When I finally grasped the concept of placeholder plants, it changed my life. Well, what I mean is, it reduced my garden maintenance load and I enjoyed my garden more, with less work. Not precisely life-changing, but definitely life-improving. A placeholder plant is a garden-worthy plant that you happen to have a lot of, which [...]
Johnny-jump-ups
Spring, Rebooted: Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day April 2016
April 15, 2016 – Posted in: Native/Invasive, What's up/bloomingThe early spring that showed up last month went on hiatus as the Arctic Express roared through with six inches of snow and bitter cold--it dropped to -3F on the worst night. It's almost as if the climate had to reboot to get back on track. But that is all behind us now and each [...]
Summer Is Here: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day June 2015
June 15, 2015 – Posted in: What's up/bloomingWe know it's summer when the frost-tender mosaic bird bath (pictured above) takes its rightful place in the front garden. That move from winter storage was delayed because I was attending the Garden Bloggers' Fling in Toronto. (There's a good story about the bird bath here.) All the usual suspects are blooming, so I'll just [...]
8 Plants That Look Good After Bitter Cold: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day November 2013
November 15, 2013 – Posted in: What's up/bloomingAfter a mild start to November, we have recently had snow and bitter cold*--down to 15F(-9C) one night and in the low 20s for several others. You would think there would not be any plant worth looking at after that, and you would be mostly right. However, if one looks carefully, there are still some [...]
Fall-blooming Crocus Continue for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day December 2012
December 15, 2012 – Posted in: What's up/bloomingYes, it's true. The fall-blooming crocus I wrote about for last month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day are still blooming. Some of the pale ones came up and are trying to bloom, thanks to a series of unseasonably warm days. The leaves of the pale ones emerge simultaneously with the flowers, so all the grass-like crocus [...]
Still Blooming: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day November 2009
November 16, 2009 – Posted in: What's up/bloomingI was going to blather on about how this November was milder than last, but when I checked, I discovered that's what I said last November, too! It was more typically cold in November 2007; however, the larches had more needles left at that time than they do this year. Not sure why that is. [...]
Signs of Spring
March 30, 2003 – Posted in: Weather, What's up/bloomingLots 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 [...]
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