Each Little World

March. Ugh.

The weather is veering from lamb to lion and back again. Saturday's high was 53°F. ( 11.66°C.), but it brought thunderstorms with heavy rain and wind. Despite the ground being frozen, no water made it into the basement. This morning's temp is 28°F., but feels like 22° according to Weatherbug. 

At this stage of the winter, I am less interested in more snow. We did not get it early in the season when we needed it to protect the garden against the cold. Without checking the record books, this is one of the driest winters I can recall in many years of living in Wisconsin. A walk around the garden Sunday afternoon showed a muddy mess with endless twigs, small branches and locust pods littering the ground. 

i snapped a few wide shots to help me remember what areas held onto the snow longest. Most of the front garden was still snow covered as that's the  north side of the house.

Everything that's not green is under standing water in this shot, including ferns planted last year. How did I not know this spot was so problematic?

Rabbits devoured a dwarf Hemlock planted last fall, two dwarf Oak Leaf Hydrangesas (3 years old) and a 5 year old 'Orange Rocket' Barberry. That's only what I've noticed so far. 

I never went out to look closely at what the city water crew did in December when they had to access the line to do a repair. I was horrified at what a mess they left behind in my Geranium macrorrhizum bed by the street. The blue cap is the water line. They moved the rock marker and filled in the hole with new dirt bit it doesn't look good. Maybe I won't feel as frustrated when the surrounding plants begin to grow in a month. 

On the up side, snowdrops are starting appear. 

Arum itlaicum 'Ghost' just needs the rest of the snow to disappear to start her spring growth spurt. 

I am always curious to see what ferns still look good after snow, ice and freezing temps. This is Dryoteris erythrosora 'Brilliance' aka Autumn Fern. Once this old growth gets removed it takes a long time for this plant to send up its new fronds. You have to mark where this is growing or you will accidentally plant something on top of it. 

Just past the above ferns, the sedges are looking lovely: Carexes pennsylvania and radiata. 

Across the path Polystichum makinoi  actually has its fronds standing upright!

Every year as the ratty snow along the curb starts to melt, I look there to see the first signs of spring. Most years, those signs are empty beer bottles or cigarette packs. This year's souvenir is a COVID mask. Perhaps a driver tossed it from his car window pleased to see the numbers are going down. Somehow I don't think it's the last one I'll find out there. 

Look what happened overnight. See what I mean about lions and lambs. I guess I won't be picking any of those snowdrops as soon as I'd thought. 

Whoops!

For unknown reasons my scheduled post for today did not publish. In fact, it has totally disappeared from my queue.  

Mardi Gras to you . . .

. . . but today is Fastnacht to me. That's "Fast Night," the German celebration on the day before Lent begins. My maternal great-grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in the 19th Century and this was one of the few rituals that our family maintained from that side of our heritage. Like Mardi Gras, it is a day for costumes, eating and partying.

On this day my mother always made Fastnacht keuchles, a raised and deep-fried "donut" that was square in shape and pressed together in the center, rather than having a hole in the middle. Then we dusted them in cinnamon and sugar or powdered sugar. Using up lard, butter and sugar before the long period of religious fasting began was the reason for making sweet treats.

The NYTimes has a story about a small community still celebrating this festival. One of the townspeople, pictured in the article, was wearing a mask that reminded me of one I have. I will bring it out today in memory of those long-gone childhood days spent in the kitchen with my mom.