Last Day of March - First Garden Walk

We have finally been blessed with a nice, sunny, relatively warm day. I decided to try for a walk through part of the garden out back. It is still an interesting mix of snow and bare patches.
There is a lovely little patch of Crocus "Tricolour" blooming near the house.

I guess you could call this a "circle of sedum" along the path.

 The Octoberfest bed has a bit of one end bare so there were Crocus ancyrensis up and blooming there.

They are always the first to emerge as the snow retreats.They are brighter than bright!

The rhododendrons and azaleas are still very buried in snow in many places. This azalea is quite bent over. Hopefully it will spring back up when the snow leaves. I didn't look too closely to see whether there were broken branches.

These rhodies in the 2003 nursery bed and beyond are still basically buried. It would appear there may be almost 2 feet of snow in a few places. A walk in that direction can wait.

The potato pit also looks like it will need several more warm days before it could be accessed. We typically gain access during the first week of April(stay tuned!).

Some of the rhodies in the oak bed are looking very nice, and overall there doesn't appear to be any winter damage with respect to burnt leaves. This is a lovely indumented little plant grown from some no-ID seed . It is likely a R. pachysanthum cross.

Rhododendron 'Northern Starburst' is looking very good. Most of the center part of the Oak bed is bare, but still snow along the edges. Note there is a  teeny rhodie still surrounded. I expect that is one of John Weagle's diminutive crosses.

James is busy boiling down sap again today, after a bit of a hiatus due to several very cold days with negligable sap flow. Today and tomorrow ought to yield reasonable amounts.

Another Small Step

Before the last couple of wet days, we had a chance to look over the yard in the sun.

Bill chose to start on the "pick up" of woody debris that is always a harbinger of spring here.

Winter winds prune the birch trees all too well.

The sun had the various crocus patches absolutely glowing.

These Crocus ancyrensis hold the glow record" as far as I am concerned.

It was lovely to see many other groups popping up with full colours in effect or at least a hint.These dark purple crocus amongst the lamb's ears are one such group.

There are still some snowy areas. The back hillside with the 2004 nursery bed is still very wintry. It would also appear that the wooden framework around the bed has succumbed to heavy snow. That bit of structure was (is)destined to be removed this spring anyway.

Anywhere the snow has disappeared there are emerging shoots of one thing or another. These big noses belong to a species Peony seedling that blooms long before the "regular" peonies.

The cats have been keen on being outdoors this spring. Voodie came along for the walk.

Spring?....what Spring?

This week has certainly taken a turn for the worse.

White stuff everywhere.

Don't think that even seedlings can take our mind off of this.

Hope it clears a bit before our scheduled jaunt to Halifax tomorrow. We are to give a talk to the Garden Club in the Prospect Bay Road area.

Snowy Sunday

This is a very lazy sort of day, with a little snow coming down.

I don't think there is supposed to be any great amount. A couple of our red Amaryllis are just coming into bloom. I took a quick pic this morning. A bright spot for a dull day.This one in front of the window is still "budded". Not a very good pic.

An Uninspiring Few Days

November has been kicking in with its inevitable miserable weather.

We, at least, escaped most of the first snow that many in the Maritimes have been having since Saturday evening.

We did have a fun little "early" first Birthday Party for Ava on Saturday.

She had a nice time with her first cake!

The late evening was plagued by a power failure (so much for the movie!). A bit of deja-vu from the week before.

Sunday was very nasty....wet, windy and cold; making for a miserable Remembrance Day.

We were pretty much stuck in with 4 cats, 3 dogs, and Ian and Gina.

We did make some delicious Lavender Shortbread cookies on Sunday, and had a good feed of "ribs".... the comforts of food!

This day has detiorated somewhat with quite a little bit of snow.