Sunday, January 15, 2023

The Rain, the Cemetery and Other Things


It's been pretty mild over the past several weeks -- ever since our snow in December -- and the garden is beginning to come to life. I noticed yesterday that a couple of our primroses are already blooming...


...and the once-glittery hyacinth bulbs are sprouting. (At least, the ones the squirrels haven't eaten.)


The daffodils are coming up...


...and the snowdrops are too.

(These snowdrops grow right out in the lawn, and I've been thinking about how to protect them when the tree trimmers come. I think I'm going to put a plastic trug -- kind of a big bucket -- over them and anchor the handles with stakes. Hopefully that will keep them from getting stepped on or mangled.)


The hellebore has put out a single, ragged-looking flower, but you can see lots of other buds waiting to emerge.


I spent some time yesterday repotting a couple of plants. Above is one of my Thanksgiving cacti, the one with the salmon-colored flowers. It's been looking worse and worse, so yesterday I unpotted it and found that most of the root ball had died. I put it in a smaller pot with fresh soil, and also took lots of cuttings and stuck them in the dirt in hopes that they'll root and I won't lose the entire plant. It will be ironic if the cutting I mailed to Frances survives but my plant dies!

I also repotted one of my geraniums, which had become so top-heavy it kept blowing over and the pot eventually broke.

And now our mild weather is coming to an end. Tonight it's supposed to get down near freezing, with Monday and Tuesday nights at about 24º F (-4º C), and then it will hover around freezing again through the rest of the week. So today I've got to bring in the geraniums and cover the banana and the canna lilies.

I'm sure this is boring as all get-out to all of you, and I apologize, but I haven't paid much attention to the garden lately and it felt good to get out there again!

It rained pretty much all day yesterday, off and on. In the afternoon I risked a trip to the cemetery with Olga and we got caught in a downpour. That was no fun. Olga retreated beneath a couple of big junipers and kept rubbing her back on them, as if to wipe off the rainwater -- while the rain was still coming down. I said, "Dog, that's not gonna work." We eventually scurried to the chapel and found about a dozen other people there with their dogs, but fortunately at that point the rain stopped so we didn't have to join them. We beat a hasty retreat home.

33 comments:

  1. So much for Hellebores being called Christmas roses. Minus four is getting rather chilly. Minus 7 I think I saw forecast for Toronto one day this week.

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  2. I love primulas..that punch of colour in early spring!!

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  3. My cutting is still on the kitchen windowsill supposedly getting " calloused". I will have another read about what to do next. No pressure then!

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  4. So many bulbs! I need to repot things too, but it's way too hot right now. Last spring was too wet, so they'll have to wait until Easter.

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  5. Never boring. I love your garden posts. It sounds like you've come up with a great way to protect the snowdrops. One thing I especially miss is daffodils. Not enough to change climates, but I do miss them. We had thousands naturalized on our property in Connecticut. It was glorious.

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  6. Why use "fortunately" in the last sentence? You could have regaled the other dog walkers with tales of Florida and keenly fought successes in retrieving overdue library books. By the way, I just checked on Amazon and indeed it is possible to buy raincoats for dogs there.

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  7. It's almost always a sure sign of spring for us when the daffodils start to bloom ... but they are even out of the soil yet!

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  8. You are so far ahead of our season. I really like seeing your plants, never boring. And yes, protect the snowdrops, they'll never survive tree men's boots. Mine, snow drops, not boots, are barely breaking ground yet.

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  9. The wheel of life does keep turning, doesn't it? A beautiful way to note the passing of days- to watch the flowers and see what's coming in to bloom.

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  10. My daffodils have come up but no buds showing yet. As always I'm amazed that your bloom before mine but I guess it's just the variety. There's only one or two that will naturalize down here. I worked out in the yard yesterday, dug up a dead plant and started weeding a section and turning the soil for a spring garden.

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  11. Too early for blooms here in Illinois. I usually see my daffodil shoots in March.

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  12. I'm surprised that there's so much going on in the garden there. Here it is still wet, dark and wintry. Every green thing out there is waiting for more sunlight.

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  13. Too bad when I lived there as an oblivious teen that I missed how temperate it really is. Daffodils! Amazing.

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  14. Your garden is never boring to me but I am quite envious. My garden is still covered in snow and will be for a couple for months. Sigh.

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  15. At least for those of us who live where winters can be difficult at times, global warming has its benefits.

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  16. It's nice to see all the buds and sprouts. When I was at the garden late last week, I saw very few blooms. I think the big nightshade plant was the only one with blooms on it.
    We had a taste of warmer weather last Thursday, Friday and yesterday. Now it's raining again and the week ahead is once again to be chilly.

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  17. I love your garden posts. Never boring at all. It's nice to see growing things. Our yard is really not good for growing anything but grass, which is unfortunate.

