That time of year...

Seems like I never get online until late evening and by then I am exhausted! That must mean it is spring in the garden :)

Everything is coming along nicely and so far, I haven't found any big spaces where plants were winter killed and I don't seem to be missing anything. The carnation were looking great and then frost came and killed them. They do not look like they are going to recover but I left them in and will keep my fingers crossed.

The bird sanctuary looks great. It is the only bed left to finish weeding but rain came several days ago and is expected to continue two more days. It means the rest of the weeding has to wait. I do hope some sunny days are coming. My tulips could have used it a week ago but next week, my iris will be needing it too.

Visitors

Spring has definitely arrived. The burrow from next door got out of his fencing and came to visit us but I couldn't grab the camera fast enough. The dogs were barking and his family was not far behind him trying to catch up. Our single squirrel has turned into a little family but I couldn't get a shot of them all together because whenever I step out the door, they all scatter. This guy is the only one who stays close. The beautiful weather even brought a knock at the door last night which rarely occurs. There are one million dandelions in my garden and everything is turning green!

...and so it begins.

Spring has definitely arrived and I have been doing nothing but cleaning up in the yard after the animals and garden after our long but mild winter. It would seem a mild winter does not make less clean up in an early spring! It is probably a tie between these carnation in the sun garden and the sedum at the top of the stepping stone steps for which is further along. But everything is coming. Including the tarda with several shoots I can not yet identify. I saw evidence of the dwarf iris and moved all the fall rock piles so I will be able to see when the tulips arrive. Things are looking up in zone 3.

The Season of Mud and Molt

 

Letting Suzy, Sandy and Mikaela free roam in the house is a big chore. Actually, the free roaming is fine. It is the getting ready to let them free roam that is the work. They all attack cats. Suzy and Sandy to play with them but they are so big, the can hurt a cat really easy. Mikaela attacks to kill. Anything furry and small is for hunting. This is the season, though, that they are free roaming a lot. They need regular brushing, cleaning and nail trimming. Normally, the molt hair is impossible to keep up with no matter how hard we try. About a week into the thaw, we usually throw our hands up and get ready for a few weeks of mud and molt. This year, our winter season has been extremely mild. There is not much molt for us to deal with. None of the dogs developed their full winter coat. Not even Summer. The mud, on the other hand, has arrived with its' usual reliability. Our yard is the only one with snow left and there is not much of it. It is a bit unique in our yard because we have so many trees. It means the snow lasts a few extra days here. With most of it melted, the girls lower pen is a swamp. Time to close that pen until the spring run off is finished and the ground is able to dry. As much work as the next few weeks will be in terms of the dogs, it does mean that the garden will be blooming soon. That is always a plus.

In the Garden Today

Miles found this little guy resting in the garden and had to save him from Summer. Spring is everywhere with all kinds of returning friends who were gone all winter. There are crocus opening in my garden today and the daffodils and tulips are starting to bud up. Still no tarda buds but I am watching. Today I started to dig up the plants for the sale. I immediately discovered I need a ton more pots! Guess a trip to Judy's shed is in on my list for tomorrow. There is a lot to dig and the weather is more than cooperating... sunny and warm all day today.

Aberdeen Tarda

My Tarda Tulip are the furthest along in my garden today. They are always the first of the bulbs to bloom and they go for a good long time for a bulb, producing flowers that bud up green, blending in with the foliage so that you almost miss them until they open up wide... bright, sunny yellow, with a pure white edge. The foliage itself is also special. A bright green with a thin red edge that let's me know the patch is Tarda long before the buds arrive. The red can be seen on the tips of the leaf even when barely peeking out of the soil. My Tarda were in the garden at Aberdeen Street when we moved in. A small patch off the back step. From that original patch, I have given them to Judy, Linda, my Aunt Marilyn and then moved some here. Although I left the original little patch on Aberdeen, it has spread from there into my garden in the valley and all the way to Nova Scotia. I have decided not to take most of my garden with me since the timing of the move would have me doing nothing but planting this year once I arrive. I think I will be busy enough without an acre of plants to get into gardens I am not familiar with. Even so, there are a few exceptions that are coming with me. The Tarda are among them. Bulbs will be quick to plant... or so I keep telling myself!

Tulips Missed

Well, it has been a long winter but my garden is coming up for another season now. This season, we hope to move and in preparation for that, I dug up all the tulips last fall and shipped them off to Linda. I knew there were many that I did not get because I decided on the plan too late in the season. I only stopped digging them because the ground froze. I guess it was a faulty plan! The tulips I missed are all starting to come up now. It would seem that I missed most, if not all, of the Zurel so there are huge patches of them poking through. I did surprisingly well on the others though. Not too many coming up that I have to deal with this year. I am not sure which varieties they are so I will have to pull out my map. Regardless, I am taking all the tulips. They are easy to move.

Daylily Divided

I finished dividing Daylily today. There are no Stella D'Oro left in the Orange Lily Garden and no Combine Garden Daylily in the Nursery. I have Stella D'Oro in three spots in the Sun Gardens now and the orange is in three spots in that same garden as well as two spots in the Front House Garden. Tomorrow I will start dividing Iris. We are having company in the morning so I won't likely finish Iris until Sunday. I found the Dahlia above, 'Taratahi Ruby', blooming along the ground. She seems much happier since I lifted her up and another of her buds has opened in the last couple of days. The Sunflower 'Double Dandy' I seeded in the Combine Garden is blooming now. It is a dwarf Sunflower and could have been another layer closer to the front of the bed. Somehow, I was not able to imagine a two foot Sunflower when I was seeding. The darker hollyhock colours are starting to show up as well. I hadn't noticed last year that the lighter ones were early and the darker ones were late but that is definitely the way it was this year. I should try and remember to notice again next year. The perfect weather is still holding here and I am making the most of it in the garden.