Waiting....

[Linda P]

but not patiently.
The chicken yard is covered with downed limbs, though I did get some of them hauled off yesterday. It's too wet yet to go out and rake up the piles and piles of twigs, don't want to risk compacting the soil unnecessarily.
One of these days I'll see this again!
Linda P

[loisf]

How pretty, Linda. I can't wait to walk down my hosta path either.

My silly tulips are popping up here in Zone 4B. It has snowed on them once and might do so again tonight. Not the brightest bulbs...

Lois

[PeggyC]

I'm still waiting too! Com'n spring!

[Marlys]

It's so ugly outdoors with all the winter debris. Ron has been burning limbs & branches & twigs this week. We had so much ice damage / lost several tress / tons of branches. "One sure thing is - the Garden is ever-changing".

Many hostas will have to acclimate to lots more sun here; that is if the deer don't devour them. Deer have been all over the yard / gardens this winter with the long months of heavy snow & ice cover. They leave fertilizer behind!

A couple warmer, nicer days this week I was able to get out & rake up twigs & leaves from one area. Felt so good to be out doing something. TULIPS are coming up Treats for hungry deer Ron helped me put plastic netting across the open side of my shadehouse to keep the critters out. At least I can protect one area.

The birds are singing pretty, geese are on the migratory trail, and eagles are soaring here by the lake / river. And green sdlg sprouts are giving me my 'Green Fix'. I'm hanging on until May 15th - last frost date for Iowa!

Come on Spring Get Sprung

MM

[Linda P]

Thanks, Lois. I can't believe you have tulips coming up! There's no sign of even the snowdrops here yet.
I hear ya, Marlys. Ugly is a kind word for it. I've lost a good deal of shade, too. It will be interesting, to say the least. I'm really thankful we haven't had deer in the yard. They all stopped out behind the barn at the sileage bags and filled up there.
When Ron is done with your yard, will you send him over here?
John doesn't seem to be able to find any time to help me with the cleanup. It's going to be a monstrous job. Well, next week I'll have a grandson here. Hopefully he can spare a few minutes from farming with Gpa to help out.
Today is not the day to be out working in the yard. Wind, rain, sleet, snow, and then it's supposed to change over to all snow today.
Winter hasn't lost its' grip just yet. Guess we'll have to cheer spring on a little harder, Peggy!
Linda P

[Marlys]

Linda!

I think I just heard thunder here but snow is in the forecast again! It is 40 degrees right now but so gray & dreary & ugly!!!

This mud is awful but tolerable if only temporary! I'm glad we don't live on a gravel road. School buses are running on hard surface roads only. It's ugly!!! I got mud on my pant legs just walking into work from the parking lot yesterday.

It was the first day of spring yesterday according to the calendar anyway. But hey, 40 above is better than the frigid cold we were enduring (-10 plus wind chill) just a few weeks ago. We are making progress!

I want spring sunshine!!! Right Now!!!

MM

[thy]

Mother nature is on steroides or som other stuff

Last spring was early and warm... may was like midsummer - it all lasted to mid June, then we got cold winds and rain. .. sort of a fall exept for 3 or 5 days with hot sunny days.. September and october was rather nice, but not warm, it was just better than the "summer", not so rainy and windy.. then an other fall/mild winther and Snowdrops and crocus in January.. still wet most days but exept for 3 nights at the freezing point 0 Celcius, nothing just looking like winther... then a few days ago they started to talk about snow and frost for real...
Now:
Warning to drive at all minus 8 C .. 17 or 18 F at nights hard Siberian winds with snow


I feel like putting a blanket over my head and find a corner to hide... snowdrops and crocus are gone, narcissus are bloomiing even the late ones, cherryt blossom tree ready to bloom, new long sprouts with buds on my tree peonies..and nothing i can do.. firs hosta sprouts are curly
Combo of wind and frost ... darn it.. I would have loved some weeks of winther between December and February... but now... I think I want an apartment with no access to outdoor living at all

Pia

[Marlys]

Pia,

So sorry about your awful weather. Last year we had early spring in March / very warm. All the perennials were brought forth by the lovely rains and warm sunshine. Then April hit with temperatures below freezing and terrible ice and wind damage and it lasted for days. All the hosta eyes turned to mush from being frozen soild. I too wanted to escape reality. But then it was nice again and the plants sent up new growth and all was well / even though many plants were much smaller than the previous year with the initial mature strong eyes destroyed.

Hang in there girl!

MM

[Linda P]

Pia, that sounds absolutely awful. We've had a really long winter here, the worst in decades. We just dodged a big snowstorm yesterday, but the Chicago area was hit. My sis lives a little over and hour northeast of me, in Rockford, and she had 6 inches of snow on the ground at 7:00 last night, with heavy snow still falling. I'm so glad we missed that! I still have snowdrifts in the yard.
Marlys, you are right to be thankful you don't live on a gravel road. I do, and it's no fun. Our township road supervisor has been doing everything he can to keep the roads passable.
My brother just came up through Arkansas and Missouri, and he told us about the horrible flooding there. I'll try not to complain about the cold anymore.
Linda P

[Chris_W]

It has been an amazing spring so far in a lot of areas, hasn't it? Count us in - we got at least a foot of snow last night, and it isn't supposed to thaw out for a few days, then they say thunderstorms. Going to be pretty muddy for a while!

[moongirl]

And I live in a town that has the nickname "The Icebox of Pennsylvania", sigh. I have seen frost in every month, and snow in every month except July. sigh again. We usually have about 100 days between killing frosts.
But... the last few years have been warmer in the fall, giving us another 3 weeks or so,
the sun is shining today,
the Easter Bunny was here,

Life is good!