Re: Where's Spring?
- Subject: Re: Where's Spring?
- From: Alyce Elliott a*@northnet.org
- Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 12:57:02 -0500
Hi Kate and all,
My NY zone 4 garden is just the same as your zone 6 garden... well, except
for the pansies. Some bulb foliage is up 3--5" but there's not a flower
of any kind in sight. Deer have been eating shrubs that are away from the
house, or across the drive and down in the meadow; nothing too serious
since they have plenty of woods to forage in and a good mast crop.
When I opened the door of the bluebird box to clean it I saw that they had
placed about ten grasses in a circle and then left. I think the grasses
are a claim of sorts, (don't you?) a message for the swallows which also
like the bluebird boxes. And one more thing like your 'yard', we had good
weather for a few days, the ground thawed, and now we have snow again. I
just hope there will be no freezing of the ground but I did gather some
mulch from my pile of mowed leaves and added more around certain plants.
I was silly enough to fall for a zone 7 phlomis that was on sale, and then
left it in the ground last fall. It faces south with the house at its
back, next to a brick walk; I have the crown covered about 9-inches deep in
leaf mulch. Hope springs eternal. (I can grow some plants outside my
zone, here on our south facing slope next to the river, with woods on the
hill rising north behind us.) Of course I'm not placing any bets; should
have given the phlomis to my daughter.
Lupine seedlings seem undaunted by all the freezing and thawing. I have a
layer of light bark mulch around them as well as around my wonderful
'Little Plum' lewisias in the trough and in the dooryard.
I put an Androsace lanuginosa in last November (from a sale down in SE
Pennsylvania) and when I checked it several days ago it had heaved two
inches up from the loose sandy soil in which I'd planted it. Since areas
of the ground were still frozen below an inch or so I just pulled soil
around the exposed edges and will hope for the best. Heucheras in a large
container by the back door could be pressed down easily.
I too am watching for the marsh marigolds and other marginals. I'm sure
you'll have your flowers before I have mine. I hope our pond fish are
doing OK.
Alyce Elliott
NNY zone 4
>Hello everyone from Zionsville, PA Zone 6. Kimberly you sure make me want
>to get out into the garden and get dirt on my hands again. Hoping Mother
>Nature doesn't give us another cold snap when the apple orchards are in
>bloom. This area has lots of old orchards and the mountains are just lovely
>when they are in bloom.
>
>Boy, I don't have anything blooming at the moment besides pussy-willows and
>a few urns with pansies. We have another slight snow fall here and the cold
>snap has made my pansies lean over a wee bit. They will pick up as we are
>supposed to have nice
>weather this weekend. Guess the snow cover has protected some of my
>perennials which were just starting to push up. I had to scrap ice off the
>windows of my truck this morning of snow?
>
>My bulbs are starting to come up and sure glad I didn't decide to take off
>my coverings from the peony beds.Primroses are starting to sprout and when
>the marsh marigolds start blooming I'll be glad to see their yellow flowers
>again.
>
>On checking my perennial holding bed the deer have eaten my shrubs down to
>about nothing. Perhaps they will rebound back this Spring - why they even
>ate my prize evergreen down to a stick - just a tall stick standing. Bet
>they were looking at my house laughing at me to give them such a wonderful
>meal. Waiting for the mountain in back to give off it's showing of spring
>color. Did see blue birds in the yard a few weeks ago but they haven't
>been back. They did nest in my boxes in the yard close to our house last
>year. Will keep a close watch on the nesting boxes.
>Kate
>Zionsville, PA
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