dandelion

I just knew a mild February would mean trouble later on. Spring in February doesn't happen here without some sort of counterbalance later on. But even I couldn't guess it would be the snowstorm of the century. I thought those sub-zero temperatures the week before were punishment enough. Read on to learn what was blooming before Snowmageddon and what is currently cheering me in the house.

You could be forgiven for mistaking coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) for a dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) from a distance, especially if you didn't know that coltsfoot is the earliest blooming wildflower in northeastern North America. Can you tell them apart when I put them next to each other? Furthermore, coltsfoot flowers bloom without any foliage at all. [...]

Five inches of rain fell here in roughly 24 hours. After a multi-week dry spell where my constant promise to my garden was, "As soon as we get some rain, I'm going to…", it finally rained, big time. Casting an eye at the seasonal clock and acknowledging that we really should have had a frost [...]

Lots of crocuses up now, including a few of the larger Dutch crocus Heard peepers on Thursday My husband heard a kildeer and saw a swallow Geese have been flying north for a while now Saw my first dandelion, and my first Johnny-jump-up "Snow will develop between 6 am and 8 am Sunday...And could become [...]