After Bloom Day, wanting to preserve the tulip blossoms as much as possible in order to use them Sunday at church, I moved the pot of Pieter de Leur into the sitting room which is very cool. This is where my few houseplants live all winter. The jasmine dries up slowly over the season, but when I cut it back it always revives with the arrival of warm weather. I have been fascinated watching these forced bulbs as…
My records have failed me once again. I know I potted up the tulip bulbs for forcing sometime in December. Brent and Becky sent pre-cooled tulips and I thought they would start to sprout almost immediately, but I am still waiting for most of them to get beyond this stage. Although they were planted earlier than the tulips, this little pot of Muscari armeniacum "Christmas Pearl", chosen because it was listed as a good bulb for forcing…
As I surround myself with rose catalogs and make my final decisions about this year's purchases, I can't help remembering all the roses I have bought and killed. When I was a new gardener I was ashamed of every failure and knew, rightfully so, that it was caused by my lack of knowledge and skill. It took time to realize that knowledge and skill grow from our failures. We learn about proper planting, proper siting, and proper maintenance.…
Another snowfall left another 5 inches of powdery snow. The plow was here at 6:30. No excuse for a lie in. This is the view from my south bedroom window. With all these frequent snows the fields remain pristine and white. This is the view from the west bedroom window. This is how I spend the first half hour of the morning, winter or summer, with my coffee and a book. My chair is right near the woodstove.…
Snowstorm! The chickens can't wait... I wish I had a portable chicken house! No joke.
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It wouldn't be snowy winter unless I was writing about sastrugi, the snow waves and caves created by the wind. This is what the western edge of the Sunken Garden looked like at early this morning. The snow storm has passed but the snow is cold and dry and the wind blows right across the field to the west. You can see how the shape of the snow has changed, especially where the sun is hitting in the…
not from China 'cross the Bay, but from the east in glorious array. I almost missed the photo, the colors change so rapidly. This morning the sunrise was more pearly, but then came a pink glow over our fields. Very mysterious and beautiful. To see more beautiful skyscapes logon to host Skywatch Friday.
I was bragging about not having had any frost yet, but when I went out this morning there was frost on the north side of the house. However, just the merest frosty kiss on the south side. Only half the basil hit the dust. I am happy for the cool nights and days which make working outside such a joy. The holiday weekend promised to be beautiful and my son Chris, and son-in-law Gerry, came to help my…
Last week I set out the sprinkler to water the vegetable garden for 45 minutes. I have not NOT watered anything else for weeks. Then I turned on the hose to water the chickens. I heard the phone ring and ran into the house. When I got back to the hose - it was dry. I turned off the spigot, went into the house and turned on the taps. No water. We have a drilled well, and have…