Another golden autumn day.  Winter still seems far off, although  two years  ago we had a snow storm at Halloween. And of course last year was Sandy, another mess. Not so bad here in the Hudson Valley, we are far enough from the coast.

But still it did some damage.


For weeks it has been mild and for the most part sunny. It has been a good gardening season. And  I am fortunate enough to have been outdoors for much of every day.

 

It's the first day of spring! We had snow yesterday, but really the picture above is typical of March in this zone, early flowers and snow. I have grape hyacinths, pictured above, snowdrops, the first crocuses, and a viola blooming.

It makes me laugh when people get all worked up about the groundhog on February 2, whether he(she?) sees his(her) shadow or not, spring comes in six weeks. As long as you remember spring in the Hudson Valley can mean snow along with warmer sun, longer days, and budding trees, it all makes sense.

February, Can Spring Be Far Behind?

Since Christmas the days have been getting longer, and now even the angle of the light is changing. We can and probably will have plenty more snow ahead, but I bought flower seeds today, and the forsythia is starting to bud. 

This picture is from one of my back windows. No new green, but the snow is gone, for now.

The wild roses are blooming, and the air smells sweet. Along the roads and into the woods, white and purple phlox are rampant. Too bad the weeds are also thriving!

I planted seeds, zinnia, basil, cosmos, dill, marigolds and others, I'm sure. I plant them all in about a week, so sometimes I forget about them, which makes for a fun surprise. As long as I mark the places where seeds are, so I don't overplant them with something else, it's all good. The marigolds and basil are planted along one of the long sides of the pool area, with the cherry tomato plants. I use old stocking strips to tie the tomatoes to the chain link fence. This both supports the plants and hides the ugluy fence. The zinnias, cosmos and dill grow to around four feet, so the will (hopefully) cover the other sides of the fence. They are just beginning to pop up. It is pouring rain right now, which is good after several hot sunny days, next post I'll have pictures of their progress.

What a Mess!

My pool area is a mess.

And yet, we did the right things. We had all the weeds removed, landscape fabric put down, and several inches of mulch over that. We had four tasteful whiskey barrels, and felt the woods should stay on it's side of the fence. As Oscar the Grouch would say, Ding dong, you're wrong! Weeds everywhere, thriving in all conditions.

Since keeping plants out was impossible, I decided to start a new project, to add to the 20 or 30 other projects I am currently involved in. I am planting all the most prolific of my perennials, hoping they will fill in as well as the weeds have. I also figured since the pool is in the sunniest spot in the yard, all the vegetables, not just a couple of tomatoes should live there. Stay tuned!

Even Tinier Gardens

I think I need an "egg cutter" (never hace seen one, but read they exist. And I read it on the interweb, so it mjust be true!) Cutting the tops off the eggs was the hard part, especially the fresh eggs my friend Dawn provided me, from her chickens.

Succulents by the dozen!

Tiny Gardens

I have been playing with terrariums lately. Maybe because planting and maintaining them does not hurt my back! I'm experimenting with various plants to see what will grow very slowly.

March Moon

What a mild, beautiful day we had, and then this bright moon at night. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer, spring will be galloping right along. The clocks go back this weekend, everything seems different in life when the season changes.

Still February

February is a very busy birthday month in our family. The celebrations make this short month go even faster. In the background scenery winter is bustling through, this year with very little snow. Did you ever notice in mid February, snow or no snow, the birds begin to be heard again? I remember walking our old dog one day after work, with a foot of fresh snow on the ground and the birds carrying on as loudly as spring.  And spring is after all right around the corner. 

Snow Moon

Tomorrow night is the February full moon, known to Native Americans in this area as the Snow Moon. Not very descriptive this year, snow has been lacking. The only real storm came before Halloween, nothing significant since. Makes for a more comfortable winter, too warm for ice, snow and howling winds, but a little dull as well.

Fairy Gardens

Just before Christmas, I received a gift certificate for one of my favorite markets. I was enjoying shopping for holiday food when I spotted an interesting display. It was a collection of miniature gardens and accessories. Little pergolas, bird baths, rustic fencing and gates, benches, paths, all set off in containers  with small plants.

Thinking ahead to the January blues, I indulged myself with a fairy garden kit. Then on Christmas, my son gave me a bonsai kit, with seeds for little pine trees and moss. I have a lot of moss outside, and for once it is not covered in snow this time of year. That will be useful as I have never grown moss from seed, and wonder how easy it is. I can see a busy winter working on little gardens. They certainly have to be more manageable and less back strain than the outside version. 

So It Goes

Again, it has been awhile since I posted. But inspired by my daughter's new blog, I'm back.

Funny that my last post was the October storm. It  was the only bad weather we've had, so far. What a beautiful, mild late fall/early winter season it has been. Christmas has come and gone, the days are already a little longer, and I found half a dozen dandelions in my yard the other day. Even though there are surely snow storms ahead, spring seems close.

Early Snow

The power line did come down, under the weight of the snowy branches, this time last week I had no power, never a happy situation, no matter how you think about it.
But we are back to normal again, and it is a golden autumn day. It is probably the early snow, but I am starting to think about Christmas.

Time Passing

It has been a very long time since I posted. Once spring starts, it is full speed ahead. So I'll try to make up for it in the next weeks, but no promises.
I have been gardening up a storm, of course. May is a wonderful month, so much good weather ahead. I have such full beds that I am selling perennial collections online.

First Day of Spring

And what a wet, dreary chilly day it has been. The best thing I can say about it is that it stopped snowing.

