Spring has sprung

I no longer have forsythia in my yard, but I've noticed it elsewhere in town; ditto magnolias. The usual spring bulbs are on display in my beds, which always leads me to wanting more, especially drifts of snowdrops in the lawn. However, by the time fall rolls around, my garden energy is flagging. Now I have an auger to attach to a drill, the easier to create holes in my heavy clay soil, so maybe I will follow through on that desire come autumn.

The "fall cleanup" is almost done - just the north side of the house left to tackle. The removal of plant debris has revealed some mulberry and yucca that cry for eradication, so that is on the to-do list. The earlier one attacks the undesirables, the better.

The reception for my oldest brother's wedding this weekend was at a country club where the golf course is currently undergoing a major renovation, including the removal of many trees. Boo! Their goal is to return the course to its former (treeless) state. If they want to *really* get back to their roots, IMHO they should play golf in an overgrown pasture, complete with cows. Right?

On the cusp

Despite some snow this week, it is beginning to feel like spring. The birds are starting to gather nesting materials (and unfortunately, a pair of sparrows are interested in the bluebird box) and my earliest daffodils have broken through. I expect to tackle fall cleanup this week.

I am still puzzled over the differences between the witch hazel bushes. One I purchased in 2016 from Riverview Native Plant Nursery (which is no longer in business), the other four were planted by Sanctuary Native Landscapes in 2022. They are not alike, even now when they are just starting to come back to life, despite both being "straight" species. Maybe someday I will figure it out.

(I just did a Google Lens on these photos. The reddish one may be 'Boskoop'. I will have to investigate further.)

After cleaning out one wren house and the bluebird house, I decided to hang the cat birdhouse in the Japanese maple out front, on the east side of the house, away from the weather. When I am lying on the living room couch, I can watch it for activity.

I am not growing any seedlings this year, but I did decide to try growing leaf lettuce inside (because the stuff in the grocery store is a gamble). Today I filled a couple of the plastic containers that the grocery greens come in with seed starting soil and planted some seeds.

On the left is the Burpee 'Looseleaf Blend', on the right High Mowing 'Gourmet Blend Lettuce'. Beneath the containers is a seed starting warming pad; extra plastic containers form domes over the future seedlings and capture the condensation.

I'm loosely following instructions I found here. We'll see how this works out.

Mulch volcano or donut?

One sure sign of spring is the proliferation of mulch, especially on commercial properties. Mulch is good for keeping down weeds, BUT. All too often the mulch is piled up around a tree like a volcano.

BAD!

Mulch should be applied like a donut or lifesaver. The point is to leave the trunk flare exposed. One would think the landscaping companies would know better - or maybe they do, but don't want to take the time to be careful.

GOOD!

Even the landscaping company that redid my yard made this mistake (along with a few others). I rectified the situation myself. For more information, go here. The tree you save may be your own.

(Another mistake the landscaping company made was to apply mulch under the Japanese maple and 'Limelight' hydrangea. Both have shallow roots that need to breathe. I *told* them not to mulch under those two, but did they listen? NOOOOOO.)

Other signs of spring:

Crocus

Witch hazel

Daffodils

Yesterday was *gorgeous*. Since we were facing two days of rain, I tackled the fall cleanup. I don't get on the north side of the house much in winter, so was surprised to see the goldenrod still relatively intact. Something, probably a rabbit, chewed on the asters I planted in this bed; I hope they survive (the asters, not the rabbits).

Goldenrod (before cleanup)

I am SO glad I had the landscaping redone in my yard. The cleanup took just a few hours instead of days. Some nasty weeds are already staking a claim, though, so that is the next yardening task on my to-do list.

Rite of February

Gardening catalogs start arriving here just before Thanksgiving, but I force myself to wait a bit before ordering. Nothing like pretty plant pictures to hold the February doldrums at bay. The hard part is not going overboard and ordering one of everything.

