Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

No one could have predicted…

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Saturday Morning (Bonus) Garden Chat: Happy Spring!

Saturday Morning (Bonus) Garden Chat: Happy Spring!

by | 109 Comments

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Saturday Morning (Bonus) Garden Chat: Happy Spring!

Commentor Jeffery sent me short clips from the Philadelphia area, but I couldn’t get the first .mov file to appear properly on the front page.

What the heck, it’s SPRING! at last, astronomically at least, if only for the moment…

You knowledgeable garden-masters intimidated me into not dragging my potted roses out of the garage earlier, but I think I may take the risk, now…

(Let me know if the short clip below doesn’t show up on your browser, okay?)

Reader Interactions

109Comments

  9. 9.

    MagdaInBlack

    My geese are back! My work commute takes me thru the swampy forest preserves of nw Cook County ( nw Chicago suburbs) In one of the small ponds along the way, a pair of geese have been nesting for the last 7 years. They’re back!  I get to see them raise babies again…..and move them by walking along the shoulder ( small heart attack every time I see that). This is also the area where I also hear the first frogs of spring. Haven’t heard that yet, but soon ?❤️

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MagdaInBlack: Yep, I’ve been having flights of geese over the place for a couple weeks now. The peepers want to sing and I can hear them on warm afternoons but the nights are still a bit too cool for them.

  13. 13.

    HeartlandLiberal

    Last spring we planted earlier, then had a late frost which zapped half the tomatoes and peppers. So this year, given unpredictability of last frost, we plan to wait till first week in May to plant. All the fruit trees had blossoms zapped by late frost, no pears from my reliable tree that always drips pear. Hopefully they will be back this year. Have a replacement wheel I ordered, son will help me mount it on the big rear tine tiller, and help turn up the soil and till in fertilizer and sulfur to adjust Ph balance downward. Assuming we can get a few dry days, the spring rains have started here in south central Indiana.

  14. 14.

    raven

    It’s cold! There are a few azaleas and tons of buds this morning. The boss lady is headed to the Growers Outlet to buy an italian cypress.

  15. 15.

    Ken

    @MagdaInBlack: Are those Canadian geese?  Because in my part of Chicagoland, they never leave.  It is definitely the season again, though — you see them all in pairs.  I assume the female is the one busily eating, and the male the one alertly watching for rivals and hissing at anything that comes near.

  16. 16.

    rikyrah

    So,  was on FB, and the algorithm tells them that I like cooking videos. Came upon one from Sunny on The Kitchen. It was for pulled pork. She mixed a jar of salsa with a half jar of peanut butter, and pour it over the pork.  I put it on last night in the crock pot. We will see how it goes.?

  17. 17.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Ken: Yes, Canadian. We have so many retention ponds that never freeze, a lot over winter around here. But these 2 always show up at that little pond about this time of year, so I assume that to be their private nursery ?

    And yup, that’s dad, doing the protective thing.

    Eta: I had a pair of Toulouse geese I raised ( like AL and her ducklings) The male chose to protect me as well, and NO ONE was getting near me when he was around.

  23. 23.

    Geminid

    @rikyrah: I sometimes add a large spoonful of peanut butter to a rice, pork, vegetable stir fry. Seems to fine with the curry paste and soy sauce I also use.

  24. 24.

    Gvg

    My roses are blooming. So many buds for the next flush. I tried some new ones to me, and several are turning out to be really floriferous. Sometimes you get lucky. These were planted last year so they have been growing. Banana shrub has been amazing for weeks. This one is blooming more than prior ones. Azaleas are almost over.

    lettuce and bok Choi almost past. Broccoli almost done. Beans and potatoes up. Planted seeds of tomatoes, peppers and squash.

    last fall I planted seeds of Shasta daisies and got 4 trays of 72 started. Almost all grew which surprised me given past lack of success so then I had to find places to plant. I planted them everywhere. I hope for a future bumper crop. Geoseeds has packets of 500 seeds for cheap prices and I got good germination. I had some disappointments in snapdragons and foxgloves due to a bad batch of potting soil. My preferred brand disappeared and I had to try a couple of new ones. I need to start rooting cuttings of some things to fill in dieback spots. Delayed by some garage projects for more shelves and such.

    it is such a great time of year. Chilly this morning, back down to 40’s last night, only 60 today. Oak trees are shedding pollen like crazy.

  25. 25.

    Argiope

    @rikyrah:  Good morning, rikyrah! Was this a particular brand of salsa and PB? I have to say I am intensely curious about your findings. Please do share! And happy Spring, everybody.

