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gardenweed_z6a

We're in the home stretch!!!

gardenweed_z6a
13 years ago

Hang in there everybody:


{{gwi:153891}}

Comments (45)

  • PVick
    13 years ago

    i'm not ready!

    PV

  • tempusflits
    13 years ago

    Gardenweed, you bring wonderful news. That's not very long. Can't wait for the green wave to arrive.

  • sjc48
    13 years ago

    It WAS wonderful news, expecially since we had about 3 inches of snow yesterday, and it is snowing as I speak.
    Hurry up, Spring!!!

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    It snowed here again last night and early this morning too but we only got another 3-4 inches of accumulation. After the winter we've had, I'll be glad to see the last of it melt away. Until then, it's keeping my WS containers snug and moist.

  • karendee
    13 years ago

    I am not ready either.
    I just started sowing!! I am so late this year.

    We have had cold rain the last few days. I still see some snow from our snow storm in a couple places.

    The rain was nice to get my new containers watered.

    One batch I sowed dry because it was raining so much. I checked them and they look great.

    I am kind of hoping for a few inches of snow to cover the containers. When it snows I have a better time resisting checking on them so much.

    Karen

  • moonwolf_gw
    13 years ago

    It's snowing here too and it'll be at least 4 inches by tomorrow morning (we could get up to 6 I think, maybe a little more). I'm anxiously awaiting for the green wave to begin myself! Thank you, gardenweed, for the wonderful news!

    Brad AKA Moonwolf

  • daisydawnny
    13 years ago

    Ack, 8 inches of snow here.....worse yet the news just reported a colder than normal Spring. Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

  • ladyrose65
    13 years ago

    We got maybe an inch, but really cold temps.

    Gardenweed, I love it when you post the days to Spring!

  • karendee
    13 years ago

    Our forecast for tonight is 1-3 inches of snow. With all the rain we had we are going to be slippery.

    last week we had some really warm days for our area! We hit almost 60 degrees.

    It gave everyone spring fever real bad!

    Karen

  • floodthelast
    13 years ago

    Ack I'm out of labels and there is too much snow to go out. Make it wait.

  • terrene
    13 years ago

    Yeah! 26 more days!!

    Last week we have several mild days here too, and had a lot of melting. However, there is still 20+ inches of snowpack over the gardens and a big hump of snow in my winter-snowing area. Sigh.

  • molanic
    13 years ago

    I am one of the few that is glad the cold is back here at least for a while! I was hoping for snow too, but we just got a dusting. Last week our two feet of snow melted and then it rained all day. The yard looked like a lake with the sump pump churning and I was spending a lot of time cleaning mud off my dogs. I had just gotten my big bag of seeds back from a swap and was afraid there wouldn't be enough cold left for the ones that needed it.

    Now I can catch up on my wintersowing and not have to go slogging through mud to set them out. Our average last frost here is May 15th and it is usually pretty wintery until early-mid April. The winter warm spells that we had last week don't really speed anything along here they just make for a muddy mess, so I don't really look forward to them. A yard on a hill or with a proper drainage system might make me feel differently though :)

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    We're supposed to get heavy rain tomorrow with a lot of localized flooding because there's so much ice and snow still covering storm drains and gutters. The rain will help dissolve some of the ice blockages so hopefully the flooding will be minimal. It's almost guaranteed I'll have water in my cellar and there's no sump pump. It'll still be cold for the next couple of months--it was 3 here this morning; just 2 yesterday morning--but there will be more 20's and 30's than single digits and for that I can't say I'm sorry.

  • alwaysagarden
    13 years ago

    Once the snow and cold rain have passed will start on my annuals. : ) Yeh Spring!

  • just1morehosta
    13 years ago

    Thank you Eileen, I love when you post the Days Til Spring.
    Today it is nice and sunny, snowed last night-2-3 inches,but I am hopeful it will all melt today.
    Happy sowing every one.
    cAROL

  • terrene
    13 years ago

    21 days! 3 weeks to go!

