Crocuses and Crazy Weather

They opened up! Hooray!

A little patch of sunshine on the slope.

Our weather this weekend has been CRAZY!

Saturday was warm and sunny. Spring was in the air. We had a bit of rain in the afternoon.

Today we woke up to snow and sleet blowing sideways!

Blizzard conditions, though none was sticking.

By this afternoon the wind had mostly died down, and we had patches of blue sky and sun, interspersed with 2 or 3 hailstorms.

Lesson learned (again): don't pin any hopes on the weather, because it will change in an hour.

Spring Bulbs Coming Up

Back flowerbed:

 I think these are both tulips.

 Hyacinths! I had forgotten about them.

Plus a few daffodils peeking up behind them.

 By the raspberries: more tulips, maybe?

On the slope:

 Yellow and white crocuses about to bloom.

Hooray!

If you look closely, you can see a few little green shoots on the left, and on the right, between the dead pine needle fronds, one tiny little sprout with a purple tip.

These are in the shady corner, behind the shed. I'm excited to see what they are.

I also saw some daffodils coming up next to the middle garden terrace, and up in the far left corner, the alliums have started coming up as well. I decided not to risk a climb over for a picture.

Muddy slick slope + 37 weeks pregnant = painful fall very likely.

Plus, the bulbs out front by the mailbox are finally peeking up, too.

Weather-wise, this week we have traded snow for rain and hail.

I'll take it.

More Snow

They say that spring has come early all across the U.S. this year...

except for the Pacific Northwest. [sigh]

I would have to concur.

This has been our view pretty much all week.

It snows all night, most of the morning, into the afternoon.

Late afternoon it stops snowing to start raining.

Or just long enough to give us a brief glimpse of sunshine.

Then it starts all over again the next day.

My two little munchkins are loving it.

It is encouraging that it keeps melting off (mostly) between snow storms.

Mostly seems to be sticking around on lawns.

When the snow does melt, it leaves huge puddles everywhere.

Who knows when it will be dry enough to plant anything!

Tulips

...and something else that was covered up by the bag of peat moss until a few days ago.

Spring. is. coming.

Hooray!

Spring Landscaping Chores

Even a chore list is more interesting with pictures, right?
The real question is: how much of this will I able to get done 8-9 months pregnant/with a newborn?

p.s. 51 degrees today and tomorrow, back in the 30's with chance of snow later this week. Welcome to March!

1. Fill-in new flowerbed (front) with dirt and compost. (sprinkle gypsum first & spade in).

    --design plantings

    --purchase plants/shrubs + put in

  

2. Clean out/spray? thistles along wooden fence by shed.

    Prepare soil (get some from in front of deck.)

  

 Transplant raspberries along fence--including those on other side of gate

 Put in support stakes/string

3. Back flower bed

[transplant raspberries] and thoroughly weed after

--buy rose bush--hardy, scented, to fill in corner

--Move geraniums to back slope (could leave a small clump)

--Fill in Diamond holes, like the one above (grrr)

--Finish digging out/dividing irises and weeding.

--FENCE BED!!

My little mockorange (above) has had nearly every branch snapped off this winter, from our dumb dog using the flowerbed as her personal jumping off point. 

My fault for not fencing the bed last fall.

Still not at all happy with the dog. I hope it survives (the shrub, that is.)

--Buy shrubs for deck end of bed and to space throughout the bed.
--Weed cloth/mulch all
--Can begin adding annuals for color, or smaller perennials to fill-in gaps once shrubs are in place.
 

Those crocuses peeking up on the slope that I've mentioned before.

 

4. Slope
    --pooper-scoop all!
    --rake out dead grass
    --remove aspen shoots.  I've pretty much decided to take out almost every aspen shoot I find this year. I was letting a select few grow, but if they're within 6 feet of something I really care about--bushes, etc., then I'm just ripping them out.

     
**BLUEBERRIES**
--Remove any leaves/berries/debris from around bases.
--Remove competing grass, lupines, aspens, etc. within 1-2 feet

--Mulch well with pine needles from old Christmas tree

--Apply fertilizer purchased last fall.



**BLACKBERRIES**
Train vine to our side of fence.

Winter Weather

Hold on to those hopes of spring. We woke up to a howling blizzard Saturday morning, and are supposed to get another snowstorm this week. There's only about 2-3 inches on the ground right now, but we're supposed to get another 5. It has been deceptively sunny during the day, still very cold.

I have one little patch of crocuses on the slope that are about 1/2 inch high, but I didn't get any pictures before it snowed again. Just as well.

I'm still debating if I should start any flower seeds this year. With baby coming in April, that will definitely put a damper on any seedling care, probably right when they would need it most. So I'm thinking not, although it would sure be nice to have my own flat of petunias or nasturtiums or marigolds to put out. See, that's part of the problem, though. I have a hard time just doing a few.

Oh well. I guess they're not that expensive to buy, and it would be better (no doubt) to be able to plant them directly, rather than kill them off due to neglect once the little one arrives.

Houseplants

I have been having some houseplant success, as of late.

I was about ready to give up on this orchid--give it away or something.

It didn't seem to be thriving at all.

I was not giving it any special treatment--infrequent waterings and whatever sunlight it got from the kitchen window.

Now look at it!

Phalaenopsis, the Moth Orchid
Wow, pretty blossoms!

I was going to re-pot it, but never got around to it.

Then its roots started snaking out and attached themselves to the rock that was next to its smaller pot (the rock was merely keeping the smaller pot upright).

Ever since then it has been doing quite well.

So I guess the new pot will have to have room for the rock, too!

Still not sure what to do about the extra root and plant growing off the top. The two big, main flowers you see are coming from that one, actually. I need to do some research and find out how to plant that offshoot or something. Those roots just reaching out into the air probably could use something to attach to. I do make sure to splash some water on them every time I water the main plant.

Also, the aloe on the left, above, is doing great! I've only been watering it every other week--sometimes I go 3 weeks between waterings for it. It seems to like that schedule.

The little plant on the right is a spider plant that also needs repotting soon. It was a Christmas gift from a friend in the ward. Finally, my prayer plant has been putting out a bunch of new leaves, ever since I moved it to the kitchen and started watering it once a week. Go figure, eh?