From our gifted, irascible, indomitable Ozark Hillbilly:
Just for JPL. Some oldies I don’t believe I’ve sent you before, because she stated how she liked my “ice crystal photos” or something like that. This’ll teach her. Or not.
“Hope springs eternal”…
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What’s going on in your garden (planning / starting / memories), this week?
SiubhanDuinne
These photos are simply beautiful.
Baud
That’s what mirrors are for.
You’ve got a good photographic eye, OH.
japa21
Yesterday I pointed out that I have a love/hate relationship with March in the Chicago area. Yesterday was high 60’s. I was able to get a lot of outside work done in terms of clean-up in the yard and garden areas. Days like that are why I love March in Chicago.
Last night big storms and high winds as a cold front started coming through. Tonight and tomorrow snow. Last prediction was only a couple inches, but it is part of why I hate March in Chicago.
narya
Wow–beautiful. I admit that I particularly like the last photo because of the optimism and determination underlying the effort. The two prior to that, though, are also spectacular. Your patience and ability to find the shot are impressive.
MagdaInBlack
@japa21: I’m not fond of it either, but I remind myself this is the last big gasp of winter and then….spring!
susanna
Photos are lovely reminders that nature is the best art. You capture that.
debbie
Awesome greenhouse, or whatever you gardeners call them. Do you also have houseplants, or do you just stick to outdoor stuff?
Weekend Editor
On finding beauty where you can: Actor George Takei said something similar in a WaPo interview about his experiences growing up in a Japanese-American internment camp in the US during WWII. I summarized it as part of a longer post here, but the most important bit is:
OzarkHillbilly
I’ve got all kinds of stuff punching up out of the ground, from Daffs and Bluebells to Wolf’s Bane and crocuses. Those last 2 are the only things flowering right now. I’m still waiting for the Glory of the Snow and the Trout Lillies to show themselves. It’s been warm these past few days and while moderating a bit, it will continue that way thru the week…
Until Friday.
I can’t possibly cover everything so they are on their own.
I have a buttload of seedlings started, and I’m starting my veggie seeds today. A week and half from now we are heading to NOLA for 9 or 10 days of granddaughter time. I’m getting an automatic waterer and hoping it works well enough to keep everything alive. I’ve got my son and son in law lined up to check on things come days 3 and 6. Hope it’s enough.
Weekend Editor
Also, psychologist Emma McAdam had some smart stuff to say about bias and news anxiety: as a survival matter, we’re always scanning for bad news, so to de-bias our brains we need to look actively for good news.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: No houeplants for me. Firstly, we don’t really have any place to put them. 2ly, I am unlikely to remember to water them. I barely manage to do so with my seed starts for the 2 months necessary.
japa21
@MagdaInBlack: And the cranes are coming back!! Saw several yesterday flying high.
MagdaInBlack
@japa21: I heard red-wing blackbirds calling, and a robin met me at the car Friday morning when I left for work. Won’t be long til spring peepers start singing ?
OzarkHillbilly
@japa21: @MagdaInBlack: The peepers have been making their presence known around here for about 2 weeks. I heard a flight of snow geese one cloudy day last week but couldn’t spot them. A little surprised I haven’t heard/seen more.
oldgold
Experienced a bit of rough weather last night. The electricity went out.
When this happens it is not the darkness, stubbed toes or television deprivation that concerns me, it is resetting the oven clock.
The sadistic spawn of Satan responsible for engineering this Rubegoldbergian technological monster of a timepiece is not on my Christmas card list.
This morning I did battle with this Kafkaesque keeper of time. Swearing and as usual refusing to read the oven manual, just before I stroked out, the clock too bizarre for Dali to paint blinked the correct time. Hallelujah!
The celebration was short-lived. The morning paper: “Next Sunday Daylight Savings Time Begins!” Damnation!
germy
JPL
Just beautiful. Although the ice crystals are beautiful, the last picture does give one hope. Before you know it, they will be planted outside and provide plenty of fresh vegetables.
One wonders how you do it all with a bum shoulder.
Kay
Lovely pixs, Ozark
I have tulips and anemones up in a raised bed that warms up faster than the ground. I got the anemones at Aldi just on impulse last year late spring and put them in and forgot about them and they were so much fun- all these odd colors including a real blue. They’re back!
