Each Little World

IVOM: Frosty spring bouquets

We woke up Saturday morning to a rain/snow mix and very chilly temps. The on again/off again overnight frosts finally had me covering a few things Saturday and Sunday nights. But mostly I've decided to just let nature take its course. I'll learn which of my early plants can sail through unscathed and which plants are not going to survive the climate changes in my area. 

Mostly I cut flowers for bouquets as we were having company for dinner Friday night, friends for a casual Saturday afternoon in front of the fire after they visited Mark's photo show and a few garden gals for cookies and conversation Sunday afternoon. 

My daffs, Hellebores and some Fritillaries are the only flowers that are prolific enough that I felt free to cut them. This group is from last Thursday.

I grabbed the first Muscari and a bud from Paeonia mairei for a vase above the kitchen sink. I think the Peony buds may have fatally frozen and are not going to open. I wanted to see if the warmth inside the house would do anything. So far it has not. 

A big bunch of Hellebores with an early Trillium sessile in a Richard Jones vase. The painting is by local artist, Chuck Bauer.

More daffs and frits. I love the pale yellow trumpets on these daffodils which fade to creamy white. I just keep adding and subtracting to this vase to keep it fresh as it's right where we sit and read.

Our neighbor's Forsythia often sends a stem or two through the fence — perfect for clipping. The big Fritillaria radeanna have been through a number of frosts and they still look quite good. I will definitely be adding more of them to the garden. 

On again, off again

It rained most of last Sunday (4/16), eventually turning into snow. It was so wet and miserable I decided not to go out and cover any plants — despite the fact that the overnight low was going to be quite low. All week the forecast kept going down.

When we got up Monday mooring it was 27°F and snow covered the garden. We left the house at 6:30 a.m. for Mark's first cataract surgery. Got home around 10 a.m. which is when I took the snowy photos. All the gravel and stones melt the snow quickly.

But the plants were still well covered. Hellebore 'Jade Tiger'

Fritillaria 'Raddeana' on Monday morning.

F. 'Raddeana' at 10 am Tuesday morning. The snow is mostly gone but these flowers are only standing up by virtue of their cages. 

Just about complete recovery by 6 p.m.

That's pretty much the case with the plants I was most worried about — like Paeonia 'Nosegay' pictured in the a.m. and p.m. yesterday.

This very early blooming Peony is a second generation cross between P. mlokowitschii and P. tenufolia. I adore it. A 2014 purchase from the late, great Klehm's Song Sparrow Nursery. 

I'm hoping everyone stands up straight again and that their buds haven't been fatally frozen. I went back in my records to 2018 and discovered that I'd covered plants to protect them from April frosts a good 4 or 5 times in four out of the five years. With climate change it seems our weather is more unpredictable than ever. I am thus moving toward an attitude where the plants have to survive without me. 

As I write this it's 39°F (3.88°C) but feels like 33 °F. (0.55°C) Rain is forecast for 6 out of the next 10 days. I'm good with that; less happy about the overnight lows that are forecast for this coming weekend. 

Signs of spring

Enough snow had melted by yesterday that I was able to get completely around the garden to see what there was to see. A few plants were up further than I expected and there were the usual signs of rabbit damage. 

While I was doing that Mark did a few errands and found his own signs of spring, as you'll see below. Anyone who lives in a snowbelt region will recognize these images as the true signs of spring.

The waiting game

The end of winter and the arrival of spring in southern Wisconsin plays out over a number weeks. Late snow is not uncommon, but it's been years since we've had such a whopper of a storm in late March. It set a record; the official city snowfall was 12.5" ( 31.75 cm.).

Based on what was pushing up last Friday, I expected to have my first vase of flowers from my garden this week. Instead I'm staring at this empty beauty sitting on the bookshelves where my garden books live along with crafty supplies. 

The snow on the south side of the house is melting quickly given how much had fallen; the north side is still covered in white. The 10-day weather forecast is almost totally rain or light snow with warm temperatures. That should push spring into arriving. I'm more than ready.

March madness

I was out in the garden Friday checking on emerging snowdrops and Hellebores.

Galanthus 'Magnet'

Helleborus 'New York Night'. The leaves on most of the Hellebores were flat on the ground around the flower buds. I cut them off and set them aside, thinking I'd toss them over the plants if the weather took a turn for the worse.

Saturday morning I woke up to very different garden; the turn for the worse had arrived. I sat around, just checking every couple of hours to see how much more snow had fallen. We were at 6" when I got up at 6:30 am. It was up to 8" by 8 am and 10" at 10 am — the time that the day-long textile workshop I signed up for in January was beginning

Luckily they offered a Zoom component for those of us stuck at home due to the weather. I've only done Zoom lectures or chats with friends. This experience was an eye opener in terms of what students and many employees have been dealing with since the start of the pandemic. Not easy trying to do serious work on Zoom.