  28. 28.

    Lapassionara

    @Argiope: me too. Peanut butter and salsa? Not sure what to make of that.

    Here is the St Louis area, the vinca minor are blooming, as are the jonquils. Makes me happy to see them.

    good morning, everyone.

  29. 29.

    MomSense

    Just caught up with a friend of mine.  Her husband is a local lobsterman.  Apparently they’ve been seeing great white sharks all winter.  I guess the great whites have moved to Maine – with everyone else this year.  Not super excited about this news.

  30. 30.

    Immanentize

    Ahh Spring!  But now, in part because of the missed leap year, it starts on the 20th instead of the 21st of my youth.  We wisely chose the first day of Spring for our wedding day. I never forgot an anniversary!

    24IF

    No forsythia blooms yet here near Boston.  Keep your pots in the shed!

  31. 31.

    HinTN

    Just returned from the Redneck Riveria and the azalea were in full bloom there. Here, the Yoshino cherry is just getting started and the forsythia is going like gang busters. Peepers have been singing at night for a good while. Today is a glorious bluebird sky.

  32. 32.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: Sharks are just following the water currents.  Can’t wait for lobster.  ?

    I do hope we can all get together there this summer.

  39. 39.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    In my bit of happy spring news, I get to sit with a 90 degree bend at the knee, and on Wednesday, will be allowed to unlock the brace so that my leg can move as far as 90 degrees so long as I have both crutches in support.

    I can probably do a lot more and I do cheat the restrictions a bit in the house, but I’m on track to drive in a few weeks.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    Good morning.

    @rikyrah:  Also eager to hear how that turns out.  Kroger had pork butt for $0.99/pound this week, and haven’t decided how to fix the second one I acquired.  The peanut butter could be really good, and disappear into the dish.

    I think I watched Sunny’s vid on cabbage with sausage and bacon and peppers, and it looked really easy and good.

  43. 43.

    Kristine

    Saw the video. iPhone with Safari browser, which sometimes has issues with this site so yea. Bees!

    NE Illinois, hello! After a burst of snow on Monday it’s slowly warming. Pink Fizz hellebore is loaded with buds, some half-open. Daffodils ? are a few inches tall. Geese are back as are the redwing blackbirds. I guess the juncos will be leaving soon.

    The pussy willows are loaded with catkin buds. Looking forward to them blooming. The flowers aren’t much to look at, but they have a lovely scent and pull in a variety of bees ? and even some butterflies ? at a time when not much else is around.

    Wondering if it will be a bumper crop of mourning cloaks this year. They’re the only butterfly ? I’ve seen so far.

  44. 44.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @zhena gogolia:

    The rehab process is interesting. I get no sharp pains, just more of a pulling sensation of resistance.

    I find the e-stim really helpful.

  45. 45.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Good morning from the FORMER Democratic County Party Chair! I am FREEEEEE!!!

    And yes, I’m hap-hap-happy. Why do you ask?

  49. 49.

    Immanentize

    @O. Felix Culpa: you are free — for a moment!

    Truly, thank you for your service.

    As the old saying goes, ” you’re a better can than I am, hunk of tin.”

  50. 50.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Immanentize: LOL. That’s a new old saying for me.

    I’m proud of what we accomplished AND I’m glad to turn the baton over to others. Time for a little sabbatical from political organizing. I’ll get back into the fray come the midterms.

    It appears you survived yesterday’s difficult day?

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Hoo boy:

    Canadian professor threatened to fail student caught up in Myanmar coup

    Because of the pandemic, many international students at Canadian universities have returned to their home countries, taking courses and exams online. On 1 February, the military seized control of the government in Myanmar, ousting democratically elected lawmakers and jailing dissidents.

    In an email, the student explained that “total communications blackout” is expected in the country – and asks to take an exam at a later date.

    “Even the internet came down with Covid-19?” the professor said.

    “The internet did not come down with [Covid-19]. There was a military coup where I am living and almost 200 protesters have been shot [as of] now,” the student wrote. “The regime has decided to shut off all communications by tomorrow.”

    The student then asked the instructor if they should be worried about missing the test.

    “Of course you should. The next time you miss something, it’s over,” the professor responded. “By the way, your remarks (both related to this course and to your home country) made me wonder how you understand reality,” he continued. “People don’t get shot for just protesting, but for a lot deeper reasons.”

    How privileged must one be to be this clueless?

  52. 52.

    cope

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: It’s interesting to see how medicine has progressed.  When my left ACL had to be rebuilt in ’82, the protocol was for a full leg cast for 8 weeks then extensive, painful PT to break all the adhesions that had formed.  The therapist really worked up a sweat every time he treated me, trying to increase my flexion/extension range.

