Monday, February 29, 2016

Garden Chores #1 and 2

I was out Saturday doing what's always the first chore of the garden: cutting down the grasses.  I've learned not to wait too long to do this because the new grass starts growing earlier than one thinks.  As I positioned myself and the buck saw (the culms are thick!) to chop down the Ravenna grass, I thought I spied a piece of trash out of the corner of my eye.  It was the first crocuses of the year, of course.

Our garden has the 'new haircut' look, with awkward grass stumps everywhere.  My compost pile looks like a Monet haystack.  I realize looking at the grasses that more than half of the clumps are large enough to split.  Yeah!

Sunday I started the traditional second chore of the year: cutting off the old foliage of the hellebores. I amazed at how many I have now.  I'm always finding space to plant out seedlings, especially the purple ones.  After a few years, I get to see the new (blooming) faces.


The climbing hydrangea has a shadow twin these days.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Crazy Winter

Zero degrees Sunday morning.
Heavy, wet snow yesterday. 
Predicted high of 55 degrees today.

The Swiss stone pine seems unfazed, but spring will tell what the true toll is from this bizarre weather.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Wintry Friday

We got the school district's robocall at 5:30 AM: 2-hour delayed opening.  By 8:30 AM they called again: no school.  The kids were elated.  

The snow was gorgeous in the morning, turning the driveway into a little winter wonderland. By the afternoon it was slush.  Looks like more is on the way this week.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016