The windows on the north and south sides of the house had melting snow on them, suggesting how whirling the wind was. Both snow photos were taken through the windows which suggests why they are not my best ever images.

I visually measure snow depth using the wooden bridge over the dry stream (below). This time I went outside with a yardstick to get the 10" measure.

I've lived in snow states my whole life, so this weather wasn't all that surprising. My personal weather theory is that at the end of the winter season — just when you are frantic for spring — you will get the snow that you missed at the beginning of the season. Unhappy to be proven right again.

Looking down

We were on the second floor of a UW medical facility on U. Row yesterday when I glanced out the window of the patient waiting room. I was taken aback to realize the building has a garden on top of its big roof overhang that extends out over the entrance of the building. (We had light snow Wednesday night and cold temps yesterday morning.)

I'd love to see what this looks like in the growing season but I am not sure if they let you wander the building without checking in for an actual appointment. 

Madison's West Side Farmer's Market is held in the parking lot of this facility every Saturday. I've been going to that for years but never looked up; though I'm not sure if anything would be visible from down below. Alas the UW is enlarging the building and the market is moving to a new location this spring. I have a feeling I will never make it back to this location until I need a colonoscopy down the road.

It's Spring! I guess.

Nothing says spring to me like the velvety green of moss after the snow melts.

As I walked west along the the stepping stones late Sunday morning, I looked up and the picture wasn't nearly as springy as I wished. Though the back garden faces south, the slopes keep snow in place until the temps really warm up. 

It was sunny, but the temperature was only in the low 20 degrees F. ( around -6.66°C.) The stone steps up the Tea House slope were still mostly buried. 

As was the west side of the building. 

The gardens at the top of the slope get the most sun in the back garden. This is Helleborus torquatus on March 5th.

Two weeks later on March 19th.

Just a foot or two away is Helleborus 'New York NIght', here on March 5th.

March 19th. I can see the difference but it is rather marginal.

Galanthus 'Jonathan' is near the two Hellebores but this is the first I've seen him. 

The plants in the above photos are all to the left of this snowy path. The shadows from the big shrubs and the fence keep it snowy up here. 

I found lots of typical spring scenes: twigs and branches on the ground, lots of pine cones scattered about and a few bulbs that were dug up by critters last fall.

When I took this photo of Galanthus 'Magnet' on March 5th, another snow storm was on the way.

Despite the recent cold and snow, they just keep pushing forward. 

The weather forecast for this week includes  a few days of rain with rising temperatures into the 40°s F. Those two things should clear away the snow. If plants start to make their moves, at least I'll be able to see them. 

These photos are not exactly inspiring, but they are an ideal record for me. As you all know, there's nothing better than being able to go back and see what was happening on specific dates year to year. Last year we had light snow on March 19th and 25th. I picked my first snowdrops for vases on March 27th.

GBBD: Waiting for Spring

Winter returns

It has snowed every day since last Wednesday. But almost all of that snow has been so light and delicate that it has looked like fog. You couldn't be sure it was actually snowing unless you could see the snow against something dark like evergreens.

By Saturday morning we might have been approaching three inches, but it was not enough to blanket all the plants in the garden. Ivy by the house, Carexes and ferns on the hills — lots of greenery was still visible. 

Not any more. It snowed seriously for a while during the day Saturday and then picked up again in the evening and overnight. Looks like the week's total is a good 8 inches.

Since the temperature this morning is at 14°F (feels like 4°F according to WeatherBug / -10°C and -15°C.), I am thrilled to get some garden protection. Monday's high is only supposed to reach 4°F with a low of -12°F (-24°C.). 

We made a brief stop at the grocery store Saturday morning after our weekly coffee gathering, so we are nice and snug. Well, I am, though Mark had to trek outside manhandling the snowblower to clear the driveway. But that job is done, so we can relax by the fire with our stash of books until Spring.

January blahs

I think there was a sunny afternoon earlier this week, but I'm not really sure. It's been endlessly gray, though not as snowy as the garden needs. The latest storm dropped some rain that turned into about an inch of wet snow. Before that happened I wandered around the garden to see if any plants were pushing up, confused by the rain and warmer weather. 

No Hellebore buds or snowdrops were visible, but a disturbing amount of new Alliums had started growing. I think it means I did not plant them deep enough. Whether their flower buds will still be viable come summer is the big question. 

The ground was soft enough that I was able to push plastic plant tags right back in where they'd been disturbed, Not a good sign in mid-January. Some plants, like Autumn ferns (Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance') are looking surprisingly good despite extremely cold temperatures and snow. 

I've been taking advantage of this down time to work on more Blurb books: One about the ducks who visited our garden each year, two using old family photos and one of garden columns from my newspaper days and the early blog. Working on them is keeping me from obsessing about the winter garden and ordering too many plants on-line.