    Seems about half the snow has melted around here, but there's still TONS of snow everywhere and a big pile on top of my winter-sowing area. 2-4 more inches tonight. Can't complain too much because a few inches here and there is nothing compared to what we received in January.

    Still wondering if we will see the ground by Spring?

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Why does 3 weeks sound a lot less than 21 days? The fallen snow on my front lawn is still deeper/higher than the first branches of the crabapple tree--doesn't appear to have melted much at all and it's mostly turned to ice at this point. I thought the rain on Friday might melt it down farther but it was too cold for that to happen. A few more inches have fallen every couple of days which isn't helping matters. At least my roof is finally clear.

    There's more rain and temps near 40 in the forecast this coming week. Crossing my fingers I see my lawn by the first day of spring. I'm ready to look at a few of these:

    {{gwi:356009}}

    {{gwi:356010}}

    {{gwi:356011}}

    {{gwi:356012}}

    {{gwi:356013}}

    {{gwi:356014}}

    {{gwi:356016}}

    {{gwi:356017}}

    {{gwi:356018}}

  • NancyPlants
    13 years ago

    oh gardenweed, what lovely flowers :)
    Would you please name the ones in #3 and #8 ?
    We had crocus emerging but then got 7 inches ..its still hopeful. Thanks for sharing :)

  • just1morehosta
    13 years ago

    Eileen, you take the most amazing photos ever! You should publish them.
    Thank you for making a dreawry day, and nice one. :0)
    cAROL

  • countrycarolyn
    13 years ago

    Well I am happy to report that on my drive yesterday I saw buttercups blooming, not just budding they are blooming.

    There was a tree a fairly large tree that look like it was either about to bloom or really big pink buds. I am not sure what kind of tree but it was a large one.

    It won't be long now!!

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks cAROL - always happy to brighten up your day!!

    Glad you liked them NancyPlants - #4 is Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba'/white bleeding heart. #8 is regular Dicentra spectabilis/bleeding heart. They're as reliable as clockwork and put on such a gorgeous show every spring. The white plant is growing in full shade but the red/pink one is growing in a crack in the cement down near my cellar door in full sun + lousy soil.

    I shot this one the year before last just as the late afternoon sun was illuminating the flowers:

    {{gwi:356019}}

  • ladyrose65
    13 years ago

    You take really pretty pictures of Flowers!

  • sjc48
    13 years ago

    Gardenweed! Those pictures are extraordinary! Truly beautiful, especially the columbine and iris. I agree with justonemorehosta - you should try to publish, it is seldom that I see anything that good in magazines.
    They made my day - thanks for sharing them.
    Shirley!

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks ladyrose & Shirley. Glad you enjoyed them. I love the photos I take but don't think they'e "calender quality." I did do a calendar a few years ago with a gardening friend. The two of us picked the photos and then picked the months we'd display them. You can create a custom-made calendar of your own pictures on Snapfish.com and I really enjoyed looking at the one we created all that year. Trust me, if I thought I could earn a living with my photography, I'd have found a way!!

  • sjc48
    13 years ago

    Actually, you're right, gardenweed, they aren't calendar quality, they are WAY TOO GOOD, and have you seen what passes for good pics on calendars? Lord save me!
    I've thought about doing something with my photos to make some money-what I would like to do would require a small business loan and a really good game plan-it sounds like lots of work-am thinking about it tho.
    I don't really like the idea of selling pics to a magazine; I think they get the pic AND the rights to print, and I would lose control of the pic. Don't really like that idea. But yeah, sure, I can tell you to do it - DUH!
    I do calendars for everyone in my family for Christmas, using my pics from the past year. I print the pics and add the calendar page, then get them bound at Staples. Some of them have been really pretty. AND I always forget to do one for myself and end up with one of those like I mentioned above!
    Well, gotta go pack, I'm heading back to PA for awhile - will be back on the forum when I can!
    Shirley!