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  18. I enjoy seeing your garden year round. We have frequent warm spells all winter long and I always worry when our fruit trees begin budding too early. Then I worry we'll get a late freeze!

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  19. Yes, I knw how exciting it is to see new plants rise up but it will be another 12 weeks or more before I see my first dandelion.

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  20. Me and my severely purple thumb are not bored at all. This is fascinating. My plants decide for themselves who will live and who will bite the dust, so to speak. The geraniums and roses win every year.
    By the way, your title has put an old Cowsills song in my head. I will be humming it all day. It makes me happy, happy.

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  21. I hope you don't lose anything.

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  22. Your garden posts are always welcome especially I sit here sweltering through the summer heat. I was even envious of your chilly walk with Olga! I hope the cold doesn't harm the budding bulbs
    -Caro

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  23. I love seeing what's happening in your yard! I'll be posting a daffodil sighting on my blog here in a little bit. I was so surprised to see them yesterday. Then again, I'm surprised every year. Ha!

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  24. Hi there. I’m a new follower and thought I’d introduce myself. My garden is looking pretty rubbish right now but…..a few daffodils are beginning to show themselves. Nice to meet you. Pat

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  25. Spring?? Unreal Growth - Sure Doesn't Look Like That Around Here - Stay Strong

    Cheers

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  26. It's a little early to be thinking about spring over here. Even in Arizona. Grey, gloomy and cold here right now.

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  27. Our weather has been like yours--snow and cold in late November/early December and since then, some unseasonably warm days. We depend on a mountain snowpack for water in the summer (and for irrigation) so I'm hoping for cooler temperatures and snow in the mountains. I haven't been thinking much about my plants although the tulips are usually starting to come out of the ground about now.

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  28. And I see that I missed your egg post! Thanks for checking. You're a good egg, yourself!

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  29. "I'm sure this is boring as all get-out to all of you" - not to me! It's exciting to see garden news this early in January, though today I noticed the first crocus leaves here in southern Idaho (a month early). Your violet photo the other day was exquisite, and today's photos and stories are invigorating. That doughty primrose!

    Cheers,
    Chris from Boise

    PS Three Men In A Boat is a terrific read-aloud.

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  30. Oops - the violet was on Ms. Moon's blog. :-)

    Chris from Boise

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  31. Andrew: Well, I guess we're still sort of close to Christmas!

    GZ: Me too!

    Frances: I didn't callous mine. I just stuck them in the soil. We'll see what happens!

    River: Yeah, bulbs tend to do well here. I love seeing them every spring!

    Mitchell: They're terrific in clumps. I like the yellow ones more than the white ones (which we also have and which come out later).

    YP: I am always happy when I don't have to join a mob of people!

    Bob: I'm surprised you can even have daffodils in SC. Seems like it might be too warm there.

    Boud: I am having all kinds of stress about how to protect plants!

    Ms Moon: Having this garden is a great way to watch the seasons change.

    Ellen: Our yellow daffodils come up quite early, usually in January, and sometimes they're even blooming by the end of the month. Our white ones, on the other hand, come up later.

    Ellen D: Yes, Illinois gets quite a bit colder than we do here!

    Robin: But there's always something happening! I bet you have minor changes here and there.

    Marty: Yes, it's always surprising considering how far north we are.

    Pixie: Life on the northern prairies!

    Ed: It never gets TOO cold here -- not like Iowa!

    Sharon: It's always nice to see a winter flower like the hellebore.

    Allison: And day lilies! LOL

    Kelly: I know, I always worry about the plants sprouting too soon. But they seem to manage. Nature knows what to do!

    Red: You and Pixie have to hold out a while longer, I know!

    Deedles: I'm SO GLAD you got my Cowsills reference! :)

    37P: It was indeed -- maybe TOO adventurous for her. :)

    Colette: Well, if we do, we do. I try to protect things but sometimes stuff just dies. C'est la vie.

    Caro: The bulbs are pretty hardy and aren't usually fazed by cold or even snow.

    Bug: I guess I shouldn't be surprised yours are coming out already! I ought to have some by the end of the month.

    Patricia: Thanks for reading and commenting! It's great to "meet" you!

    Padre: Yeah, I'm sure you're still in the snow belt!

    Catalyst: I heard some people in Scottsdale are without water! I hope that's not you! (You're in Scottsdale, aren't you? Or is it Flagstaff?)

    Margaret: Tulips already! We don't see those for a few more weeks, usually.

    Debby: Yes! I had you in mind! :)|

    Chris: Yes, I loved Ms Moon's violet photo! A white violet is an uncommon thing, at least to me. I noticed a flower bud on one of our crocuses yesterday!

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  32. I can't even imagine seeing blooms pop up in January (though given that we've been in the 40s in the daytime, I did do a daffodil sprout check the other day. Nope.)

    I love that you huddled with the dogs in the church. Loved it.

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