It's a good thing I didn't plan a big festival for late November to welcome the first snowdrops of the season. They are not to be found this year. Where they came up last year and bloomed at the end of November—see picture for evidence—there is now a bunch of henbit growing and a ceramic sign that says "Snowdrops" so I know I'm looking in the right spot. What is the difference between last year and this year? Well, thanks for asking. We gardeners love to talk about the … [Read more...] about Snowdrop Watch
winter
I’m so February…
For the first time in quite some time, we had enough snow and cold that I paid someone to shovel out my driveway. Normally I clear it off myself but we had at least eight inches of snow the other day, if not more. That alone was a lot to shovel, but what made the decision to hire out the work easier was the two foot mountain of snow at the end of the drive left by the snow plow which came through twice. And it has been well below freezing all week. I found the guys who did the job when I … [Read more...] about I’m so February…
A Different Kind of Holiday Greenery
All throughout the land, on this first Sunday of Advent, on this eve of the first predicted snowfall of the season, gardeners everywhere are scurrying around putting the last of the garden to be bed. Hoses. Check. Disconnected and hauled into the garage. Pots. Check. Hauled into the garage or covered to keep them from getting too wet and freezing and then cracking. Veggie Garden. Check. Covered in leaves, along with the figs. Bulbs. Check. Planted. Hey, wait a dog-gone, tulip-picking minute! … [Read more...] about A Different Kind of Holiday Greenery
Winter Has Arrived And It is Making Me Shovel the Driveway
A few weeks ago, well actually last weekend when it was warm enough that I went out and cut down my grapevines, I had this fleeting idea that perhaps we were going to escape actual "winter", meaning, of course, snow. I was wrong. Foolishly so. I guess. We aren't going to escape actual winter. We never do. But we can certainly hope that this snowfall is it. The big show. The big snow. The one. The only. Okay, that would also be foolish to hope for. What we should hope for is an early … [Read more...] about Winter Has Arrived And It is Making Me Shovel the Driveway
The Lone Snowdrop
I looked out the window a few days ago and surveyed the back garden. Within seconds, I saw the gleaming white of a lone snowdrop in bloom. Lovely readers, we simply do not have snowdrops blooming this early around here, until this year. I assume the mild fall, followed by a colder than normal few days in November, followed but what has been so far a mild winter, coaxed this one lone snowdrop to come up and flower. As soon as I saw it from the window, I ran out the door with my smartphone in … [Read more...] about The Lone Snowdrop
My Houseplant Revelation
I had a revelation about houseplants the other day and I'm here to tell you that it is the most liberating revelation I've had in quite some time. I have some really old houseplants in my sunroom. I have an aloe vera plant that comes from an aloe plant once owned by my great-grandmother. Offsets from that aloe plant have been handed down to me and I, in turn, have given offsets to others in the family. My great-grandmother was born in 1878 which means my aloe plant originated from a … [Read more...] about My Houseplant Revelation