  • NancyPlants
    13 years ago

    Thanks so much gardenweed! They are beautiful! I've been trying to be a good girl and not add to my wish list but bleeding hearts are too irresistable :)

  • caryltoo Z7/SE PA
    13 years ago

    Gardenweed, have you contacted the feature editor of your local newspaper? You might be able to do some freelance photography. Just send him/her a cover letter and a few photos as samples. Probably doesn't pay much, but something's better than nothing. And your photos of flowers are certainly professional quality. (I've worked for a newspaper for 26 years and your shots are as good as any I've seen our photogs shoot).

    Caryl

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Wow caryltoo! I'm getting a swelled head! As a matter of fact, my daughter is an account exec for the local newspaper so I'd probably be a shoe-in for getting some of my pictures published. Just haven't given it much thought because that's not what motivates me to take them. I just see each flower as an individual work of art and try to snap a picture that displays it to its best advantage. I planted a new daylily, H. 'Ann Warner' a couple of years ago and kept an eye on it to see what sort of shot I could get. I went out with my camera around 10:30 a.m. and got this one:

    {{gwi:356020}}

  • livsauntieshel
    13 years ago

    I can almost smell the tree pollen in the air. Our local Rita's open's March 3rd...Wooohooo I hope it's warm enough for a gelati. Winter coats and frozen custard don't mix!

  • terrene
    13 years ago

    Despite your optimism and pretty pics Gardenweed, I am feeling a little cranky. We just got 4 more inches of snow and it's going to be single digit temps again this week! Accckkkkk! I am pretty sick of snow and cold.

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Oh, I'm really sorry for you terrene! They didn't call for any of that sn*w here and altho' the temp fell short of what they said we'd see today, at least the icy precipitation stopped precipitating around noon. You've every right to be a bit cranky--I know I would be in your shoes...okay, in your snow boots/mukluks. Hang in there! The pretty flowers will be popping up very soon. My front lawn still looks like a moonscape--I only posted the flower pictures so I could remind myself there are other colors on the planet besides white, black & various shades of gray.

  • countrycarolyn
    13 years ago

    Well it isn't single digits but it is still cold here this evening.

    I found this in one of the beds, yeah direct sown. Out of all of the seeds I tossed out this is the only one!! I believe I may have to move the little booger, this is why direct sowing to me is so frustrating.

    {{gwi:356021}}

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Bumping this up for those like me who still continue to see nothing out their windows but a sea of frozen white. I thought the rain we had a few days ago would melt a lot but the only thing that melted was the ice on my breezeway. The view through my windows continues to look more like a moonscape than a garden.

    Last year I saw my first sprout on March 14. I'm guessing I won't see one this year for at least another couple of weeks but that's better than looking at a couple of months. More than half of my snowtel has melted and I can finally see the WS containers I set out back in December. Sure seems like a long time ago!

  • countrycarolyn
    13 years ago

    I got my first bloom on my buttercups!!!! Whoooo hooooo!! I will try to get a shot tomorrow!!

  • ladyrose65
    13 years ago

    In Lieu, of the voluminous amounts of snow in the Mid-west. I for one, envious, because you could probably, rule out drought this summer. Your reseviors' will be fine.

    Here. In over-crowded NJ, will probably have another drought. Because we really only got 2 large storms (3 1/2 ft.). We usually have heavy rain storms during Late Feb/March. We barely got 1-inch of rain.

    Water is priceless!

    I'm hoping for at least 1 foot of snow.

  • countrycarolyn
    13 years ago

    Here is my first buttercup to bloom!! Yep they are mini's I would love to have some large ones!! Anyone need any muscari bulbs??

    {{gwi:356022}}

    Same bed opposite side another about to bloom!!

    {{gwi:356023}}

    Another bed, large hyacinth coming up nicely still a little time before I will see blooms. I have cleaned the leaves out once already this year, the oak leaves are dropping like hotcakes!!

    {{gwi:356024}}

  • karendee
    13 years ago

    ohh Bleeding heart....my favorite.

    Always the best flower in spring for me. I love it when the BH pops up!

    Last season I ws some white BH that I got in a trade. I took good care of it and protected from pests and I HOPE it comes back this year. It was so cute and tiny last summer.

    I may have to buy soem BH seeds now. I realized that was somehting I planned to WS this year.
    oops.

    Karen

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I tried to watch my BH so I could harvest seeds and actually saw a few pods last year but they were there one minute, too green to harvest, and the next day I couldn't find them. I know they self-sow but since I moved here I've not seen even one volunteer. Same with brunnera 'Jack Frost.' Other folks have self-seeds but I've yet to see a single one. I finally gave in and divided my mature 'Jack Frost' last year.

  • karendee
    13 years ago

    "not seen even one volunteer" me neither!! Mine never volunteer.

    Also I always miss the seeds. I thought about sticking some panty hose over a few pods last summer but I missed them. That is what I plan to do this summer. I will stick a seed catcher on them with pantyhose and a small rubber band or some soft string or something.

    I wonder if some birds eat them before they drop? We have lots of birds in the yard.

    Karen

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Well duh!! Thanks Karen--I didn't even think of the birds/mice/chipmunks/squirrels who'd naturally be looking for something to eat in the spring. That makes sense given the seedpods were there one day and gone the next. I'd try again this year but that white BH is large enough to divide now--it's been thriving in that spot for 5 years so this is the year I'll split it into two or three separate plants.

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Well, at least the narcissus and snowdrops are poking up through the frozen soil along my south foundation. Winter has lost its grip even though we'll still need a jacket and perhaps a muffler/scarf when going walkabout the gardens for a few more weeks. The granite garden bench I had set in the south garden bed is visible after more than two months of deep snow kept it from sight. I can finally walk the length of my path along the back of the garage to the gentle slope at the north boundary. It's dappled sun in that area so I've planted daphne, daylily, astilbe, hydrangea, bottle gentian, foxglove, weigela, turtlehead, and several hostas. The coreopsis does fine but the tall phlox will need to be moved this year to somewhere it gets more sun.
    Even with so many chores on the list, it's good to be thinking about the gardening season ahead rather than shoveling snow or throwing salt over the ice. The danger of a roof collapse is no longer a daily worry.
    Guess we made it though another one...

  • leigh44
    13 years ago

    All of you are making me envious! I just got 2 feet of snow dumped on me! The only thing keeping me going are my seedlings! leigh

  • ladyrose65
    13 years ago

    Gardenweed, there talking Daylight Savings. You know what that means:

    "There's a place up ahead and
    I'm going just as fast as my feet can fly
    Come away, come away if you're going,
    Leave the sinking ship behind."

    CHORUS:
    Come on the rising wind,
    We're going up around the bend.

    Ooh!
    Bring a song and a smile for the banjo,
    Better get while the gettings good,
    Hitch a ride to the end of the highway
    Where the neons turn to wood."

    Songwriter: John Fogharty
    Creedance Clearwater

  • gardenweed_z6a
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Great song ladyrose65!! Haven't been able to detect any signs of life in the garden yet other than snowdrops & daffodils pushing up through the mulch but the snow is 75% gone and my lawn is visible for the first time in close to 3 months. Spring cleanup can begin as soon as I pump all the water out of my cellar for the 8th day running. (;-/

    What a change in the forecast from just two weeks ago--most days in the 50's with 30's at night. Guess all the perennials that need cold strat that haven't been WS up to this point will have to wait until next year. Next up? Lettuce - a French heirloom Romaine called Cos Rouge de Hiver.

  • countrycarolyn
    13 years ago

    Gardenweed, I am happy for you that the snow is about gone! Now for the wave of green to begin, now we can look forward to seeing your pictures!

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