I started parsely and celery and sweet pea seed inside yesterday.
debbie
It was in the mid-70s yesterday, so I took my first walk around the neighborhood yesterday. I walked by a house where light-purple crocuses and some sort of small yellow flowers were in impressive bloom. I decided that was close enough to qualify as nature’s support for Ukraine.
satby
You really do have an eye for beauty Ozark!
I missed almost all the nice weather yesterday because I was working, but at least got an hour of porch-sitting time in the sunshine. Blustery winds now as @japa21‘s weather heads our way.
I’m highly annoyed too with my rescue group. My foster dog Dexter went to his original (puppy) foster for companion dogs and retraining because his separation anxiety made him pretty destructive and my schedule meant he spent too much time (IMO) in his kennel. That was Thursday evening at 8pm. Today he’s going to be at an adoption day. I doubt any “retraining” on the separation anxiety was accomplished in 24 hours (he was at the adoption day yesterday too) and I’m pissed on his behalf. I wanted to adopt him, but my home isn’t a good fit for him; he needs a lot of activity to tire him out and companion animals or a person who’s ok with a dog attached like a barnicle.
Mousebumples
Wonderful garden pics! It was rainy here yesterday (and still too much risk for a hard freeze or 5 in the coming weeks), so nothing doing outside yet.
But we found a few gardening shop that opened nearby and picked up a bird feeder and some bird seed. Now to figure out where to place it…
If anyone has expert opinion about sun exposure or proximity to other trees and plants (eg cherry tree, crabapple, etc.), it would save me from having to Google. ?
steppy
Just moments ago, mrs. steppy and I decided what saved seeds I should start. We settled on 4 varieties of tomatoes and 4 of peppers. I will set up my teeny portable greenhouse in a spare bedroom today.
Six of 7 hives have survived the winter. I want to have a quick look at the bees to make sure they have enough food for the last stretch before the flowers come out but it’s raining and I don’t really want to open the hives in these conditions.
Gin & Tonic
Does anybody know what this is on one of my young rhododendrons?
PST
@japa21: It was quite a day here in Chicago wasn’t it? I was able to bike 12 miles in shirtsleeves and grill steaks on the balcony for the first time this year. I thought about putting window boxes out to get ready to plant petunias nice and early. Then my wife and I sat down to watch the new West Side Story. By the time the rumble started we had a howling thunderstorm with high winds and soaking rain. Maybe I should wait a few weeks. Does anyone have advice on what kind of petunias hold up best on a balcony rail with lots of exposure to wind? The balcony is on a third floor facing south on a wide street and gets huge amounts of sun, but many days a constant west wind blows. I’m pretty committed to some kind of petunias because I want to make a big gaudy splash of color visible from the street all summer long. I’m not going for subtlety or any carefully curated mix of flowers. I want big colorful blooms that won’t need much effort beyond watering.
mrmoshpotato
@japa21:
Don’t like the weather? Wait an hour. Some good lightning last night. Winds were a-howling too.
MomSense
My garden is sleeping under a nice blanket of snow. I’m upta camp and enjoying a quiet weekend with my cousin. Yesterday we went around the lake on our skis. We didn’t see the eagles but we did see an osprey. No nibbles on the ice fishing hole, but the deer visited last night. This morning we are drinking coffee and watching the chickadees take turns at the bird feeder. The lake is covered in snow fog.
OzarkHillbilly
@Gin & Tonic: I had an insect do damage like that to my redbud last year. Took me awhile to associate their very small web like nests to an infestation and insect damage. Now I know, and if they come back I can take steps to mitigate.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: nice stuff. The belt on my self-proped mower gave out so I tried to fix it and broke TWO bolts and I’m having zero luck with an easy out so I’m afraid it’s a goner! Yes, mowing in March.
rikyrah
Beautiful pictures??
sab
@MagdaInBlack: Unless that rodent lied to us. I’d never trust a whistle pig.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Ouch. Sucks to be you. Going electric?
WaterGirl
Just stunning, Ozark. Especially the middle few pics with all the ice. Fleeting moments of beauty.
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly:
Spoken wistfully by all gardeners everywhere who live with 4 distinct seasons, but with hope, almost like a prayer.