    And while I’m here, has the world gone mad?  Garden Chat on Saturday?  Whatever will I have to look forward to tomorrow?  Speaking of which, a healthy number of fine looking Serrano peppers is awaiting harvest, habaneros have be planted (my spice tolerance seems to be going up noticeably as I age) and a baby pineapple has made an appearance in one of our plants in the front yard.  Also, I planted a couple of big box store azaleas that were the most densely root bound plants I have ever pulled from a pot.  I hope they survive.

  53. 53.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @MomSense:

    Tore my quad tendon being clumsy on Christmas Eve – it was nearly total. Had the surgery on 2/10, was in an ass to ankle cast for a couple of weeks and in a straight leg brace for weeks after that. It’s been a journey!

  56. 56.

    Mary Ellen Sandahl

    North central NJ here. Very windy & chilly this last week, today looks to be first really pleasant day in an expected stretch of them thru next week. We still have snow patches left here and there from the 2-3 feet of it dumped in early Feb. Snowdrops are being their indefatigable selves, and red buds showing on maples.

    Bulb foliage is showing. I loved the panning shot of the anemones (played fine with the latest update of Win10 in Firefox, btw), but mine aren’t up yet.
    I have so much cleanup to do, I can’t think of anything else, much. If I can get some contaners going, that will be a comparative triumph! I really enjoy reading everybody’s reports from different parts of the country/planet.

  58. 58.

    MomSense

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Damn.  That’s no fun.  I had to have my quad repaired (it had been tearing from a previous surgery) when I had some knee components replaced and it was seriously painful.  E stim saved me when my brain and my quad weren’t on speaking terms.

    Not sure what your rehab plans are, but I highly recommend nordic walking.   Hoping for a full and speedy recovery for you.

  60. 60.

    gene108

    Click the link, there’s a picture

    Spring doesn’t just hapen on Earth. Spring also happens on some of our neighboring planets in the solar system.

    Of the countless equinoxes Saturn has seen since the birth of the solar system, this one, captured here in a mosaic of light and dark, is the first witnessed up close by an emissary from Earth … none other than our faithful robotic explorer, Cassini in this image from 2009.

    Seen from our planet, the view of Saturn’s rings during equinox is extremely foreshortened and limited. But in orbit around Saturn, Cassini had no such problems. From 20 degrees above the ring plane, Cassini’s wide angle camera shot 75 exposures in succession for this mosaic showing Saturn, its rings, and a few of its moons a day and a half after exact Saturn equinox, when the sun’s disk was exactly overhead at the planet’s equator.

  64. 64.

    raven

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:  I’ve been having left quad issues for quite a while. I’ve been in and out of physical therapy for over a year with no improvement. I had a nerve conduction test and have Meralgia Paresthetica and femoral nerve damage so I go back to the neuro at the end of the month. She asked how I felt about surgery and I told her I was open to it but not while Bohdi is still with us because I have to be able to carry him. Anyway I started “aquajogging” and it’s a good no-impact form of exercise.

  67. 67.

    Van Buren

    Ms. Van Buren is spending all day at a Cornell zoom meeting on the benefits of gardens/gardening.

    I am forbidden to go outside in case she needs tech support, which I am seriously unqualified to provide.

  70. 70.

    steppy

    The clip worked for me. It made me very happy. We put 5 colonies of bees to bed for the winter and all are alive and active!

    I am starting tomato, pepper and cucumber seeds for the first time. Some of the tomatoes were saved from last year, so I will be interested to see how they do.

    We are in the semi-rural suburbs of Philadelphia and not a lot has bloomed yet. No forsythia, no daffodils, just some crocus and snowdrops. One new pussy willow is flowering.

    As for the garden, peas have gone in along with some lettuce and radishes. Potatoes will be going in soon. Today is a day for spreading mulch and a load of mushroom soil.

    We are converting part of the lawn to a clover field and I need to overseed very soon to try to beat the crabgrass. So it’s just starting to get busy, but activity is going to increase exponentially soon.

    I am an occasional commenter and I hope to do more to earn my jackal stripes here.

  71. 71.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @raven: I used to do aqua-jogging and -aerobics, when I had access to a pool. One of the best ways to exercise ever.

  75. 75.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @raven: Nice. I plan to see what the community college has on offer. Problem for me is that it’s a half-hour drive each way to the facility, which is a bit of a deterrent. I found some pretty good YouTubes that I’m working out with these days.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    @steppy:

    I am an occasional commenter and I hope to do more to earn my jackal stripes here.