Meanwhile, as my heat blasts away merrily, I put a grow light on the succulents. Just for a few hours, but each gets the light that is missing today. I am planning some table top succulent gardens this year, and I want as many plants as possible available. I have a very good selection in the garden, but of course I don't want to take all of any planting. But they seem to have come through the winter well, I've been harvesting new growth as the snow melts and replanting them inside. They're taking off, with all the careful attention. Wouldn't we all!

One project I'm planning is to plant some hen n' chicks in a straw bale. I purchased a very small straw bale, roughly a foot long in A.C. Moore, and spent the required ten days "curing" it. This is just keeping it wet, so the straw starts composting and will support growth. The straw bale gardens I've seen on the internet are all normal size bales, and I do want to try them, too. They'll be perfect in a new garden space I'm starting. The bales can go right over the rough ground, keeping down weeds while the plants grow from the bale.  Then by next year they'll be rotting away, right where I'd want them. Should be interesting, we'll see. But the succulent bale will be part one. Stay tuned!
  

3 Ways to Jump Start Gardening Season

This early spring weather makes many of us want to get outside and get to work in the garden. But it is March, and in this area that means it could snow next week. Still, there is a lot to do before full spring hits.


1. A little raking makes a big difference. In many of my beds, there are dried stalks, etc, left from last  season.  Pulling them out improves . My Lamb's Ear was a flattened mess, the bamboo rake helped perk it up. This also works for grass. I don't rake too deeply around the plants, I leave some leaves for protection.
But under larger bushes and trees, in corners by fences or the house, getting rid of the old leaves blown in my winter winds makes things look more attractive, instantly.

2. It's kind of early to hook my hoses up again, but the furniture that didn't get put away needs to be wiped down. The same with any odds and ends that never made it back into the house last fall. Everything non organic looks better with winter's dirt wiped off. My trusty leaf blower does a great job clearing debris off the patios and other hardscapes.

3. Trimming the dead wood off perenniels, making sure matted leaves don't hold down emerging bulbs, checking out what made it through the winter alive, there are so many things to do. But don't let it overwhelm you. Start small, make lists, and try to do at least one thing a day, your garden will get prettier and prettier as springs marches along.

Actually Out There

The snow is about gone, what a relief. It died a sort of slow death by rain this week, gradually shrinking and getting dirtier and then finally the full melt. So I was able to get a good close look at the front garden.

Of course it is much too early to rake the leaves out of the beds. They add protection, especially necessary now that the snow blanket is gone. Anyway, I never like to rake too many of them out. I'd rather use the trowel to dig them into the soil a bit. It is on the spot composting. I started to use that method many years ago out of laziness. Instead of fully raking the garden in spring, I'd leave some leaves behind. Then when I was planting, of course they got turned into the ground. They condition the soil, which improves the texture, and add nutrients. On top of the soil, they act as mulch. The mulch I purchase goes much further, if it is on top of a layer of leaves. And it all decomposes, making the soil better and better, every year. I have been gardening in this spot for 24 years, and the soil has gone from having the texture of cheap cement to being reasonably black and friable. Laziness doesn't usually work out so well.

But there were many things I could do in the garden. There were dead stalks to cut down, as I leave many in place to feed the birds. There were dead annuals which succumbed very late in the season, I added them to the pile in the driveway. I bolstered up a butterfly bush that had heaved out of the ground. A bucket of soil was needed to get it straight with all roots protected again. Then I got the trimmers to clean it up a bit, but was distracted by the slimy stems of the left over herbs.

By the time I got rid of all the dead stuff in the pile, my Chihuahua, Niles, was shivering. Niles is not much for the cold. Snow storms with him are challenging. I brought him inside, and then got to work on some of my big finds, succulents in odd spots I had forgotten about. I brought them in and potted them up, succulents are going to be big in my garden this year. I have a sunny room that is slowly filling up with them. Rescued from the cold they're really taking off. To them, it is May.

Well, I'm off to trim the butterfly bush.  And before I know it, my garden will look more like this.

And So It Begins

It is kind of a bleak Sunday today in Fishkill. Torrential rains are forecast for later, so I'll be happy to stay in today. If the snow is finally melted off my front garden, I'll be able to go out tomorrow and find some treasures. It has been covered with snow since December, I can hardly wait to see it again.

I did see snowdrops blooming in my neighbor's garden, they weren't there yesterday. Here we go.

Grow the Good Life, or How About Some Fresh Mint for that Mojito?

Has anyone else noticed that food is getting pretty expensive? It irritates the heck out of me to pay a couple of dollars for a bunch of dill, knowing that it can be grown all season with a pack of seeds for the same price or less.  If you purchase a pack of seeds each week when you do your grocery shopping, by planting time you'll have an impressive selection, and it will  seem almost free.  A small patch of herbs goes a long way, and the flavor is never quite as delicious as when you have just brought some inside.

One problem with people starting veggie gardens can be the experts. They try to be so thorough, covering all that can go wrong, that the process seems intimidating. It's a little like thinking about getting pregnant, and preparing by reading up on learning disabilities and childhood illnesses.

So this new book by Michele Owens is refreshing. Michele is a blogger on one of my favorite blogs, Garden Rant. She puts perspective back in the garden, and shows the newbie how very possible, and affordable, it is to grow some fresh food for yourself.

Getting Ready for the Garden Season

Spring is close, there are swelling buds on trees (if you look close, against the light), and market umbrellas on sale in Stop &Shop. But most importantly, there are seeds for sale. At a dollar or two a pack, hope for spring has never been cheaper. I usually start buying a pack or two a week in late January. This way, I accumulate plenty without feeling it financially. It also gives me small, attractive envelopes that I take out and enjoy (ogle) when I'm sick of winter.

I don't start many seeds in the house. I don't have good grow lights, or window sills. But I plant directly in the garden as spring progresses. More on that at the right time.