Finally.....

After a long, cold winter it's finally looking like spring. We've had two weekends in a row without snowfall! And today it got up to around 70!

Ahhhhhhh.

[OK, so that's a bit of a cheat. I bought the Pericallis above at a Big Box Store. What can I say? I'm feeling desperate for color.]

So yesterday was the Ceremony of the Moving the Snow Shovel into the Basement and the Putting the Parkas away till next winter. Today was the first day of the Spring Races.

I'm racing to cut back last year's dead vegetation before this  year's new green grows up and make the job that much harder.

I won with the chives.

But the catmint, Nepeta Walker's Low, might have gotten ahead of me. I have my "short" day tomorrow so I'll scootch out after giving lecture and rush home to try to finish the spring clean up.

And I will make a note that I need even more crocus for next year.

Did I mention I was desperate for flowers? So are the bees.

They were all over my crocus today.

Hmmm... At least the Dwarf Iris were able to grow through the dead perennial. Now how am I going to trim back the dead.... 

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.

Turning Over the Veggie Garden.

We've had our first frost here at The Edge and it did a number on the tomato plants.

They started to die back.

The tomatoes that were left on the vine were also damaged.

I picked the few that were ripe and ate them (they were not as good as earlier season tomatoes). I know some people will pick the green tomatoes and try to get them to ripen after the plants die back but I have enough fresh, peak season tomatoes frozen that I don't feel the need to do that.

Since the last tomatoes were not great and the plants were damaged I just went ahead and hauled them out, cleaning up the bed for fall.

I'm not big on fall crops but I didn't want to leave the bed bare so I put in some colorful Swiss Chard to liven things up a bit until the snow flies. 

I also put in some bulbs: hyacinths, daffodils and crocus. I'm treating them as annuals that will perk things up early in the spring but will be done by the time it's tomato planting season again. The veggie bed is right near our main entrance to the house so they'll give me a LOT of enjoyment and I'll have enough that I can pick some to take to work without feeling like I'm reducing the pleasure in the garden (if that makes sense).

Now I have to teach my neighbor how to plant bulbs. Last year she bought a few and planted one in each hole, spaced out evenly like it says on the package directions. The image above is how I do it. Guess which looks better in the spring.

This year I got all my bulbs from Messelaar Bulb Company, they're about 10 or 15 minutes up the road and when you walk in you're blown away by both the selection and quality of the bulbs. Or, at least, I am. It's hard to walk out without quite the armload. I've done a tulip bulb run, a daffodil bulb run and I still have to go back for the late arriving Amaryllis bulbs (for forcing, indoors). They should be in soon.... I better dig out my Amaryllis pots!

Today was....

Today was warm (near 60) and sunny [need to work on my Teva tan!]. 

Today was the first day of the year that I saw a bee [hooray for crocuses - what else would the poor bees have to eat this time of year?].

Today was the first time I got to use my new Felco Pruners [this is what happens when you take a day off work to stay home sick and have internet access and a credit card].

Today was the first day of the year for me to get my knees so muddy [but the veggie garden is completely weed free now!].

Today was a good day.




WANT MORE.

Wait.... What?

I got home from work today and the outside temperature was quite warm.  So I put on my sandals and went outside and saw...

Blooming crocuses!

I may actually have some outside blooms for February's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

If this keeps up I'll need to start my spring gardening chores soon.

I can handle that.