Miss Bianca
@japa21: Oh, March in Chicago…what a heartbreaker. I remember!
If it’s any consolation, March plays the same tricks out here in rural CO. Yesterday broke 60 degrees; today it’s snowing.
Kay
I have one of these viburnums now and as it’s gotten older over the decades I have cut it back with a sawzall (reciprocating) – the saw I use for big branches and limbs in the garden- but it’s too woody so flowers less and needs replaced so I ordered a new one.
Highly recommend spice viburnum if you’re in the upper midwest. The flowers are beautiful and really fragrant and it also has fall color. It gets about 6′ (over decades) and no higher. Full sun.
O. Felix Culpa
@Miss Bianca: Same in NM. But I saw and heard a bunch of sandhill cranes while hiking the Corrales bosque on Friday before a fiercesome duststorm set in, which was nice. (The hike and crane sightings; the storm made for poor visibility and unpleasant driving.)
ETA: In case my antecedents were unclear, I was doing the hiking. The cranes were foraging on land or flying, and making a lot of noise.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Maybe, we may hire a kid for a while.
OzarkHillbilly
That would be the smart move.
Another Scott
@Gin & Tonic: Looks like “rust”.
Common Rust.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: @Gin & Tonic:
I am pretty sure I had rust fungus on my peonies one year. (Though mine wasn’t as bad as yours.)
Get a spray bottle. Add 1 part milk and 7 parts water. 1 ounce of milk, 7 ounces of water; 2 ounces of milk, 14 ounces of water.
Spray liberally and repeat after it rains.
laura
I’m awaiting this catalog: anniesannuals.com/users/
I’m committed to a lush out of control riot of color in the long raised bed- mostly zinnias, gigantic red amaranth, nicotania, cosmos, a marijuana, sunflowers and some hard squash. Will be focusing on flaming hot colors in the pink to deep purple and acid greens. I need color and I need to make bouquets and I need the grow your own smoke.
Anyway
They’re all pretty but I keep going back to that first one. Nice treat on Sunday.
Nancy
High winds today but the wind blew in warmth so I went outside between gusts.
I saw that the first crocus leaves are above ground. Looks like they’ve been trimmed by a helpful rabbit.
Someday, I might see the first crocus blossom.
sab
Seventy degrees in NE Ohio so we have the windows open. I have five cats, three used to be feral. They are thrilled that the window is open and they can smell the air. They do not ever want to live outside again, but they like to check it out.
Across the street neighbors have corgis. They are beyond loud! Thirty pound dog bred to control thousand pound cows. Of course they are yappy. My pitbull is is shocked but impressed. She only barks when she thinks it is necessary. But she is tolerant. She was raised by chihuahuas, yappiest breed ever.
sab
@Nancy: You are new, aren’t you? Welcome.
ETA Long time lurker?
sab
I planted three rhododendron about ten years ago, all within 10 feet of each other. One died, I don’t know why. Second is ill because of fucking rodents burrowing around its roots (woodchucks.) Third is thriving.
jnfr
We’re under a blanket of snow here in Colorado again, though in our brief days of false spring last week I did see new growth on my perennials and some greening at base of the grass.
And in odd news my Thanksgiving cactus, which bloomed brilliantly last fall, has suddenly produced one new bud which looks like it’s going to open. It shouldn’t be blooming with our lengthening days, but there it is.
susanna
@Weekend Editor: I’m hoping Raven doesn’t pie me for being too touchy-feelie, but Viktor Frankl’s book “Man’s Search for Meaning” is about changing our attitudes for new perspective. Highly recommended.
No One of Consequence
Some of those shots are exceptionally good. Congratulations Photographer, I would be very proud of those. The frozen berry and pine needle ones are just fantastic. Thank you for sharing!
Anonymous At Work
No state does the ice storm quite like Arkansas. It’ll snow other places but only in Arkansas is yearly ice measured in feet.
Weekend Editor
@susanna:
Oh yes, absolutely. Anybody like Frankl who could survive the concentration camps and then write about it, movingly and informatively, deserves attention.
Another good example from 2007 is What Really Matters, by Arthur Kleinman. My spouse has done some work with him with Japanese groups; he’s really good.