Cold Climate Gardening

The temperatures are still dropping into the teens every night (last night’s low: 17.5F or -8C) and even when the high hits 40F (4C) the brisk wind makes it feel chillier. But at least a hurried stroll around the premises is now rewarded with signs that Spring is slowly making inroads in Winter’s territory. These crocuses started blooming yesterday, but despite the sunshine they just can’t bring themselves to open fully.

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This is a photo of my beloved crocus bank. The driveway runs roughly east to west, downhill all the way. On the south side of the driveway, the lawn runs down fairly steeply to the driveway, forming a bank that I have planted quite densely with crocuses. The crocuses are just getting started, but it is obvious that depredations occurred over the winter under cover of snow. Voles. This bank faces north and, with snow shovelled off the driveway piled on it, is one of the last places to lose its snow cover. Although I have trouble with voles all over the property, they had never found the crocus bank before.

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I don’t keep consistently good garden records, but one detail I have tracked faithfully since I planted my first flower, is the date of the first bloom around here. For you Southerners who have things blooming throughout the winter, I’m talking about the first visible bloom, when the snow has melted enough for me to see it. One reason why it is always recorded is because it is such a long awaited event. An equally important reason is that there is not much else to do, garden-wise, and writing a factoid down makes you feel like you’ve Done Something.

So, for those cold climate gardeners who haven’t kept records, and for those who have, but are interested in comparing notes, here …

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