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Thu, Feb 28, 13 at 9:21
| Happens every year. I even know its coming. The warmer zone gardeners start posting about the spring activity in their garden and I get a bit jealous. It is predictable and I have it completely under control....and then I get 10" of snow dropped on me and have to shovel it by hand all by myself because my husband's out of town and the snow-blower is being finicky again. At this point, I look outside at all the white and want to climb the walls. It is the hardest time of year. Spring is right around the corner, but winter is not going to let go without a fight. I'm trying to rationalize it away with the fact that all the snow this winter goes a good way towards replenishing what our summer drought stripped away. I find it is cathartic to whine just a bit, so if any of you other northern gardener feel the need to release a little winter frustration.... :) |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Me too! I just toured the yard this morning - we're down to bare ground, an inch of mud on frozen - the worst - looking to see if at least some snowdrops were coming up. Um, no. I'm finding some solace in the green rose branches, pink apple tree bark and buds on the lilacs, but really. Can you at least find some pussy willows and forsythia to cut and bring into the house? The combination goes a long way toward solace. This year, I also took some lilac shoots into the house, and they're about to leaf out. They won't bloom, but at this point, I'll take what I can get. I guess I should be grateful for the daylight, at least. |
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| You're ahead of us here. The forsythia is weeks away yet. Sigh... |
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- Posted by harborrose 8a-PNW (My Page) on Thu, Feb 28, 13 at 13:51
| I really do feel for you ... the grey clouds and dripping wet weather here seem endless, but we have not had any snow or ice where we are and I have signs of spring. I get cabin fever as it is, but much worse for you guys, I know. At least I can still pull weeds in the rain. It's almost March, though! When does spring come for you? |
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| All the same here. This is the whole reason I end up buying those plants I know I shouldn't! Nasty wet stuff yesterday and had to dig the ice boulders out from the ends of the drive. I know they have to plow the streets but we have a circle drive so I end up with two ends to clean out! Today my arms feel like lead. |
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| Don't feel guilty about your grump, zapho (it's not the same as a whine). I've been razzing the warm zoners about their puny winter "problems" on several threads. I don't think they appreciate my grumps, either! I sympathize with anyone who has to shovel 10 inches of snow. As a single mom, I shoveled snow for many years, but now I'm too ancient, not to mention my hypertension, so I feel free to decline to participate in shoveling duties--heheh. Of course, these infirmities don't stop me from digging enormous holes for roses. Diane |
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| Grief yep, it drags on and on. Our last frost date is mid June so there are weeks of stress and faffing about with seedlings. Too dark, too bright, too hot, too cold, propagators on, or off, lids, vents, hardening off, drying out, on and on. Finally, the tomatoes, curcubits, sweetcorn can go in the ground, just in time for the main rose show (and first delicious picking of broad beans).The garden hits a peak of loveliness. The following couple of weeks are delerious, gleeful guilt-free idling. I adopt a (fake) pose of modesty (since I know my allotment is the best on the site, obvs). I loaf about the allotment, basking and chatting. Maybe flick a daisy grubber around for a minute or so, slosh a bit of water around - It is a little two-week holidayof calm and sanity. Then it all goes to hell again when the berries start ripening and the jam nightmare begins. No more rest till November. |
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| Feeling your pain! Another grey miserable day. Snow flurries or rain here in Louisville,KY. Went and bought two big bunches of tulips just to help me get by.I really feel grumpy....just sayin~. Lesley |
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- Posted by mantis__oh z6 OH (My Page) on Thu, Feb 28, 13 at 16:15
| Just remember that last year we soared to 85 degrees in March, spring things came and went quickly, and summer was a parched hell. Better to have a gradual spring. (Granted, it is presently 10 degrees below normal here.) |
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| Yep, here in N. Illinois we were hit with that snow Tues. as well. Glad for more precipitation than last year, but winter does get long in the tooth! Went for a nice long visit yesterday with my garage kept potted roses who are looking much perkier than my rather sad looking garden roses, rather uplifting to see those little buds beginning to swell. |
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- Posted by roseblush1 8a/Sunset 7 (My Page) on Thu, Feb 28, 13 at 16:54
| The hardest part of this part of the year is waiting for the forsythia to bloom. I can see where I want to do some clean-up on the roses, but I have to wait and wait and wait. Smiles, |
