• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • The Gardenangelists Podcast
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

Remain Strong

November 30, 2006 By Carol Michel 8 Comments

I listened to the weather forecast on the way home. They used the word “crashing” to describe how the temperature will change late Thursday to early Friday. As in “crashing down from the mid 60’s to the low to mid 30’s”. That kind of alarmist reporting should really not be allowed. They should simply state the forecast. “Temperatures will change from highs in the 60’s to highs in the 30’s”. See, doesn’t that sound better, more normal? Like it happens all the time.

And we were warned to expect rain on Thursday with thunderstorms, maybe up to two inches of rain, and it will all turn to a winter mix on Friday. Nice.

As we all know, a wintry mix is the worst. I’d rather it be cold enough to just snow. A wintry mix is rain… and maybe some sleet… and maybe some snow… and possibly some accumulating snow… and ice. Bring out the salt trucks, please.

The temperatures will hover right around freezing, which means sometimes the roads will be just wet, and sometimes the roads will be icy and at night the roads could just look wet, but be icy. The one factor we have going for us is that the ground still is quite warm so any snow “should” melt quickly. That’s my hope. I still need to get some gas for the snowblower.

And the good news in all this? I have the garden clean up done to the point that if I don’t do anything else until spring, it will be okay. And, I’ve finished putting up my outdoor Christmas lights.

I’ve included a photo below of a large evergreen that I put lights on. I’ll admit it is poor picture at best, that’s why it isn’t at the top of this post. (I need to review the camera instructions for tips on taking night pictures!)

But I’m proud of how I was able to put lights on it, without a ladder. When I first planted this Oriental spruce (Picea orientalis ‘Green Knight’), I could stand on the ground and put one string of lights on it and be done. Then it grew so that I had to use a ladder and 2 strands of lights. Then this year, I had to use a hook on a long pole to put the lights on the top of the tree, and I used 3 strands of lights. I probably could have used more lights but that’s all the instructions said to plug in together, and I like to follow the instructions when it comes to electrical things.

The other thing you can see in this picture is the forsythia (Gold Tide Forsythia, Forsythia x ‘Courtasol’). that is going to have to be taken out because it is crowding out the spruce. I wrote about that before in this post. Henry Mitchell, himself, speaking through one of his gardening columns, has convinced me it is the right thing to do… this spring… after we are done with wintry mixes… and once it has one more chance to bloom in all its glory. It will be so bright and yellow and cheerful when it does bloom that I will have to Remain Strong in my resolve to move it, as I know it will try to convince me to let it stay. It will probably bloom better and brighter than it ever has. I know it will. Remain Strong.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: shrubs, weather

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. LostRoses says

    November 30, 2006 at 4:56 am

    Carol, they probably used the word “crashing” to remind you what will go on while driving to work. That was the effect that storm had on our streets this AM. Just warning you, ya know!

    I also need to review the night-time picture taking section in my manual but I’d say you did a pretty good job. Nice tree!

    Reply
  2. Kathy says

    November 30, 2006 at 11:53 am

    Are you going to relocate the forsythia to another location on your property? They sucker pretty well, so I should think you could at least move a piece of it that would eventually grow into a decent sized shrub. (I have a soft spot for forsythia.)

    Reply
  3. Colleen Vanderlinden says

    November 30, 2006 at 1:13 pm

    Your tree is beautiful! I haven’t gotten the hang of taking night time photos yet. Yours turned out much better than any of my attempts have 🙂

    I can’t wait until my evergreens are a little bigger. I have a white pine and a few arborvitae, but they’re still all pretty dinky. Beautiful tree, Carol!

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    November 30, 2006 at 3:11 pm

    for me this will be the hybernating season. I don’t often go many places when I’ts icy. Driving on ice doesn’t bother me as much as walking on ice. Sometimes I can get Carol to run errands for me.

    Reply
  5. Annie in Austin says

    November 30, 2006 at 3:38 pm

    Carol, I love this post! Your measured response to the weather is so much better than the hysterical stuff on television. You words confirm another Henry quote: Compared to gardeners, I think it is generally agreed that others understand very little about anything of consequence.

    The photo of your lovely spruce looks good to me, too, and keeping that form undamaged is worth being strong next spring! The Forsythia can recover from the move; the evergreen can’t recover from overcrowding.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

    Reply
  6. IBOY says

    November 30, 2006 at 4:30 pm

    Carol… here in Iowa, the temperature gently descended from 66 degrees on Monday to 14 degrees currently, with delightful freezing rain and snow. Nah… it doesn’t make me feel any better.
    Don

    Reply
  7. Carol Michel says

    December 1, 2006 at 12:35 am

    All, thanks for the comments and compliments on my picture.

    Kathy, Annie… I am going to move the forsythia in the spring. I am, I am, I am,

    IBOY… we shall get your cold temperatures by Saturday!

    Reply
  8. Rusty in Miami says

    December 2, 2006 at 4:39 am

    Carol that is a nice natural xmast tree, we don’t have those around here all we get around here are the cut trees from NC

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,053)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Newsletter Archive

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT