phenology

Is it spring yet?

– Posted in: What's up/blooming

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 [...]

Icicle Season

– Posted in: Mud Season, Weather

Icicle 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. [...]

Signs of Spring

– Posted in: Garden chores, What's up/blooming

The 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 [...]