From ace photographer / commentor Ema:
Inspired by TaMara’s Winter Garden, I went to Central Park expecting to take pictures of some nice brown-ish vegetation. To my surprise, I came across trees and flowers in full bloom. Granted, it’s been mild in the city, mostly 40s and 50s. Still, one does not expect spring blooms at the end of December. (Thank you, Biden!)
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Feels like cruel snark on a day when most of the country is under various weather alerts, but…
What’s going on in your garden (planning / memories / indoor), this week?
Late Night Open Thread
Ohio Mom
I saw some ornamental pear trees blooming yesterday but I’ve seen them bloom too early other years too. If it’s possible for a tree to be stupid, that would describe ornamental pears.
In my front yard, the daffodils are peeping through the dirt. They aren’t even an inch tall yet. They start every year about this time but they are smart enough to pace themselves.
Always enjoy seeing your photos of Central Park, Ema. Makes me nostalgic for my NYC youth.
satby
It’s -4° here right now. The power has fortunately stayed on. The good news is that there’s about 6-8 inches of snow to insulate the plants in the ground.
PBK
Lovely photos as always ema. That squirrel has some NY attitude about him!
Spanky
Our daffs at the southeast corner of the house usually make an appearance in early February, but here they are already, and a good 3″ to 4″, to boot. But yeah, they do seem to get their heads out of the ground and find that it’s not quite time yet.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: -4 here too. They predicted -7 and we could get closer but I doubt we’ll reach it seeing as sunrise is only an hour away. Looking for a high of 3 today. WOOHOO! Only an inch of snow here, tho we may get more tonight and tomorrow.
Thanx for the pics, Ema.
My big garden project right now is ordering seeds. Won’t get done today as it’s paella day! My wife left the *garbage* broth to simmer all night and the kitchen smells heavenly. All the STL kids and grandbabies are coming plus we get the 2 youngest overnight! Pawpaw will be happy.
** garbage = all the shrimp peelings, unnecessary crab parts, etc etc with beef bones
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: Yum! I’m going to make split pea soup, although good, it doesn’t compare.
Have fun with the babies.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: mmm, paella!
Thought about starting seeds and may still, but I ordered 6 tomato plants from Burpee’s including two new hybrids and two heirlooms. Really want to try the new purple tomato from Baker’s Creek but it still wasn’t in stock.
Dreading having to drive today, but at least the Murano has 4 wheel drive and I’m only going 3 miles round trip. We got a couple more inches of snow too. Going to be a long cold week.
ema
Thank you all!
Spanish Moss
Beautiful! I don’t really know my plants. What are those gorgeous pink and white berries, and those pods with feathered tails? I particularly like that pod photo, at first glance they look like birds!
Lapassionara
@Ohio Mom: Too true about ornamental pear trees. I noticed my daffodils peeking out of the ground too and thought it was a bit early. They are on the south side of my yard, so get a lot of sun.
thanks for the photos, Ema
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: Just checked, made it to -7, and the sun is just up now. First time we’ve seen sun for more than a minute or two in days. Not that it’ll help with so much snow cover.
Gin & Tonic
Question for the garden thread hive mind. I use surplus 5-gallon buckets as planters. This season I have several with residue in them from a tiling project, so there’s caked-on leftover grout or thinset (a cement-based tile adhesive.) Can I use these for edible stuff, say, tomatoes?
HinTN
@Spanish Moss: The feathered tails at first liked like ripples on water. That’s just a lovely photograph, @ema: .
HinTN
@Gin & Tonic:
I see no reason why not.
H.E.Wolf
I wonder if your county’s agricultural extension office would have an answer? They’ll be closed tomorrow for the federal holiday, but maybe after that?
pickyourown.org/countyextensionagentoffices.htm
Best wishes for this year’s planting!
oldgold
My garden, East of Eden, is a frozen Hellscape. I hope my new Glechoma Hederacea lawn has not been damaged.
How cold is it?
It is so cold :
My debit card turned into cold, hard cash.
P. Diddy changed his name to Frozen P.
Elsa is said to be migrating south.
Forty something year old women are looking forward to experiencing hot flashes.
I chopped my grand piano for fire wood – but only got 2 chords.
My cat just gave birth to mittens.
Smokey the Bear was seen running into the woods with a box of matches.
mrmoshpotato
I have no garden, but if I did, it would be frozen solid. 😁
-9 on the shores of southern Lake Michigan this morning. Who wants a ham and cheese omelette?
mrmoshpotato
@OzarkHillbilly: Sounds like a delicious broth. Have fun with all the kiddos today.