    You get a free jackal pin when you donate to the Baud! 20XX! SuperPac!: A Return to Abnormalcy!

  81. 81.

    MomSense

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    You use poles while walking sort of like cross country skiiing.  There is a little technique involved but so easy and it really improves the workout from walking while providing stability.I had a physical therapist teach me about 20 years ago and I still practice it. It’s worth having a nordic walking instructor give you a quick lesson so you learn the technique.  There are probably YouTube videos about it if there are no teachers near you.

  83. 83.

    laura

    @Elizabelle: stab and slip in garlic slices. Roast fat side up with salt and pepper a couple of bay leaves arrayed and held down with lemon and orange slices in a °225 oven overnight or most of the day. Serve with a simple risotto milanese and a tart salad. Convert the remains into chile Verde and make burritos. The smell is intoxicating.

  84. 84.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Anybody have any experience with mini-greenhouses? It’s just a set of shelves with a zip-up plastic cover. I bought one last fall and I’m experimenting with it now. I decided to use it to start the first batch of seeds, which went in there yesterday.

    I also just bought a new toy, a bluetooth thermometer / hygrometer (it was only about $20), so now I can track the temperature any time of day or night.

    So here’s the thing: The greenhouse seems to be requiring even MORE work to maintain healthy temperatures. This morning I was getting a reading of 95 degrees while the outside temp was around 47. That seemed unhealthy to me, so I opened it up. I’m trying to aim for spring-ish conditions with maybe 50-60 daytime and above freezing at night.

    And a couple times at night I’ve been getting temperature readings that were BELOW ambient temperatures, which seems to me to violate the laws of physics.

    I thought the idea was to basically have an environment that would take care of itself, but it seems like it’s going to require constant fussing to maintain growing conditions.

    Has anybody used one of these to extend the growing season, and any tips on how best to use it?

  85. 85.

    There go two miscreants

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: ​If there is room, you could add some closed containers of water (you may need to add salt or even antifreeze depending on what temps you expect) to moderate the temperature. I don’t have a greenhouse, but one of my neighbors built a small one and uses water barrels for that.

  86. 86.

    TomatoQueen

    Early spring notes: I have a balcony facing a wooded area that, so far, gets no sunlight at all, thus leading me to hope for lobelia, caladium, and coleus. Or nothing, we shall see. The view is tranquil with occasional visitations for Merlin.

    The eagles at Big Bear Valley have been sitting on a pair of eggs (second clutch this season, first stolen by bastard ravens) that have cracked open, or at least one of them has. No sign of the eaglet, as the parents keep pulling the border of pine needles up higher every day. There are pipping sounds.

  87. 87.

    StringOnAStick

    @Kristine: Mourning cloak butterflies live for more than just one year, so you are seeing the ones that survived the winter.  My biologist friend says you can tell the older ones from the new drip by how ragged the back edge of their wings are.

  88. 88.

    There go two miscreants

    @There go two miscreants: Tried to edit and got such a mess in the text box that I decided to type another comment. Wanted to add that we are in the DC suburbs of MD, so winters are not extreme (she leaves the water barrels in all winter).

  89. 89.

    Villago Delenda Est

    A total aside for Water Girl and the rest of the calendar crew:

    I love the BJ pet calendar, I really do.  But it needs lunar phases and “the first day of spring” and stuff like that next year.  Do the calendar people have other versions that include that information?

  92. 92.

    CaseyL

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Wow.  I keep thinking I should get one to do some starts, and to winter over a few plants.  It never occurred to me that the temperature inside the thing would be that variable and unreliable.  Good to know!

  93. 93.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @MomSense: Thanks! I used walking poles when I walked the Camino de Santiago and then the Camino del Norte. No instructions, but I developed a style that worked for me. I’ll look for YouTubes to check for possible improvements.

  94. 94.

    Ken

    @MomSense: You use poles while walking sort of like cross country skiiing.

    @laura: stab and slip in garlic slices.

    @There go two miscreants:​ add some closed containers of water (you may need to add salt or even antifreeze

    One of the continuing marvels (or miracles) of Balloon Juice is how we keep all the different conversations straight.  Take that, threaded comment systems and their misguided advocates!

  95. 95.

    StringOnAStick

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Unfortunately greenhouses can be a lot of work; we now live in a short growing season area with big daily temperature swings, and I’ve noticed a lot of apparently abandoned greenhouses.  The smaller they are, the harder it is to regulate the daily swings.  The commenter who mentioned water barrels to keep it warmer at night is providing useful information.

