Let The Stinze Begin

On a sunny day last week I thought to drive by and have a look at the derelict back yard of a rather nice house next door to the Catholic church. The ocean of crocus were in full bloom. It is time.

The entire lower half of the yard is solid with crocus. Now if they would just tidy it up a wee bit.

High on the low spot, a similar event is underway with snowdrops.

The early crocus have appeared. These are the same kind as next door to the church. We just need more.

The witch hazels are in full bloom with all this sun and warm. Yes there has been warm. 

'Arnold' was perfuming today. It is a rather sweet fruity smell that caused a flash of recognition, a combination of papaya and strawberry it seemed.

A cool cold will be back by the weekend, but another week of full bloom will likely be the end of the witch hazels.

Not to worry. This is just the beginning. The stinze is underway.

In the right light, the snowdrops in Hawaiian Waters have grown visible from the front porch.

Next door in the ridge top garden there are so many you can't miss them no matter the light.

The flat light of clouds still helps for picture taking. A small patch of crocus have joined in. They don't always bloom together. It's weathers depending.

Seriously, lots of snowdrops and multiplying.

Ten thousand daffodils have begun to poke up through the earth. They are later rising this year. I'm good with that. Maybe it will lessen the chance of them getting zapped by a polar vortex.

I divided the snowdrops that got dug out of the road to the Turnip Fields to go plant them then decided to have a nap instead.

I spent three plus hours next door this morning doing the chop and drop. That was enough. My back was wore out. Only a little bit more to go. The stinze has begun. I like a fresh clean slate for the big bulb show.

Three Days Of Warm Sunshine

I went to work kind work of course. Lucky I can start slow and warm up to full time work kind work. With longer days, there was some warm day leftover when I got home.

The stinze is beginning to rise.

I got one of three discarded amaryllis to bloom. See if I can do better next year.

You know the witches were out.

The Under Garden is looking good. I have some minor adjustments in mind come planting weather.

I told you the witches were out. Now there will be many days of rain.

All that sunshine was even good enough for the cats to go outside. Until the rains came.

The Witches Drew Me Down

I graduated myself from physical therapy today. I was as fixed as they could get me.

The truly horrible sciatica was gone in the first week. Thank you very much. I should have whined sooner. My old nemesis, the hip dysplasia derived crick in back returned. The two are linked by a heavy cord of nerves and one old gardener's body. Such is the way it is.

That crick in my back is the devil I will have to deal with on my own. My job now is to PT and stretch the beast away. Strengthen my core. Stretch the lumbar. Warm up first. Stand up straight. Shoulders back. Yada, yada, yada from now on.

I was wary, but the witches drew me down on a sunny, 50 whole degrees briefly kind of day, after this morning's snow storm anyway.

'Arnold' is still holding back.

I knelt down for snowdrops and the crick came back. The sad truth is the narrow lumpy paths in the wild cultivated gardens are not conducive to good posture.

The paths here suck. I need to win the lottery and hire some path makers. Yes I do. But I came in, stretched out, did some PT and made that crick go away. Progress. I am learning to calm the beast.

Failure Of Processes

The fire would not catch because the sticks were too wet. It will burn when it is ready.

The division of the snowdrops did not happen because they were frozen solid. It made me laugh. It took a hard stomp with the shovel to split the clumps in half. They will thaw. The soil will crumble. The division will happen.

All the more reason to marvel at 'Jelena' after the ice storm. How could you not like a flowering shrub with blooms this cold hardy.

'Arnold' has yet to achieve a complete unfurling. It creeps open in the cold.

I wander in a garden bathed in long beams of sunshine. Light dancing.

Glass catches and reflects the light.

Where snowdrops thrive in frozen ground.

After Ice

I picked up sticks. Yesterday at 32 degrees under cloudy skies with misting snow and no wind, it was quite pleasant. I got my garden picked up.

Today at 42 degrees with clear blue skies and a steady breeze, it was not quite so pleasant. The wind chilly feature of my temperature operating apparatus may be fading. I got the ridge top garden next door picked up. Surprisingly there was very little deadfall over there in a garden twice the size.

It was too wind chilly and I did not manage to get in some more chop and drop despite the sun and warmer degrees. Another day will come.

Now I have a great big hairball of sticks to burn before the crocus ring around the pit begins to bloom. They are just now breaking ground. I considered having a fire, but it was too wind chilly. Another day will come. I saw daffodils in all that bending and stooping. They may be a little later than usual, but the bulbs are on their way.

Ice

It was odd. Rain that did not drip off the roof. There are going to be a lot of sticks to pick up.

When this wave of the vortex has passed. It is rather dangerous out there today.

I did not get far. Wandered out to the parking lot.

Places where there were no trees overhead.

The ice was thicker than suggested.

I was hearing things crash.

The witch hazels were still blooming, in flower cubes.

Then it began to melt fast.

For all practical purposes, it had started to rain. There was a lot of ice stuck up in those trees.