Albatrossity
That shot of the brown pods with feathery curved tails (Devils Claw?) is absolutely gorgeous! Thanks!
satby
@Gin & Tonic: I wouldn’t. Not without knowing what might leach out of the residue and into the soil. Flowers I would. I use these grow bags for my tomatoes, they’re cheap and reusable.
Jackie
Southeastern WA a balmy 8 degrees, -2 WC. We’re gonna reach 12 today! Whoohooo!
Anne Laurie
@Gin & Tonic: Apart from previous suggestions, the rule I was given is that the plant parts closest to the soil absorb the most contaminants. I wouldn’t necessarily grow potatoes (tubers) in those buckets, but tomatoes (fruit) should be okay — at least for one season.
MomSense
@OzarkHillbilly:
Sounds like a heavenly day. Enjoy!!
WaterGirl
What a treat these are, ema! Also love the squirrel in the final photo!
9 degrees below zero here, with a wind chill of minus 33 as I type. ugh.
And not even any snow! For me, the only good thing about winter is snow.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: I would not do it. But I second H.E. Wolf’s suggestion of contacting your local Extension office.
Plus, I can imagine that whatever gunk is in the bottom of the buckets could impact the nutrients in the soil, and good soil is the key to gardening.
kalakal
@Gin & Tonic: Cement and plants are generally not a good mix. Tends to ratchet up the PH of the soil making it very alkaline. There are plants that like alkaline soil (eg Begonias & Broccoli ) but most don’t. Don’t know what else is in Thinset
H. E. Wolf’s suggestion is a good one
Gvg
We have had enough rain this winter so far that my roses are blooming as nicely as I have ever seen them. I grow antique roses, mostly tea (not hybrid teas). It’s wonderful. The camellia’s are coming out well too. I need to go look and take pictures before more rain.
I am having car issues of an undetermined type so not going far right now. The last weekend and it looks like this one are helping my mother weed and mulch. It’s sad but also a relief that she is recognizing that her health is going to limit future gardening, and allow mulching which she has resisted before. She likes flowers to self sow, but the weeds are better at it than the flowers and now that she is using a walker, the weeds are out of control. I was getting frustrated weeding the beds over and over. She also really surprised me by deciding to get rid of some plants that spread too aggressively instead of insisting she can keep them under control. She ordered 10 yards of mulch which freaked my dad out. He thought she was going to expand her garden instead of cut back. I don’t think he will believe until it’s all spread with no new beds.
I intend to talk about doing certain pots of seasonal annuals to look good, so she can still do some gardening, but at a bench, instead of on her feet bent over. I want her happy, but safe.
munira
Lovely photos – i also like the feathered tails (whatever they are) and the squirrel with attitude.
Dan B
@Spanish Moss: The pink and white berries are a hybrid selection of Snowberry, Symphoricarpos. It should be easy to find the name of the hybrid. Although hybridizers and wholesale growers are favoring vivid pink forms. The western native Snowberry is white and the eastern US native is dark pink, as I recall. It’s an easy 3′ -5′ deciduous shrub with very small leaves.
ema
@Spanish Moss:
Sorry, no idea. Just liked the way they looked and photographed them.
ema
@Albatrossity:
Thank you!
ema
@munira:
Those two, and the pink berries, are my favorite, as well.
hotshoe
@Gin & Tonic: Ignore the nay-sayers. There’s no functional difference between growing a plant in a bucket which has grout residue in the bottom and growing a plant set into a space in the urban sidewalk — picture any city landscape with the street trees in those little sidewalk cut-outs. Think about the thousands of miles of retaining walls along CA freeways which are overtopped by flourishing plants.
I don’t remember my highschool chemistry — so I admit this is not expert testimony — but I took a look at “what is thinset made of” and the only component which is in the least bit different from a concrete planter bed is “alkyl derivative of cellulose”, that is, methyl cellulose. Methyl cellulose is a commonly accepted ingredient in food (serves a similar function of emusifying / binding / improving texture in food as it does in cement).
Plant roots can uptake a molecule as large as a protein, so it is possible that they could absorb some dissolved methyl cellulose after the plant roots grow down to the bottom of the bucket; but if so, they’re not absorbing anything which will harm the plant nor harm you when you eat the tomatoes.