From commentor JeffG166:
2.16.2024
Will be snowed on tonight.
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From commentor Delphinium:
Much like last year, we have had a less snowy winter overall here (Central NY) along with warmer than normal temperatures. While less shoveling is always good, the changing weather patterns make it increasingly difficult to plan garden beds, especially given that any snow that does fall tends not to stick around long like it used to.
Since my own garden is still mostly in the winter die off stage, wanted to instead share some prettier pictures from around my area (except for the dogwood which is from my yard).
Dogwood
This set is from a nearby park:
Evergreen
Euonymus
Hydrangea
The next photos are from around Seneca Lake:
Sunflower Closeup
Flowers by Water
Cloudy Sunflower
Curled Leaves
Pods
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I need more photos, people — how are the new seedlings coming along? What about yard prep, for the new season?
What’s going on in your garden (planning / prep / retrospectives), this week?
Reader Interactions
29Comments
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Odie Hugh Manatee
Is there anyone out there… ;)
We might not be soon. Big storm hitting south Oregon coast, power has been off and on (off now) three times now.
Yup, power’s out! Bye for a bit…
Still out three minutes… outage map sez… not updated yet.
Odie Hugh Manatee
The outage map sez four houses are out of power in town. Explains why our neighborhood is dark! Surprised the nets are still up. Probably not for long. On battery backups here at home.
Baud
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Stay safe.
delphinium
@Odie Hugh Manatee: That sucks-hope you stay safe.
After a week of milder temps, turned colder/rainy yesterday with lots of wind. Will be even colder today with the possibility of some snow.
New Deal democrat
Ok, what is the first flower pictured above?
I had a neighbor last year with the same wildflowers in their lawn – leaves like coarse grass, but white flowers instead of pink. Unfortunately they killed everything and put on new turf before I could take them up on their offer to let me dig some up.
Thanks in advance.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Thanks for the thoughts! Power is still out and it may be a local transformer as I can see lights in the distance (about a quarter mile). Still burning the battery backups but they will be dead in about two hours. Winds have hit 32 MPH at 12 feet off the ground in front of the house…lol!
Back to trying to get some rest…
satby
@New Deal democrat: Edit: I’m pretty sure they’re crocuses. I
have(maybe had) some beautiful yellow and orange varieties blooming for the last few days, but mine got snowed on last night too.or maybe this. Zephyranthes candida, rain lily, grown as a perennial in Zones 7 through 10, so not in my area.
Mousebumples
@satby: I think they’re crocuses, too. I have some in my yard that are that color, though they usually stay small and don’t have that big of flowers.
mrmoshpotato
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Hope your power’s back on soon.
MomSense
We are having high wind and heavy rain here. It is also a king tide today so we can expect flooding. The wind gusts are intense so I’ve charged up everything I can because I think it is likely we will lose power.
Jeffg166
@New Deal democrat:Crocus tommasinianus lilac beauty. It is a species crocus. Flowers before the larger versions. There are a couple of different colors.
https://www.johnscheepers.com/flower-bulbs-index/crocus/species-crocus/crocus-tommasinianus-lilac-beauty.html
satby
@Jeffg166: The elongated petals gave me pause, but after I waffled on crocus I went back and looked at my photo of the ones blooming in my yard, and the first bloomers petals had spread apart and looked similar.
New Deal democrat
Thanks to everybody who responded!
satby
And also a tardy thank you to Delphinium for the winter flower and foliage photos. Great job capturing the muted beauty of the season before spring!
TerryC
I just discovered the teeny tiny red flowers that my hazelnut bushes have. So cute!
delphinium
@satby: Thanks! Have always enjoyed the ‘beauty of decay’ in the winter months.
Jeffg166
@satby: I really like them. They are the first to open and the colors are very vivid. They form clumps if they survive.
MomSense
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
We are getting a storm here too – power is flickering but we haven’t lost it yet.
BenInNM
I’m happy that my eggplant seeds have sprouted and I have 6 tiny seedlings. I like the long thin variety of eggplant but haven’t been able to find plants the last couple of years so I thought I’d give seeds a try. I didn’t have too high of hopes as the only reasonable spot I have is in the garage and it isn’t heated. But I got an old heating pad and set everything up along with a note on my desk so I’d remember to water them and they started sprouting about a week ago!
OzarkHillbilly
The high yesterday was 49, actually got below freezing last night, all the way down to 30!
No where near cold enough to harm my lilacs. The early daffs are all up and blooming, the later daffs are finally showing themselves. The Wolf’s Bane are all up and blooming. The bluebells are all up, except for a few in shadier spots, but no blooms yet. Still no sign of the Glory of the Snow, but they’ll be along soon enough. One of my wild Cherries is in full bloom and the Service Berries are breaking out too.
I’ve been perusing the “cheap bulbs” aisle at Wally world and picking up a few just for the hell of it: Asian Lilies, Elephant ears, Dutch Irises, Lilies of the Valley, and some Liatris. I have places in mind for everything but the liatris, those I have to think on.
We actually got some rain the last couple days (thank dawg, that will knock down the wild fires). Hard to say exactly how much we got here as I didn’t have my rain gauge out yet. Going back up into the 70s for the next 4 or 5 days, then back down into the 60s with no lows below 40. I’m off to NOLA on the 16th so I’ve got a lot of work to do this week.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: No where near cold enough to harm my lilacs.
That’s my worry, this week will be fine until Friday, mostly above freezing even at night. But the next week is predicted to go back into highs in the 40°s and lows in the low 20°s for at least 5 days in a row. My lilacs are already leafing out, and I fear another long freeze like that may be the death of them. It’s been 4-5 years since I almost lost them all. I was hoping to finally see blooms again this year, but it’s not looking good. The peach and apple trees aren’t quite so far along, so I hope their blossoms make it.
Madeleine
Thank you for showing us the subtler beauties of winter. I can walk right by without noticing and you encourage attentiveness.
JAM
This week I’ve been weeding and trying to get rid of the bermuda in my front porch bed. It had grown runners across the daylilies and rooted down into them so deeply that I had to dig them up and divide them. If anyone here has found a good barrier to keep bermuda from creeping in I would love to hear about it.
Don K
It’s been a very weird year so far in SEMI. Generally warm winter, with very little snow. It was warm enough long enough in February for one of the maple trees to begin blooming in mid-late Feb. Other than that a few crocuses, and the daffodils have emerged. It will be interesting to see how this progresses.
Scout211
We’ve had a good citrus crop this year. But our newest mandarin orange tree, producing fruit for the first time this year, had ugly, misshapen bumpy fruit. I was convinced it was diseased and Mr. Scout can’t remember the names of any trees he planted anymore but I assumed it was the same type of mandarin as the other two trees.
Imagine my surprise when I saw in the grocery store a big display of Sumo citrus. That’s it! That’s the kind of mandarin we have on our third tree. So we are now happily eating them. 😊
StringOnAStick
Tomato seedlings are up, and since I put two seeds per propagator cell, I will be moving them into individual pots today. That means I can start some other things but I need to pay attention to how much real estate is available under the grow lights. Maybe I’ll start some early lettuce.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: I just saw those at the store for the first time – earlier this week.
They are butt ugly. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have wanted to eat them either if I didn’t know they were a special variety.
Happy ending for you.
Jeffg166
@Don K: It seems to be April in Philadelphia. Everything is budding up or opening.
Anne Laurie
Lucky you! Sumo (aka ‘dekopan’, the Japanese name) are close to $5 apiece here in New England, and the Spousal Unit is absolutely addicted during their too-brief season…