First Flowers of 2015!

Today the first flowers of 2015 (outside) have bloomed. Not surprisingly they're crocuses.

This does not herald the arrival of spring in all her glory but it does show that winter is (finally!) in retreat.

Yes, that's today. At least I can see some patches of ground.

In other news... One of our new kittens in living up to his name. We recently replaced our old couch and have temporarily turned it on it's end to take up less space till we can get rid of it. Wren manged to fly up and perch of the top of the couch, right up by the ceiling.

I just hope he doesn't try to build a nest up there...

Update from the Arctic Hinterland

I've been looking at other bloggers post on their early spring flowers, spring clean up, mud season. Up here, North of Boston, we're still firmly in the grip of winter. At this time of previous years I've had crocus blooming.

This year I can't see the Hellstrip where I've planted hundreds of crocus bulbs.

These, tucked up near the house in a rare bare spot, are TRYING to come up.

You can do it!

Well, maybe in a week or two more...

The snow is starting to recede in places, mostly up against the house and along the driveway.

Here's an unknown plant making a run for it. I can't even see what's near it to try and remember what I planted there - you're seeing basically from the edge of the house to the edge of the snow field.

Right by the front door my always early Aquilegia 'Little Lanterns' is starting to show. Those early bloomers got to get started as soon as possible. When these bloom you know it's time to have your hummingbird feeder up.

Of course the receding snow is also showing signs of damage.

I don't think this holly is going to be nicely shaped this year. It should be quite a bit taller than it appears now. I guess I'll have some "rescue and recovery" pruning to do once the snow finally melts. [note the leaning gutter behind the shrub? Guess what The Husband has to repair once the snow finally melts?]

And my matching dwarf golden threadleaf cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera) are sporting matching damage.

The plant should be growing up in this picture, not sideways.

In this image "up" on the plant is to the right. *shudder*

I think I'll be replacing those this year. They bracket the front door. I'll have to think about alternatives for those spots...

When is spring arriving this year? 

I visited my mom in NC last week. She sent me home on the plane with a lone daffodil in my hand. Thanks, mom. I need that on my desk this week! I won't be seeing those in MY garden for a while yet.

The Problem with Snow

In case you've been living in a hole - Boston (just down the road from me) has had it's third snowiest winter on record this winter. And most of that has been in February. I've got about 4 feet of snow on the ground in my yard right now.

The bit of plant to the right is part of a four foot tall Pieris 

Even our fuzzy dog is tired of it. 

But what problem is this causing to my garden? It's causing a problem that I'll have to deal with in April and/or May.

I'm still getting new catalogs from mail order companies.

I've ordered too many plants.

Because of the snow I'm not getting out of the house as much as normal. So I'm stick inside, bored, and longing for some green. And I've got this great big stack of catalogs on my desk. 

Add to that the fact that my garden looks like this...

and I can't exactly go outside and look at the garden and notice where the empty spaces are or where I could possibly tuck in  a new plant. I think I've ordered about 2 or 3 plants for each space.

Oh, look. I haven't ordered anything from the new High Country Gardens catalog yet...

Preparing for The Storm

The weathermen are predicting The Apocalypse tomorrow. Well, they're predicting a strong blizzard but the hyperbole is heavy. It's the Storm-of-the-Century of the Month. We'll probably get a foot or more of snow.

So we made sure we were ready just in case. Fuel in the car, check, food in the pantry, check, pet food, check and back up water supply.

If this doesn't do us there's always the other option.

Yep, that's 120 gallons of less than ideal but still safe to drink water. I don't think the fish would appreciate it if we started in on their water supply, though. I did a partial water change yesterday so it's relatively clean.

Fill the bird feeders.

Realize the birds are emptying the feeder fast today and put "fill the bird feeders" back on the to do list.

My job is cancelled until Thursday. What should I do with this unexpected (and probably house bound) new time?

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

So what if I've already placed my orders for this spring. I bet I can find something else I just HAVE to have....

And now [because the relationship is new and I can't get enough of my new kittens] here's Wren. Young and naive enough to get shocked by the weather forecast and very glad he got rescued and is now an indoor cat.

Stay safe ya'll.

Freaky Friday

It's the last Friday of October.  Late Fall, right?  The leaves are still on most of the trees.

So what is THIS?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO[breathe, breathe]OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I have to admit the pattern of ice on my windshield is nice to look at.  Not so nice to have to scrape off, though.  Time to clean out the garage so I can park inside again.