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| I routinely start rose gardening in late March, while the ground is still frozen. While you don't want to start normal pruning, you can remove old woody canes without fear of damaging basal breaks. Then, when the ground finally thaws, I start moving still dormant roses around. |
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| To be clear, the old wood canes are cut off at the bud union, typically with a pruning saw. When the weather warms up I'll often see basal breaks replacing the old wood. |
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- Posted by annececilia z4b/N.Michigan (My Page) on Thu, Feb 28, 13 at 19:31
| Yes, the warm climate posts at this time of year are something I have learned to avoid for the most part. Zone envy gets a bit overwhelming - but just for now as I really don't envy them their heat later on. Used to be that the late DH and I would take a trip down south about this time of year. He could ride his dirt bike - in dirt - and I could tour gardens with green, growing plants. It always gave us the relief we needed to face the last of the snowy winter/early spring weather. But that was then and this is now. I'm stuck here in the frozen north. We're looking at a forecasted low on Saturday night of 0 degrees F! Californians and Texans and Floridians talk about their new plantings and prunings and *gasp,* BLOOMS, while I look out my patio door at a white, white, white world. Icicles and snow everywhere. When does spring come to the tip of the Mitt? One never knows. It could (rarely) be late March. It could be sometime in April...or more likely in early May...but the true (fairly) reliable frost free date is not until June 1st. I'm looking outdoors at all the major heavy duty work to be done BEFORE I can dig up and bring my roses over here to my new garden: 2 huge ailing blue spruce to be cut down, chipped up and stumps ground away. Bed lay-out to be transferred from graph paper to the ground. Fence posts to be dug and set and fencing attached (a necessary step so the pups won't tear up all my newly planted roses!) Grass to be dug up and amendments mixed into the new bedding areas. 70 Roses at the old house dug and squeezed into pots and lugged the 25 miles over here and lord knows how many pots of perennials, too. And all that before I get to stick one plant in the ground in my new backyard. I wish I could start on it NOW and do it slowly over the next few months, but I know it won't be that way. Once the snow and ice melt it will be rush, rush, rush! I wish I could schedule the vacation time that I intend to take to get this work done, but since it all depends on the weather, I've warned my boss that it may be on quite short notice! OK, grump submitted and I feel better now. [And really, I do love all you guys in zones 6 and higher! Keep posting your photos. We may not be admitting it, but they're what keep hope alive.] ;-) |
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| Even though I live in the South, its still Appalachia and we're still as dorment as ever :( I guess the only difference is we're starting to get our bareroots delivered...although freezing our booties off getting them in the ground! We don't have snow on the ground, but we had some flurries this morning and are suppossed to get some more ove the next few days. Still thankful that I'm not in zone 5!! Hold on....Spring is gonna get there! Tammy |
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| Annececilia, I remember you discussing the ups and downs of moving house (is your son and family settled in?). Whilst everything is still in the planning stage, it all looks and sounds so plausible....and then, when you have to get down to actually doing it all - grief! Do keep us informed of your progress - I certainly need some inspiration since I am also facing major changes but am currently stalled between gardens, and stuck in a mental fog of indecision. Partly, like you, it is still not feasible to actually get out there doing much (which is why I am to be found, waffling on at the keyboard) and hopefully, once the action starts, it will be heads down, one step at a time (or, more likely, as you say, a desperate rush and frenzy). |
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| Z, The only reason my forsythia is anywhere ahead of yours is that I cut some branches and brought them into the house! The thing itself is still sound asleep. I highly recommend it as midwinter therapy. The only bulb I've seen so far is the crocus that bloomed in one of my pots in the living room - no idea how it got there, but guess my house is cold. ;) |
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| annececelia - I am originally a Yooper as well. Family is still in Northern Wisconsin (stuck in a zone 3). Houghton in winter is what I imagine Hoth to be like. My parents look at where I live and consider that I've headed South. :) I guess it is all relative and I should be thankful I don't have the extra month of winter they do. Which part of the UP are you from? |
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- Posted by floridarosez9 10 (My Page) on Fri, Mar 1, 13 at 9:31
