Feeding Frenzy

It is snowing AGAIN! We already have four inches on the ground. The Juncos and chickadees have been feeding at the bird feeders nonstop since it started snowing.

gopher troubles

The ground is barely frozen and the gophers are already ripping up my garden. I am sure they are enjoying destroying all the roots and bulbs I planted there. What is a gardener to do? Any tips out there for battling gophers or moles?

Crocus

The crocuses are beginning to peek out of the melting snow. It has not been sunny enough to get any of these to open and start showing color. Inch Worm has been having fun going on a crocus hunt on the hill where I randomly planted over a hundred crocuses.

Fog rolling in

Tulips?

So it appears that the tulips have decided it is spring. They are popping up in numbers on a south hill on the west side of the house. No crocus or daffodils in sight, but the tulips have decided to have a go at it.

Winter Damage

Winter has been harsh on all the plants this year. The evergreens have brown patches where their needles have died. The heavy snow also broke branches of the azalea and evergreens. If we also throw in the deer damage, all the shrubs have a lot of recovering to do after this winter.

Winter Thaw

All the snow is beginning to melt and reveal the soggy ground underneath. Part that are bare are covered with snow mold. Snow mold is a fungal disease that appears in early spring as the snow melts. Gray snow mold (also called Typhula blight) is caused by Typhula spp., which becomes active under the snow cover. It almost looks like a spider web stretched across the grass. The best treatment at this time is to simply rake the affected lawn area to help it dry out.

I have sprouts!

Doing the winter sowing happy dance because today I noticed my first sprouts. These are bachelor buttons 'blue boy'. Any other Zone 4 gardeners seeing sprouts? So excited to check every day now and see what else is popping up. I am so ready for Spring!

Winter's many projects

Winter is a great time to tackle garden projects that have been put on hold. I found these metal containers at a thrift store this summer in Michigan (Thanks Aunt Jane!). I had the idea to turn these into flowers for garden art, but the project always got pushed aside until now. Thorny guy helped bend the metal rods while I found the proper bolts for the threaded rods his dad found in his garage and voila, metal flowers. I think they turned out fabulous. Now deciding which garden to put them in?

More orchid blooms relief spring itch.

The moth orchids are in full bloom. The baldan's kaleidoscope orchid just opened it's third bloom. These flowers have a big job to do - providing needed color in a sea of white snow. They need to bloom until the first crocuses of spring arrive. There are reports that Zone 6 is seeing signs of spring! I can not wait although these orchids help.

Baby Ferns

Hard to see but I think I may just have two baby ferns growing. I really hope that they are not some weed or a stray seed. I did sterilize the mix before adding the fern spore. The two ferns are in the section with the most mature gametophytes so that gives me hope.