    Fancier home greenhouses have vents that open automatically when the inside reaches a set temperature.  Monty Don of Gardeners World (BBC) fame uses his to overwinter things but does most small plants and seed starting in cold frames that he props open on warmer days.  The large area of ground under the cold frame helps regulate temperatures.

  96. 96.

    Brachiator

    @Ken:

    One of the continuing marvels (or miracles) of Balloon Juice is how we keep all the different conversations straight. Take that, threaded comment systems and their misguided advocates!

    The Poles like garlic slices with antifreeze? I don’t get it.

  98. 98.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ken: One of the continuing marvels (or miracles) of Balloon Juice is how we keep all the different conversations straight. Take that, threaded comment systems and their misguided advocates!

    Aaah, bullshit. I’m sick unto death of having to fumble through dozens of o/t vapid and inane comments to try & follow a conversation just because Cole breaks out in hives the size of golfballs when he looks sideways at a threaded comment.

    I’m also thoroughly sick of the low-grade paranoia that has at least half of the posters here nervously guarding against revealing their locations closer than 150 miles. Can’t count the number of times I’ve seen a comment start “Here” and wonder where TF is “here”.

    (Grrrr….)

  99. 99.

    Elizabelle

    @laura:   Sold.  Thank you Laura.  I have all those ingredients, too.

    Thinking on making your version in a slow cooker; please warn me if that will NOT work.

  100. 100.

    Yutsano

    @Uncle Cosmo: E-mail Cole. Give him your litany of complaints. Make sure to use all caps. He LIVES for this shit.

    On a happier note: Happy Naw-Ruz everyone! Today is first Fauci-Ouchie Day for me as well!

  101. 101.

    Elizabelle

    @laura:   On second thought, I am definitely doing this one in a dutch oven.  Cannot miss out on the heavenly aroma.  Will  let you know how it turns out!!

  102. 102.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Immanentize: We got married on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  I often forget the exact date (because Memorial Day moves around a bit), but always remember Memorial Day.

    Here in N California, the daffodils are on their 2nd flush, the Flowering Apricots are finished, the Flowering Plums are going full blast, the Baby-Blue-Eyes and Shooting Stars have started, and the Violas I put in in Feb, which valiantly bloom through frosts, are now “blooming their heads off” as my mother would say.  You should see the bees and other pollinators in the Flowering Plums. The trees seem to hum.  Ah, Spring!

  103. 103.

    Miss Bianca

    @Immanentize:

    Willy Wonka:
    “The suspense is terrible. I hope it lasts.”

    That line originally comes from The Importance of Being Earnest, btw. I didn’t recall its being a Willy Wonka utterance, tho’ that seems on point for his character.

    @O. Felix Culpa: Yay? Yay-ish? : )

  104. 104.

    Miss Bianca

    @OzarkHillbilly: It’s astonishing to me how clueless white academics can be. I still remember, even tho’ it was over 30 years ago now, the response of one of my professors in grad school when I told her that my mother had cancer and I was going to have to turn in a paper late because I was going to see her: “Why is it always MY classes that have to suffer?”

  105. 105.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    Forgot to mention birds.  The Golden-Crowned Sparrows are really brightening up, getting ready to fly to Alaska for breeding. We had a trio of Hooded Mergansers on the pond this winter (the males are SO gorgeous) but they are gone now. BUT, my husband reported a pair of Greater Scaup on the pond last week during rainy weather, a first for us!  He had to look them up in a bird book to figure out what they were. And of course, the Red-Winged Blackbirds have been roosting in our reeds for weeks now. And the pond peepers are in full throat.

  107. 107.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Yutsano: What a lovely holiday I had never heard of (my ignorance is vast).  And very practical.  Spring Equinox is truly a new day.

  108. 108.

    MoCaAce

    We still have snow piles along the driveway in the shade but the frost went out about 12 days ago.  I put up my cold frame last weekend and tomorrow I will dig the bed and plant my lettuce, spinach, peas, and radishes.  This will be the earliest I have every planted anything with the cold frame.  I know I’m just summoning a blizzard or something but I can’t help myself… it’s 60 and sunny right now!

    Right now I’m going for a walk in the woods to see if any brave wildflowers are starting to poke their heads up.  Probably not but I love the woods in spring.  I haven’t heard any frogs yet but the geese are back on the marsh… nonstop honking as the male is busy chasing off any goose that flies within site of “his” marsh.  I assume its the same pair every year.  They show up a week before the ice melts and just hang out waiting for open water.

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