This better melt in time for me to plant the rest of my bulbs this weekend.  (see, this post does have something to do with gardening!)

Better Hurry!

The local weather is saying we might get the end of the world snow tonight.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO[breathe,breathe]OOOOOOOOOOO!

I'd better hurry up with my fall end-of-season chores.

Like picking up these grape tomatoes so I don't have thousands of seedlings in the spring.

I cut back the sage by half and have the cuttings drying on a rack in the basement next to the rack of oregano.

[I say rack but I mean those nursery flats with a lot of holes in the bottom to allow for good air circulation.  Once you clean them they are great for drying herbs]

And there are the bulbs.  I picked up these forty tulips at Messelar Bulb Co last Saturday and put them in the ground on Sunday.  Messelar is just up the road from us so it's a quick drive up to their house and into what was probably originally a garage to look through racks and racks of bins.  Support your local business.  

[Of course they ship the bulbs in so maybe I'm supporting the Dutch Bulb Mafia.  I assume there is a Dutch Bulb Mafia but they intimidate all of the news sources so no one reports on them.  I means, really, if you were to admit you knew about them you would never, ever be able to buy bulbs again and they might come by in the middle of winter and dig up your precious plants before spring.  {Or is that squirrels?  Or do the squirrels work for the Dutch Bulb Mafia?  Inquiring minds want to know!}  Anyway I'm not taking a chance!  My official position is that there is NO Dutch Bulb Mafia.  {Please don't dig up my tulips.}]

The rest of my bulbs sit in a box in my office.  Brent and Becky shipped about a week too late so instead of being able to plant during the nice weather last weekend I'll be out in the forty degree weather on Sunday trying to get the bulbs in the ground before the ground freezes for the winter.

Brrrr.

Strangely enough I'm already ready for spring...

Miscellaneous Monday

I took my Houseplant Bloggers Bloom Day Pictures on the 14th last week.  On the morning of the 15th, as I was rushing out the door, I noticed that my Meyer's Lemon buds had finally opened.  Right on time but a bit too late for me to post.  So here it is.

[I'm never very happy when I have to use my flash]

I don't think I'll let it go to fruit.  The plant is less than one year old (in my house and I bought it in a 3 inch pot so it really is quite young) and needs to do a bit of growing.  I'd rather it put it's energy there.  Plus I don't think the stem could support one (or more) full sized lemons.  If it sets fruit I'll just prune them off.  Maybe after a summer outside it will be ready.

***********************************************

The Husband is developing Late Winter Fever.  It's been a long hard winter and he is anxious for the snow to melt.  So he's been shoveling patches down to the ground.  His idea is that sunlight hitting the dark surface of mulch or grass will cause the surrounding area of snow to melt faster.  I'm trying to convince him to remove snow from the corner of the driveway where I can't see when I'm backing out. 

I haven't told him that I'm planning to pile snow up on top of my Mexican feather grass to provide better insulation this week.  It's only borderline hardy here and the winter has been really harsh so I'm expecting to loose it.  But I'll try keeping it covered for a bit longer.

**********************************************

I'm suffering from Late Winter Blues (it doesn't help that The Queen Bee has had temperatures in the 60s and 70s - she lives just up the road a piece from where I used to live).  Like The Husband I am sick of snow and cold and being stuck indoors.  So I pulled out my catalogs and ordered some plants from Bluestone Perennials.  The first bed to go in this year will be on the Mad Side of the house where I'm planning to put in a shade bed.  So I ordered some Wood Fern and several types of Astilbe.  I have a few heuchera in the area as well, to go under the office window.  Once we get the snow pack down some more I'll have to walk around and look and see if I really do have enough space for everything I ordered (or more space that I'll be able to fill!).  I'm going on memory and at this time of the year that's just not reliable.  

I thought I had taken notes (and photos) of every part of the garden I'd need to look at when it came time for ordering but I guess not.  Oh well, if it's too much I'll have to put some around back when I want to put in some Hostas.  Large, blue leaved Hostas.  I'm hoping to find them at an LGC this year.

Tomorrow I hope to take photos of our New England Crop Circle.  Stay tuned!

Help! There's an Assassin in my Kitchen!

The weather here is frightful so I was spending a quiet afternoon messing with plants.  I went to pot up a couple of cuttings I had started on the kitchen windowsill and found...  Drumroll please...  An Assassin!

Well, an Assassin bug (family Reduviidae).