| Well, at least you have Forsythia. It is among many other lovely things you northerners have that we can't grow. This is my feeble attempt to cheer y'all up. Also, I lost my entire spring flush due to an extremely warm winter and then two nights of freezing temps. |
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| I feel for you all. It has been almost twenty years since I moved from the Midwest-- grew up in Chicago, college in St. Paul, grad school in Madison. As I recall, February and March are really brutal because whatever snowy charm winter held was long gone. And, I-95 (is that what runs from Chicago to Florida?) is crowded with folks driving, hitch hiking and crawling to Florida. Wet, cold, grey with NO sun in Chicago and Madison with freezing windchill off the lakes. In St. Paul there was sun because is was so dang cold--a hard bright cold sun. And, not a green thing in sight. Yes, late winter and early spring are rough even when you are not a gardener. Hang in there! Enjoy your big box and grocery store fixes until the real gardening can begin. Anne |
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| Forsythia, lovely? Well, Florida, I guess absence is making your heart look fondly on this lurid yellow blight on the landscape. For sure, the first tentative buds look OK (ish), then entire roads, hedges, walkways and parks are luridly ablaze with technicolour sickly yellow. A horrid, horrid shrub with NO redeeming features (and by heck, I have cut acres of the stuff with its long tangled stems)...and nope, I don't wait for it to bloom either. |
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- Posted by floridarosez9 10 (My Page) on Fri, Mar 1, 13 at 16:49
| Well, Camp, that ended my lusting after Forsythia. The pictures are always so lovely. What about peonies? Are they ugly, too? |
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| I was on this thread about 1:00 this afternoon, ready to post another big grump, this time about lousy weather forecasters. We had horrible fog this morning and it just wouldn't go away. It was supposed to be a glorious near 60 degrees and sunny in the afternoon, and I was raring to go. Anyway, at 1:00 the fog was still pea soup and it was 43 degrees. I sat at the keyboard, ready to rant away.....then the heavens parted, the sun came out, and by 2:00 it was near 60. I raced outside and began to clean up flower beds. I didn't care that my knees were soaked, and I was out of shape. Everyone was walking around and making friendly comments about the weather and my future flowers. One little girl stopped by and said she was interested in gardening. I asked her if wanted a gigantic dianthus that was taking over, and she said she'd ask her mom. I'll get rid of that thing yet--heheh. It was just a glorious day, and I love those forecasters. May all of you in the freezing climes warm up as quickly as we just did. Diane |
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- Posted by annececilia z4b/N.Michigan (My Page) on Fri, Mar 1, 13 at 21:31
| Oh, no, Zaphod, I'm still a troll (living below the bridge.) ;-) I'm very near the tip of the mitten, close to the Straits, but still in the Lower Penninsula. Zone 4 all the same - cold and long enough winters. I know some gardeners up there in the U.P. along Lake Superior and my hat's off to them (well, maybe I'll keep my hat on this time of year - too cold on the ears otherwise.) Camp, I do believe you and I both have a daunting time ahead of us, moving gardens. Let's cheer each other on! BTW, updated forecast now has Sunday night dipping down to a minus 8 degrees. Does that constitute March coming in like a lion? I'm fearing that temperatures not withstanding, the lack of stormy weather means no, it's not and it will go *out* like one instead of like a lamb. A snowy Easter perhaps? Bah! |
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| I have one word for you .....UGH! |
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| Oh Florida, I guess the enforced idling is souring my disposition. No plants are really ugly as such, but, in the UK, forsythia is truly ubiquitous, along with buddleja (I am always amazed at the cherishing of such a weed which goes on in the US). Like anything, too much of it just causes indigestion, and that acid yellow of forsythia, under a glowering grey english sky, is not one of the delights of spring. Paeonies though, well, another love hate thing going on. Love the early foliage, love the blooms, especially the simple singles), hate the sordid leaves for the rest of the summer. Have resisted going down the single plant collecting route - paeonies are probably the english equivalent to daylilies for stealing the affections of brits (and emptying their purses) although dahlias and chrysanthemums have their staunch fans also. |
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| Oh, Anne, we're practically neighbors! I'm on Lake St. Clair north of Detroit, lol! Seriously, I do admire the fortitude it takes to grow roses way up there in the north country. I have a good friend north of Standish who has quite a lovely rose garden and another up in the UP in Ontonagon who has a few too. Like you, they're amazing! Here's to an early spring and beautiful roses! |
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- Posted by cactus_joe 7b PNW (My Page) on Sat, Mar 2, 13 at 18:49
