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Ilona's Garden Journal




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It Is Still Freezing, Cold, And Snowing

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Yes, playing with Picmonkey. What else on the rainy/snowy/frozen days we are having? Housework, you say? What is that?

Yes, the weather again. We are still in the throes of winter. Throes I say! Everyone says they are tired of it, but we really don’t have any say in the weather, do we? It will affect how soon we will be able to plant out our seeds and new plants.

The ground will stay frozen for longer than we are used to in this part of the country.

That is my prediction.

Vegetable plants like peppers, and most especially tomatoes, need warm soil to thrive. This will be one year to not rush the season.

Weighty Snow

One year I had some of my globe arborvitae damaged, but this year it was the canopy and its frame that sheltered the hot tub that collapsed under the weight of wet snow.
That was a first.
I am finding it hard to think about growing things when the world outside looks like midwinter instead of like March.
Normally we would be headed into the mud season. Not likely when the temperatures will dip below zero. Again.

Frozen earth for another few weeks.

Hit The Ground Running

One effect of the prolonged wintry conditions is that a gardener can prepare to get started as soon as the weather breaks. If our tools are ready, plans made, we can get started without delay.

If we have raised beds, we are one step ahead in warming up the soil. I’m glad I made some raised beds a couple years ago. They dry out quicker in the spring, which is a boon in this clay-loam, high water table area.

Have you ever used floating row covers? I haven’t, but this would be a great year to begin. There are a few things to remember, as Colorado State cautions:

“Thwart weeds that may thrive in a covered environment by using a mulch such as black plastic before planting.”

Do We Have Garden Tips For March?

Maybe later in the month we can use the usual tips, but for now, backtrack into February chore suggestions.
  • We can safely start early indoor crops, plants started now should be ready to plant out after the last frost date without becoming too leggy.
  • A late winter means that dormant plants can still be pruned.
  • It will eventually warm up, and when it does remove the old stuff that is still left from last years garden.
  • Don’t pull back mulch from your plants, especially the roses, too early.
  • Check for winter damage- there is bound to be something this year.
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© 2015 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

Everyone Talks About The Weather

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I ventured out between the pine and the spirea

Wherever I go (the few times I can venture out), everyone is talking about the weather, how cold it is, how tired they are of it, etc, etc. Depending on just how cold it is I either find lots to do on my computer, or I have an excuse to sit and watch a favorite show with a hot cup of something.

Watched plenty of the British detective shows I like so well – I’ve watched most all of them. All of “Vikings”, caught up with “Grimm”, “Walking Dead” …  I won’t bore you with the long list of why my seat is spreading into the legend of song.

and

I try not to think about spring too much.

One reason for that, is the fact that the last time my garden was this frozen I lost plenty of plants.

Sometimes it seems my garden is more of a plant cemetery. I have long lists of what I used to grow. But at this point I have no desire to complain or think about the negative side of weather aberrations.

Life has ebbs and flows and nowhere is that more obvious than in a garden that one cares for for a long period of time.

Having put all my efforts this past fall into the family holiday celebration, I neglected to mulch my garden.

That is another reason I am sure that those cold spells without snow cover will probably result in loss of my variegated lavenders, among other new plants that are marginally hardy here.

Well, I plant geraniums every year, and this might be a similar experience. I hope I find them in the nursery this spring.

Speaking of geraniums… I saved a couple that I actually kept living all winter so far! Not only that, but took cuttings that have rooted and are waiting for me to pot up. I think I should go ahead and do that.

Maybe I’ll start some seeds when I have the starting soil supplies out.

Actually this weather makes me in no hurry to start seeds. The ground is frozen so late this season that I don’t think it will warm up as early as it normally would. We’ll see.

I’m pretty sure I won’t be planting sweet peas on St. Patrick’s Day. I am often late for that anyway.

How are your gardens, seed starting, etc. activities going? On Facebook I see some people in other climate zones who have green and budding, even flowering in their yards, instead of crunchy white stuff.

Oh yes, I spent lots of time on Facebook lately. What do you do when the house is cold and you don’t go out on icy streets… or do you?

My Winter Sunflowers

Not that I’m a slacker… I learned some new software, made some new video, started organizing my life via the new organizer book my daughter bought for me, gone to Dr. appts, upgraded my phone and am learning to use that… did some planning. You know, life.

Here is something weird from the extra cold winter: ants have been invading. Don’t you think that is strange for this time of year? I do.

Asian ladybugs make appearances all winter.

I managed to steer the conversation from the weather, and am prone to do that.

But the deep freeze has impacted my desire to write the newsletter this month, too. That isn’t such a good thing I suppose. There just wasn’t much gardening going on.

Spring is edging closer, however, so I want to concentrate on the timely send-off of good tips, reminders and news next month.

I am sure it has plenty to do with my personal bias against February.

This is my least favorite month. chocolate and Valentine’s Day notwithstanding.

I always love blustery March for some reason… so looking forward to it- only a week more, albeit one of those frozen, cold ones (yes, circled back to the weather:)

Til next time Friends,
Ilona

Chill in the Air

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It has gotten quite cool all of a sudden here, the chill of fall has arrived, no mistaking. Last night there were areas in the 30’s. This is typical September weather. I can remember, as a girl, walking to school with my new sweater in the morning and feeling too warm for it walking home in the afternoon. Cool and crisp mornings followed by brightly blue and sunny days, September is always a pretty month in my mind.

I took note and determined that I will cover the tomatoes in hopes that I will get a decent crop once it warms up a bit. Fall time here usually warms up for most of October and you can usually get some last tomatoes, if you cover them at night. Tuck them in with a sheet to keep the frost out and get the last little bit of summer on the table.

This time of year always makes me feel wistful. Foggy mornings and misty evenings, interspersed with the clear afternoon light that seems too short… lovely days always seem too short. The butterflies dance obliviously around the autumn clematis, I wonder if they know their time is short, yet dance anyway? They love the sweet soapy and creamy colored froth of clematis blooms. This year the vine is so wild and unkempt that it seems to make the arbor groan under all the bloom, too bad there are no little children in the house, that inner sanctuary of the arbor would make a perfect hideaway. Did you ever do that as a child? I always did, and the great forsythia bushes of my home and that of a neighbor provided virtual tents where we played and hid and watched the adult world outside.

This is the time of year I used to ride my bike down to the river and find my favorite tree whose roots made the ideal seat for a bookworm like me. I’d spend a couple hours reading while the river meandered by just below, and the sunshine trickled in through the leaves on the high branches. Only certain trees have just the right seat formation and you are very lucky if you have found one, I think.

I never have time for such things now, and I live in bare farmland where there are few places to wander off to, few trees except for those on private properties where owners dislike uninvited visitors. Sometimes I wish I had a full grown woods, but then I wouldn’t know the far reaching fields that give the eye no barrier to flaming sunsets, and the mural of the western skies. Each thing has the beauty of its own, which it alone can claim. The trouble is we are greedy for all the kinds of beauty, sometimes. I would have the ocean, the mountains, the plain, and the woods…. I would have it all if I could. It is all so very beautiful.

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