Spring? Ha!

Spring on the calendar does not correspond to spring in real life. Yes, I've geese migrating, and a robin sings every morning on our street. Yet we are running out of space to move snow, and this pile is taller than me. In our neighborhood, Christmas decoration are still up because they're buried under snow. And one family has their Halloween decorations frozen into the ground. Mailboxes are buried in the drifts from the wind and snowplows. Sidewalks are icy or drifted over with snow. Cabin fever? I've got a bad case, and only watching the BBC's Gardener's World can relieve the symptoms.

Shrubs Update

This post will show the progression of my shrubs that I planted. I hope my upcoming updates show good growth, but I have noticed that my honeysuckles have been eaten down to the snow line (rabbits!), so we'll see what happens.

"Sleep. Creep. Leap." That's the general mantra for what to expect after planting shrub for year 1, 2, and 3. Planting shrubs in a drought probably wasn't the best timing, but a gardener doesn't know when a drought will hit. So I planted. And watered. I made sure to water about an inch a week by turning the sprinkler on a slow trickle so the water would slowly be absorbed by the ground surrounding the shrub.

On the left are native cranberry viburnum, in the center honeysuckle Kodiak Orange, and Limelight hydrangea on the right with some daisies planted in front of them. The large dirt spot is a repaired hole. This is the "sleep" year for the honeysuckle and hydrangea. The following year (late summer 2022) I planted three chokeberries (below) on clearance. We'll see how they do. 

However, the "creep" year (2022) is good for the honeysuckle--summer and fall photos below.

The service berries seem to have struggled a bit, so I'll keep my eye on them. The fall color was nice.

The hydrangea were pretty impressive for the second year. I'm hoping this winter doesn't damage them too much. 

2022 was a "leap" year for the viburnum, and they have done well.

Here's a summer 2022  overview. I'm looking forward to gardening season 2023!

Life in a blizzard

There's nowhere for all the snow to go. The mailboxes are buried after the snow plow goes through, and my little free library is completely surrounded by snow. This is the view outside the front door because I don't want to go outside. The front step is shoveled (thank you, hubby!), so you can get the idea of how the snow is piled next to the house. Thankfully, I have school online today, and I had stocked our shelves so we don't need to drive. The roads are looking better now, but last night there were in drifts in our side street. 

Above is our first batch of snow (4 or 5 inches), and below is the deck cleaned up. When we get a lot of snow, it's better to clean in batches. 

The wind blew the additional snow into drifts, even on our deck. 

It's hard to tell how many inches we got because the wind has been blowing so fiercely. 8? 12? Update: 15 inches! The photo below shows how the snow blower cuts a swath through the snow. I'm glad to be cozy and warm indoors today. 

Seed Geraniums

Seed geraniums are a beautiful bargain. I used to splurge on one magnificent geranium each summer. The colors and textures of the special varieties have many clever variations so it's tough to choose. However, the prices have really risen, no surprise there. In past summers, I noticed that the "cheap" geraniums did just as well, if not better. I bought these seed geraniums at a discount hardware store on sale. I didn't get much of a choice on color because they were picked over, even though I checked at the store frequently. But no matter...they look good!

Above are three pots with one geranium each. I used dried grass clippings as mulch. Even though some people have an aversion to red geraniums (Why? Red is a great color!), the bright red mixed with the pinks look good. I bought these nine plants (about $1.25 each) for the cost of one or two specialty plants ($5.99-11.99). If a gardener can afford the pricier plants, that's great. For those of us on a budget, these are a "pretty" good deal. 

All this snow!

We have an additional 13.8 inches of snow. What's it like to live with all this snow? The snow hangs past the roof line, showing the power of wind and cold. We have to un-bury our mailboxes because the plow pushes the snow up and sometimes over. On our road, we've lost about six feet (three on each side) of width because there's only so much room to push the show. The intersections have snow piles that make it difficult to see oncoming traffic, so we inch forward slowly because a car speeding down a main road may not see us until the last second and icy roads make it difficult to stop. 

It's too much snow for my body to clear at once. I'm trying not to hurt myself clearing snow, and I have sore muscles anyway. For safety, we keep the basement window well clear (below), but to get there (or get out), a person would walk through knee-deep snow. Today, however, the roads are better--icy in spots, compacted snow on side streets, but mostly clear. I can handle winter better when I can go places other than the (snow-buried) mail box. 

Happy New Year!

Even in winter, the garden is on my mind. This ash tree is close to the house. I'm going to ask a professional for advice on whether to remove it. I think the answer is yes, but I don't want to have to pay for that when I could be buying plants instead. I hope you have some time off today. I'm using my time to catch up on reading. I love a cozy spot to sit and read. Happy New Year!

Solstice Celebrations!

Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Solstice Greetings! I'm happy because the days will begin to lengthen. I struggle to get out of bed in the morning when it's so dark because the sun rises later and the clouds that are bringing our second winter storm block what little light we get. I think perhaps I cursed the good weather trend when I posted about sitting outside in November. Sure, the snow is pretty, and the crews clear the snow pretty well. Thank you to those unsung heroes! Because of the dangerous wind chills, however, I won't walk outside for a few days. I'm grateful for my treadmill since I'll be eating a little too well with Christmas cookies and mashed potatoes. My instincts are to curl up on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea. 'Tis the season for hibernation.