| Having survived the drenching of being right in the path of the latest "Pineapple Express", I can empathize with you. The routine for me is simple - get myself distracted by fussing around the orchids and cacti, preparing to raise the seedlings for the vegetables and the annuals, and avoid gong to the Gardenweb's rose gallery altogether. Having a little greenhouse, albeit unheated, helps a lot - it makes me feel like a gardener even when it is pouring sheets of rain outside. |
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| Well, I won't bore you with our 70 D. weather tomorrow, high 80's on Sunday, heyhey, as come June we will get our comeuppance when the heat kicks in - that's when I get to grump/whine (as I do every year)! |
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| Is it me, or are the roses breaking dormancy early this year? All of mine are starting to, including all of my other bushes like my hydrangea. I honestly can't remember if by early March is when I've seen it happen before. I guess in some respects the winter wasn't awful other than a few days of below freezing temps, but still? Anyway, surely not going to start pruning for at least another month. My luck we'll get a large snowstorm before April! |
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| And here comes the snow, followed by temps. In the 40's. good for the flowers, bad for my humor. |
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- Posted by kittymoonbeam 10 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 5, 13 at 1:03
| sivyaleah the growers ( on the fruit / orchards forum ) in the northeast are commenting on the unusual weather. |
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- Posted by onewheeler Z5 N.S. (My Page) on Tue, Mar 5, 13 at 14:43
| I would go out and snip some branches of my forsythia but the snow is still too deep! I see Pickering has a rose sale on, the temptation is almost overwhelming on the overcast rainy/snow day. Yup, I feel your pain. |
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- Posted by melissa_thefarm NItaly (My Page) on Wed, Mar 6, 13 at 2:26
| I got to this thread late, but just want to say that I LOVE forsythia! Peonies too! I don't know whether this has to do with my having lived all my gardening life in mild zone 8 climates with long wet winters, but I never get tired of that blast of early spring yellow. Forsythia is common here, too, Suzy, so it isn't a question of rarity. When I moved from Florida to western Washington years ago, suffered through the long dark winter, and then saw first thing in spring the forsythia lighting up yards, I swore I would have it. Crocuses likewise, and for the same reason. Of course the shrub has to be allowed to grow naturally as a specimen plant and not be tortured into the shocking blobs one often sees, nor planted in masses. For the rest we're having a gray and miserable end of winter here too, even though we are in zone 8; still, quite soon we'll have spring which is lurking behind the current curtains of rain and clouds, so are among the fortunate. The snow has melted--at LAST--and the hellebores, sarcococcas, fragrant daphne, and first fragrant violets are in bloom, as well as Cornus mas in the woods. Suzy, about peony foliage, how about the varieties that color well in fall? I don't think their foliage looks bad in the summer; it may not be striking, but there's nothing offensive about it. Concerning the blooms, I'm getting fond of the officinalis varieties. They bloom ahead of the lactifloras, which extends the season, and they take our climate fine, which is not surprising considering that the species is native to the Apennines. And all the herbaceous peonies are fun in the spring when I go looking for their emerging buds and watch them develop. Spring is on the way! Melissa |
This post was edited by melissa_thefarm on Wed, Mar 6, 13 at 6:16
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| HI Melissa, glad to see you surviving the Italian election fiasco. Yeah, I s'pose I am being abit mean about paeonies too but you know how it goes - you start to garden and are faced with big empty spaces. Some plants, particularly paeonies, hellebores, penstemons, bearded iris do sterling duty at filling these spaces, even after the blooms have long gone over. Hellebores particularly have been a go to plant for me with the large evergreen leafage which fills what would be a sparse spring border (once all the little bulbs have finished). Even so, after a few years and many seed sowings, space is suddenly not the thing we feared, but a precious resource.....and all those great wodges of herbage become truly annoying, shading out the little treasures and just lying there, greenly boring, for weeks, months on end. In the past, I did a lot of shifting around between garden and allotment, filling dozens of pots which reclaimed much of the pavement at the front and back of my house. I now find myself in a position of enforced reduction, at least until I have some space whipped into shape in the woods (and having watched it spring into brambly life the last couple of weeks, this is going to be a long (and back-breaking) project - thank god for bribeable sons with machetes and mattocks. Remeber your early days? Well, we don't have the slopes or landslides, but we have tree roots and potential tidal flooding......... All the best gardens are born in adversity, wrenched reluctantly from the soil. |
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