Skiff of snow

What a difference a day makes. We got a dusting of snow and it has turned cold. The poor little crocus are shivering in their bulbs no doubt.It is fun getting outside to see what things look like with a skiff of snow on them. Come around to the back garden with me. We will see if there are any Crocus up back there.

Looks fairly bleak back here. Lets go through the gate. I kind of like the way the gold gazing ball is glowing even though it is cloudy.Yes, It is the only thing in the back garden that is glowing today.Even Luna seems to be drawn to it. I didn't find one little crocus or anything else showing itself back here. I think those crocus out front are totally confused.

I hope you all are warm and cozy. I am gonna get in my chair, cover up with a blankie and read.

Firsts

I am so pleased to report that I saw the first of the crocus popping out of the soil today. They might have been up for a few days but this is the first day in some time that I have felt like a well human being so I haven't been outside much.

Another first are these bulbs protruding from the ground. They look like they have been heaved somewhat. They sure are brave bulbs because they are showing some green. I think the 50F weather we had a couple of days fooled some of the bulbs. These naked ladies just can't wait to start showing off. They are the old fashioned, light pink variety.

Both of these are growing out front where we took out the Rugosa Rose this fall. Maybe they are just happy to have more sunshine and space to grow. Another first for the year are the bulbs I found at the local nursery. I saw a big sign that said 60% off of everything in the place. I am sure they wanted me to be buying some Christmas decorations but I fooled them. I had to go into their unheated garage to see what bulbs hadn't been sold. As you can see I found a few.

I bought 12 Red Riding Hood Tulips, 12 Kolpakowskiana Tulips, 12 Saxatillis Tulips, 7 pink Squamigera and 7 Yellow Spider Aurora Squamigera.

The Squamigera didn't have a price on them and I didn't get many because I didn't know what they would cost. I wasn't quite sure what they were either by looking at the pictures. Imagine my surpise when I looked them up on the internet and found that they are a fancy version of the Naked Ladies, or Lycoris. The pictures sure don't look like my old fashioned Naked Ladies.

I took a few of the tulips and a three of the pink squamigera and put them just outside my window. I want to be able to see these beauties when they pop up this spring/early summer. I planted them on the left side of the tree behind the feeder while I planted the Chionodoxa on the right side of the tree. It will be intersting to see a little color early in the year. The pink Squamigera are supposed to be much darker than the old fashioned variety. We will see.

It is supposed to rain tonight so I hope my little bulbs will get all snuggled in for a short growing season.
I kept one of the yellow Squamigera out of the ground and put it on my one bulb vase. It was trying its best to start growing. I sat it in the kitchen window with the rest of the vases. I have no idea if it will take to growing in a bulb vase but since it is already showing signs of growing I can hope. It will end up being awfully tall. This could be an interesting experiment.
I can't wait to get into my chair tonight with my new gardening journal and start the year off right with an entry about planting something. Whoooooo hoooooooooooooooooo... I am hoping this is a good omen for the growing year.

Skywatch Friday

The day is done... I almost waited until too late to take any sky pictures today. It was a beautiful winter day. Sun was shining, not much wind, it got up into the low 40sF. Aaaahhhh.



We were out scouting for the Knox County Christmas Bird Count that we are doing tomorrow. Found some nice birds to add to the count "if" we can find them again tomorrow. The weather gods seem to be smiling on us so far. It is supposed to be a good day tomorrow too.



As we were about to come home we saw a couple of planets that we don't normally see on the horizon. The little bit brighter spot just to the right of the tree is Jupiter and the other is Mercury. Of course Venus being the brightest was over out of photo area.

Here I zoomed in as close as I could. Now can you see them?? It was really good if you were there. For more and not doubt better skywatch photos go to Sky Watch Friday.

Happy New Year

This gardening year will be so interesting since last year I started using the 10-yr garden journal. Last year several people talked and wrote about how good it was to be able to look back on the same date to see what was happening in the garden. So I thought I would try it.

I believe I did a fare job of writing down the minimum of what was happening. This has really helped me keep the temperatures of most days if nothing else. However I have kept a different type journal for so many years that it is a difficult habit to break. Actually it is one habit I don't want to break because it works for me on many levels. As you can see my 2008 garden journal is what I keep the most records in. I am one of "those" people that like to take my book out into the garden with me. I sketch in it, write whatever is running through my mind about the garden and sometimes other things happening in life.This is how it starts out the first of the year. All neat and tidy, tied up in the leather cover that protects it from most dirt and spills. It will end up fattened up with receipts, flower tags, pictures and notes galore.I usually write, draw, paste in a picture in the front page. What ever the mood brings during the time of getting the journal ready to use. I like to prime it with what ever mood the first of the year brings. It is great fun to look back over the years and read what was going on in the garden.

Those ribbons are how I keep track of the pages of chores or happenings, projects that I need/want to keep track of.

This year I have an added delight to work with when it comes to journaling. It is a gift given to me by Sherry of Q's Corner. She is such a generous loving friend and I want to thank her for surprising me with this journal. It is different than any I have ever used. It has pockets for "stuff" and prompts and quotes to keep you thinking about the garden. Thank you so much Sherry for feeding my journaling soul. I look forward to finding things to put into those pockets and filling up the spaces that call for descriptions of other gardens visited. I hope you have your garden journal ready to capture all the action in the garden this year of 2009. I want to wish all of my gardening bogger buddies the best, healthiest, most flower/plant filled new year and I hope that all your Garden Dreams come true.

Winter sun

The winter sun was not the only thing that drew me out into the garden today. I looked out to see that the winds of the past couple of days did a little rearrangeing of some garden ornaments. This is a bad thing. It is the first time that wind has ever knocked over the bird cage. It is very heavy and with it being made of wire the wind usually just flows through. I guess the cage then knocked over the huge concrete basket planter. Geez, it took all of my strength to set that concrete basket back up on its pedestal. There are minature hostas planted in this planter. They have survived the past few years in this very spot. I hope the toppling of their planter doesn't disturb the roots to make them not be able to survive the winter. We will have to wait to see. After I got outside I realized how mild the temperature is so I got my last bag of bulbs into the ground. I found this bag of 12 Chionodoxa marked way down and thougth it would be nice to look out my window this spring and see a clump of these little flowers. I have never grown them before so I don't know what to expect. Have you ever grown them? Another name on the packate is 'Lucilaea'. I hope they make it through the winter. I think it is awfully late to be planting them but they at least have a chance being planted rather than wasting away in a bag in a landfill.

I also got the blower out and cleaned off the patio, cleaned the water feature. I am sure the birds will appreciate some clean water and feeders with fresh food.Why even Lincoln looks happier with the sun shining on him. It is just amazing what a little sunshine can do for you especially during winter. Now if I was feeling better I would pull some weeds. It is amazing how the winter weeds don't need much encouragement to flourish.

Skywatch Friday

While our skies are all cloudy and gray today I thought I would share a picture of the sunrise I took while we were out birding last week. The sun was working hard to burn off the steam from the lake. It couldn't quite do it. The temperatures were to conflicting. Does't that big yellow orb look warm. I can't wait to see it again.

For more Skywatch Friday you can go here.

Merry Christmas

From our house to yours I wish you all a Merry Christmas.