From Prairie Moon Nursery: 

• Ruellia humilis - Wild Petunia Seeds: Packet 
• Fragaria virginiana - Wild Strawberry Seeds: Packet 
• Asclepias syriaca - Common Milkweed 12 plants 
• Silphium perfoliatum - Cup Plant 3 plants

From Pinetree Garden Seeds: 

• Profusion Double Mix Zinnia seeds 
• Hopi Red Dye Amaranth seeds

From American Meadows: 

• Trifolium repens - Dutch White Clover seeds (5#) 

My yard has a lot of mulched areas, especially in the backyard. The dogs trample everything that tries to grow there, but I'd like to get some groundcover started around the shrubs, hence the wild petunia and wild strawberry. I spoke with the lawn service that treats the grass, as I miss the white clover and wild strawberry that used to grow with the grass, so for this year, I will spot treat the weeds myself and try to re-establish the clover and strawberry.

We had another spate of 50-degree weather this past week - my daughter and her friends went kayaking - but now it is more winterlike. Some of the plants are a bit confused, like the hairy beardtongue and daffodils. I have to keep reminding myself that spring is still a while away.

A pair of mallards have appeared at the neighborhood pond, and Canada geese are starting to migrate through this area. Maybe it's time to check out the sandhill cranes again.

Bugs, buds, and blossoms

I've seen a swarm or two of gnats this past week, but today I spotted this fellow feeding on the witch hazel blossoms. Some kind of bee, I guess. Honey?

Bee on witch hazel

Meanwhile, buds are starting to swell here and there around the yard.

Serviceberry

Chokeberry

Elm

Hawthorn

Ragwort

I didn't get a good photo of the snowdrops, but the "regular" croci are blooming as well as the daffodils (which look a little raggedy, due to the fluctuating weather).


So much for outside. Inside, I finally got around to starting the zinnias from seed. But first, I made some pots from newspaper, as described in this video.


Mine are not as refined as the ones in the video, but they will work.

Today I finished de-branching the arborvitae, so that task is finished. Now I am waiting on an estimate for the rain garden, because of this repeat performance:

I hope the rain garden helps.

Spring has sprung?

I was more than a little surprised to see these daffodils emerging from the mulch. Yes, it has been mild, and yes, these daffs are the first to appear each year. But January 15?!? That's just not right.

While there is no outside gardening to do right now, today I took care of some indoor gardening. Four houseplants needed to be repotted. I purchased cheap pots from Target (which came without saucers, so there is a pottery project for me) for this task. And despite my efforts to be careful, made a bit of a mess in the kitchen. Maybe next time I should do this in the laundry room where there is a utility sink.

There has been more bird activity lately, specifically a flicker (a rarity at the feeders) plus quite a few bluebirds, so I've been putting out mealworms. I don't know what it is about seeing those flashes of blue, but it really cheers me up. Not to be outdone, my SO spotted a bald eagle a few miles from my house, near the county fairgrounds. Now *that* is really something to see.

Just for the record

Monday the robins that did not migrate showed up to feast on the berries on the hawthorn tree. My observation is they ate mostly from the top of the not-very-tall-yet tree, which allowed me to harvest the ones on the lower branches for dyeing. I'm guessing the thorns affect where they can land on the branches.

Tuesday (yesterday) I spotted daffodils emerging from the leaf mold. Brave or fool hardy? Today it is snowing, with several inches expected along with some arctic temps.

While I was outside yesterday, I picked up dog poop (a new milestone in recovery from hip surgery), cut back the clematis, removed most the milkweed (hope those seeds spread far and wide!), filled bird feeders, and as stated above, harvested berries from the hawthorn tree. That all took about an hour. Today I am stiff and sore, especially my back but not my hip!

A little pop

Now that the temps have risen to near June-like 80's, shrubs and trees are starting their spring show. The neighborhood magnolias are gorgeous, as are those all over town; last night's rain may have ended that show prematurely. The ornamental pears have magically popped as well, which is a mixed blessing as they are proving to be invasive. My completely unscientific observation is they spread to relatively open undeveloped land but not to mature woods. Has anyone else noticed this?

In my own yard, the serviceberry has popped. Some years it fails to bloom due to late frosts, but despite the erratic weather we have had, it patiently held on. Mine has never fully recovered from rabbit girdling its first year, hence its lack of height.