Isn't he a little beauty!  Assassin bugs are very welcome in my garden but in my kitchen?  And what do I do with him?  There's about 3 feet of snow on the ground, he's not going to be able to find food and shelter at this time of the year!  So he can't go outside where he belongs.  Should I catch him up, stick him in an unused aquarium and try to feed him crickets and mealworms?  What if this species is a specialist?  Some of them are.  In fact some specialize on cockroaches. 

I hope this isn't a sign of a cockroach infestation. 

What is it even doing alive in February?  Most assassin bugs are dormant as eggs over the winter.  I see small assassin bugs early in the spring and summer but the adults I see in the late summer and fall. 

I guess all Assassins should be mysterious and this fellow surely is!  I think I'll name him Bob Dillon.  No, not after THAT Bob Dillon, after THIS one.  And I'll have to re-read Pest Control (by Bill Fitzhugh) again.  

Oh, and all of ya'll complaining about winter?  This bird feeder support is over 6 foot tall.  Imagine how much fun I have digging out a path to refill it. 

I'm officially over winters in New England.  How long until Spring?

The Blizzard of 2010

We survived (so far) The Blizzard of 2010!  

Of course I don't think we're going anywhere anytime soon.  Certainly not to the Local Garden Center to see what on After Christmas Sale.

This is why I leave my garden un-"tidied" until Spring (well, it's reason number 3, right after good for the birds, good for insects and just before I'm lazy).  Winter Interest.  Something has to break the monotony of the snow.

Like Liatris.

And Panicum virgatum.

Although usually I enjoy the evergreen leaves and flower buds that last all winter on the Pieris today they are covered in snow.

Piper is enjoying the snow.  It's really hard to get a good photo of a dark colored dog running around in the snow.

The Husband kindly held the yard stick for me so I can show ya'll how deep the snow is - nearly 16 inches!

And that doesn't include places where it's blowing into drifts.  Or weird wave like sculptures.

The wind has also sculpted 3-D forms on the side of the house and the mailbox.  Wicked cool.

The good thing about New England is that even with all this snow we should be able to get out of the house this afternoon (or tomorrow at the latest) so we won't get bad cabin fever.  I'm not sure about The Queen Bee and her Entourage, they had to cancel their trip up here because the snow started down there and they got at least five inches.  She's posting picture on her blog.  I will for depth of snow.  She wins for level of inconvenience.

Today in the Garden - UPDATED

Today is a two post day - be sure to scroll down to see the post about the December Surprise I found in the garden on Thursday.

I definately am not in my typical habitat today.  Being a hot-house flower I usually live in warm climates.  But now I'm in New England and today there is snow!

We got about 2.75 inches of snow overnight, the first plowable snow of the year.  I'm sure it won't be the last but the first snow is always the prettiest.  So turn up the heat, light a fire in the fireplace and enjoy.  This is what my garden looks like today.

Poor Rosemary.  I'll have to bring her into the garage this afternoon to try and get her to survive the winter.  My smaller pot of Rosemary is inside on my desk.

Contorted Filbert.  Looking very contorted.

Hmmm.   I don't have as many good images as I thought.  I'd better pull on the boots and go outside with the camera for another photo shoot.
 ***********************************************************************************

Well, I had to wait a while until some of the snow either melted or compacted so that I could see anything besides bumps where my perennials are hiding.  This is my first major effort to photograph in snow so please be patient.  I clearly could use more practice.  I'm afraid I'll get plenty this winter.

Scabiosa Butterfly Blue (I know it looks pinkish in this photo).  This is one long-blooming plant!  If it doesn't get completely covered with snow by the 15th I should have at least one outdoor plant for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

African Blue Basil.  The only reason it's sticking up through the snow is because I haven't brought in all of my plant supports yet.  I left these plants in place to hold the leaves in the bed as free mulch.

Gold Thread-leaf Cypress and unknown Azalea

Italian Parsley by the plowed driveway.  I only put annuals near the driveway so that I don't have to worry about damage to plants during the plowing season.

Sedum 'Autumn Fire'  Not so hot now, huh?

Miscanthus Zebra and Holly Blue Something.  I didn't get the Miscanthus in the ground this year but since it's in a (cheap) plastic pot I left it over the winter.  In the spring (if it survives) it will go in the ground basically where it's currently sitting.  It provides a strong contrast to the dark green holly leaves.

Mexican Feather Grass.  I'm really pushing this plant.  It's planted right up by the house, between the driveway, the garage and the walk to the front door.  I'm hoping the microclimate there will be warm enough for it to survive the winter.  If not I'll buy more next year.  I really like this little grass (and it's not invasive here).