and welcome him to the team full-time.  Please feel free to reach out to him if you have questions about the squirrels, ducks, birds, and bunnies.

Not yet

In true Midwest form, we had the first wave of a spring snow storm come through today.  It’s melting a bit, but there’s cold air and more snow on the way.  We started the day with a visit from our duck friend.

Now the ground looks very different.

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We’re not totally at gardening spring weather yet.

Time to wake up

Twelve days ago the tulips were the first to pop up out of the ground.  They always are.  It is an incredibly welcome sight.

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The next day I started to see tiny bits of green in the lawn.  Tiny, but unmistakable.  Then I saw the one clump of iris we still have was popping up.

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And the pink asian lilies were popping up.

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Then the robins came to take baths.  And the first hen (duck) arrived.  The next day she came with the drake.  Then I noticed that by 5:30 am the cardinals were already singing.  And the chickadees were starting to look for the hummingbird water.  And the dark-eyed junkos were flocking up.  (I suspect they will be leaving soon.)  And the sedum were popping up …

Today I absolutely had to have my first serious garden day.  Out I went with my gloves on, to trim the sedums I left for the birds this past winter.  Then I picked up the large branches that had come off the linden (very normal).  I left the smaller pieces for the birds to use for their nests.  They do such a nice job of cleaning up!   I was cleaning up the debris around the hostas, and then I saw it … the daylilies are starting to  come up!!!  10 minutes later I got a text from our son’s girlfriend.  Her daylilies are coming up!   Now I’m jazzed – lol ☺  Out come the garden pretties (fun decorations) – the spinners, the toads and turtles and hiking and hunting bears.  The bird bath.  The whole shebang!!!  Spring is here!!!  The garden is waking up!!!

Just as I was bringing the last item – the bird bath warmer – into the garage, the predicted rain came.  Big plops.  Yes!   I “coffeed” section two of the four areas of the garden today.  Perfect timing.

Up in northern Minnesota, not so much, yet.  But that’s for another day.

Two more gorgeous days!

We had another gorgeous day yesterday, and a third today.  Besides more sun and increasingly longer days now, 47° F is quite a treat for January in MN!

Here’s sunrise pics from the past two days

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and sunset pics from yesterday.

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Tomorrow is supposed to drop more than 10° F and be cloudy so we took every opportunity to enjoy this special treat!

Last garden chore of the season

The last garden chore of the season is always pulling in all the garden decorations – the spinners, the funny little statues, things like that.  I bring them inside and let them get acclimated to the indoor temperature, and then I put them away in a tote for the winter.  That is now done.  Everything always fits in one bin – as long as I simultaneously put the winter lanterns out on one of the shepherd’s hooks.  Eventually the scarecrow picks and door hanger will go in that same bin, as long as they aren’t too beat up by the wind and rain – and the lawn crew – lol!

As I mentioned in a previous post, we live in a townhome.  Sometimes the lawn service crew gets a little over-zealous with the blowers.  Unfortunately they pretty much destroyed two of the 5 sedums this past week.  Not quite sure why, as there were no leaves to blow out of there, but nevertheless, it looked like a giant storm had come through that area alone.  Oh well.  Stuff happens.  I will still leave the now blown over sedums for the birds, and cut them back in the spring.  Unless, of course, they really start to bother me this week 😕

I had a change of heart on the bird bath warmer and put my “use what you have” ideas to work.  I took an old (mauve of all colors) plant pot, and weighted it inside with an old terra cotta plant pot.  Then I put an empty dish garden on top of that, put the bird bath warmer in the dish garden and plugged it in.  Within 15 min the birds came!  But we haven’t had a freezing night this weekend so I can’t report on whether or not the warmer is working.  And it’s been raining so I don’t have good pics … Stay tuned for updates.

The hibiscus has had 14 (maybe more) blooms since we brought it in, but is now resting.  There are a few more buds, so I won’t trim it yet.

The shamrocks started looking shaggy this week.  They will soon die back for the most part, and, like the hibiscus, rest.

Saturday I used up the last dozen of the tomatoes that were green last weekend and finally ripened.

So the outdoor garden is done and resting, and the plants we over-winter are also beginning to rest.  But I have envelopes of seeds just ready for May.  And I can’t wait to see what the daylily seedlings from this year might bring in 2019.  I suppose up I could head to the garden store and get something blooming, but more than likely I’ll just enjoy pictures – of our garden, and of other’s. Maybe this winter I will do another garden album.  It’s been years!

To round out this weekend, here’s a pic of today’s squirrel antics.  When our guest in the garden noticed them, he let them know he did not like that one bit!

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Should they stay or should they go?

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I have a week or so to decide, but I have another “experiment” in mind.  I’m thinking of leaving at least some of the sedum stand through the winter this year.  I hear the birds might enjoy them.

An article I read said it’s great to put out feeders, but it’s also important to have things for birds to forage.  A concern I have though is that dropped seeds will enable dozens and dozens of volunteers in the spring.  There’s already enough volunteers that I pluck by hand from the trees and the clematis.

I’m still deciding.

If we do that, is the next step a heated bird bath?  I read they like that too!

This morning the water in the birdbath was frozen.

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Yesterday at 4pm the wind was a bit calmer.  The “feels like” temperature was still in the mid 30s so it was a bit brisk, but I put on my red flannel thick lined shirt as a jacket and headed out to accomplish the very sad task of cutting the hostas back.  3 big piles later it was done and then I had to bag all those gorgeous leaves and set them aside for compost drop off next weekend.  Very sad, and I won’t even include pics, but now it’s done.  All that’s left are Dad’s two hostas in back (they’re still green) and two Rainforest Sunrise hostas in front (I might cut them back today).

Soon we will send snow pics from the garden.  But for now the fall garden clean-up is wrapping up.  Next is bringing in all the garden decorations, and changing out the garden flag.  And then the candles will go in the windows.