The grape hyacinth has made it's return. Started elsewhere in the front yard, it spread to the yucca bed. I recently did away with the yucca (or at least made a first attempt) and hope the grape hyacinth takes its place, as it's a harbinger of spring and a low-growing ground cover the rest of the summer.

Some people don't like violets in their beds, but I am not one of them. There are also some Johnny-jump-ups elsewhere but getting a photo of them would have required more agility than I have as they are growing under the elderberry behind some hardware cloth. (I don't know if rabbits eat elderberry, but I have lost too many plants and shrubs over the years to take a chance.) This pic also show a bit of columbine starting to show above ground.

Besides the pink hyacinth under the purple smoke bush, there are white ones behind the barberry. I have no explanation for this "hidden garden" other than I thought the white would be a nice contrast to the dark barberry. The barberry is being removed, to give the gold mop more room, plus it is another invasive (one I have not noticed in the wild... yet).

Some of the daffs are done already, but others continue to brighten the landscape. Too many daffs are never enough.

Yellow isn't the only color of daffodil around here. I think this was marketed as a "pink" daffodil, but was not quite what I (nor the catalog) pictured. I still like them.

One of these days the redbud will pop. Meanwhile, the trees are starting to leaf out, even the Prairie Fire crabapple I planted this year in the backyard. Hopefully, those leaves will turn into branches, as right now it mostly resembles a stick.

For the record, my order from Prairie Nursery arrived intact but with no forewarning. The plants look really robust. One flat of coneflower, one of rubekia, one of butterfly weed (for clay), and one of mixed this-and-that. Not pictured: a one gallon pot of Culver's Root. Guess what I will be doing for the next couple of weeks.

April showers and a few flowers

My SO and I were in Kansas City last week, where we thought there might be some signs of spring. No such luck, except for a magnolia. On our way out of town, I spotted some daffodils and forsythia. A winter weather advisory for the region was on our heels.

Not much blooming at home, either. The earliest clump of daffs are showing but the rest are lagging behind. The pink hyacinth are also blooming. I gave up on crocus because of rabbits but they keep trying to make an appearance, along with something I don't know the name of.

While surveying the yard, I discovered the bark is peeling off my 'Winter King' hawthorn tree. Yikes! But some research reveals that this is normal, part of the tree's winter interest. Whew!

The seedlings (that I planted WAY too early - most are large enough for transplanting) survived my absence although it looks like a certain someone did not water them. Right before I left, a few items arrived from Gurney's and Breck's: one 'Prairie Fire' crabapple tree, two red penstemon crowns, and three 'Lucifer' crocosmia corms. I was a little worried about the crabapple, as it needed to get in the ground before it broke dormancy, but I had no choice but to wait. I planted it yesterday, and one branch bud looked ready to pop, so I hope it does okay. It's getting plenty of water today.

Good-bye February!

My annual complaint, that February is the longest month of the year, is about to be stashed until next winter. I find myself thinking the worst is over, but it really isn't, despite the bulbs popping up here and there. March usually brings one more snowfall.

Naturalizing Daffodils

Yesterday I did some more yardening, pruning back the hydrangea, cleaning out this and that. I tend to work on particular plants, like the catmint and milkweed, instead of beds. There is more to do, of course, but it doesn't hurt to get a head start.

Pink Hyacinth

I did find a pair of hand pruners that disappeared last year, far from the area I thought they would be, oddly close to where my SO found his missing Fitbit. I'm also rediscovering my gardening muscles. All that winter walking does not help with the bending, stretching, lifting.

Pink Snow Crocus

Inside, most of the seedlings have germinated, even the 'Luna Red' Hibiscus! A germination heating pad helps. Right now, the only holdouts are the Japanese indigo (dyers knotweed) and the parsley.

Early Snow Drops

I ordered an electric fence to limit the dogs free space. I also bought them passes to the city dog parks. We went to Camp Canine at Johnny Appleseed Park yesterday, and they zoomed to their hearts content before my SO and I took them for a walk along the River Greenway behind IPFW. Today they are still tired.

Robin's nest from last summer

This morning's rain has given way to a little sun, so maybe I will venture outside again, before the rains return. Happy yard cleanup!