How do you decide that spring has finally arrived? What signs tell you that the wait is over? At our old house, seeing the leafless branches of the trees on the hillside turn red from swelling buds was our certain sign that spring had arrived. It was confirmed by coltsfoot blooming and peepers peeping. While [...]
phenology
Icicle Season
March 3, 2013 – Posted in: Mud Season, WeatherIcicle season is here at Purdyville, although, truthfully, all the icicles have already crashed to the ground. Icicle season, as described by the Nature Calendar, is characterized by alternate freezing and thawing. That is what has been happening here. Every morning, the roads are ice- or snow-covered and slick. By afternoon, they are merely wet. [...]
Climate is What We Expect;
Weather is What We Get*
April 10, 2010
– Posted in:
Garden chores,
Weather,
What's up/blooming
The weather has been unseasonably warm here. It's a great cure for cabin fever, but a worry to the true gardener. If it's this warm and dry in early spring, what will July be like? It also incites the gambling tendencies inherent in our noble profession. I wonder if we've had our last frost? (Not [...]
Signs of Spring
April 11, 2006 – Posted in: Garden chores, What's up/bloomingThe Gardener in her Garden Here I am this past Sunday transplanting Lemon Lilies (Hemerocallis flava) from the back of the Birthday Garden to the front of it. They are a very old-fashioned daylily, but not as vigorous as the Tawny Daylily (H. fulva). Although they bloom early for a daylily, they are shorter than [...]
‘Tis the season for phenology
March 25, 2006 – Posted in: From my files, Garden chores, Plant infoAccording to the UK Phenology Network, "phenology is the study of the times of recurring natural phenomena especially in relation to climate." It's something gardeners tend to practice at this time of the year, as we're all anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring. (Well, us northern gardeners are still waiting, even if the rest of [...]
Recent Comments