No leaves here even though almost all the perennials are showing some signs of life. You don't think all my hostas died, do you? Just kidding, but not a single bud, much less foliage.
Garage sales for sheets. I am sure we were quite the talk of the neighborhood in years past as we used clothes poles to heist sheets up over a 12 foot magnolia in hopes of saving a few of the beautiful blooms that were threatened by heavy frosts. It looked like we had a giant, pastel psychedelic mushroom in front of the house. But it did work.
Glo
Ít is early, very early... hope the rest will wait,
Not even noses here... late this year ... but normally i have noses 2 weeks ago, but hardly growing due to the cold night temps.
This year we have had snow and frosts for 3 months. not normal and are way behind sceduale
Good luck ... I hope the rest stay put
Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.
E-mail for pics hostapics@gmail.com
No leaves unfurling, but the continuing extemely warm temps are really pushing the eyes up fast so I imagine it won't be long. The only ones still sleeping soundly are on the north side of the house, in total shade for the time being. I keep obsessively checking the 10 day forecast. Watching the Red Sox game on tv last night, I saw that people were in short sleeves!
Potted things are definitely leafing out. Interestingly, one of the last hostas to go down, 'Tardiflora', is pretty much unfurled in a raised bed while its neighbors are barely showing. Straight in the ground, h. montana 'Aureomarginata' is first out, as usual.
I was just paging through iPhoto (seeing if there is any hope for our winter plant label disaster—more later), and noted that last year, the serviceberry (amelanchier x grandiflora) was in full bloom on 21 April last year. It is about 2 days away from that right now (with 86° predicted here on Wednesday). Despite the extreme snow, we had an extremely mild winter, with the lowest temp recorded here at 15°F (and we're supposed to be zone 6b).
The label disaster: being covered with over 2 feet of snow for several weeks meant that all the P-touch labels were completely erased. And the weather-proof laser-printed labels, while still fairly pristine from the printing point of view, became detached from their physical labels and became as a leaf on the wind. We'll be doing some serious sleuthing in a few weeks! I guess it's time for these old brains to make physical maps!
Here in NJ the temperatures have remained in the 80's already. and the hostas are unfurling rapidly. Epimedium are in bloom, as well as bloodroot and other hosta companions.
lol! my Albomarginata showed eyes first, but last night I noticed my Lancifolia was suddenly up and unfurling. It's in the most protected location near the house though.
Chris, just wanted to ask if you know anyone in the hotel business. My father was a restaurant/hotel manager in his second career and he'd give me all the sheets I could ever want. Because they have to wash them so frequently, but always want them looking nice, they are always replenishing their bed linens and getting rid of the old ones.
~~~ Audrey ~~~
“If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good”
Dr. Seuss
I have a number of them unfurling, and it's at least 2 weeks too early. I've been checking the extended forecast all the time,too. It looks like the temps are going to stay above normal for some time. We just had a couple rounds of thunderstorms, and have already had hail twice. So, maybe I should stop worrying about them freezing off and worry about them getting shredded instead......
I haven't uncovered any of the hosta beds yet, but the winds have been doing the job for me. I don't think it's going to matter whether I've uncovered them or not...they're going to really shoot up now that we had some warm spring rain.
Linda P
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Only eyes here so far, thank goodness. I've been a little worried with the warm temperatures (pushing 80 last week) that the hostas would emerge too soon. Although I'm always happy to see them, seeing them too early stresses me out.
Lancifolia is the furthest along for me here, too, but I've got eyes popping on a few others. Fortunately, some of my favorites are still sleeping. (At least I hope they're sleeping and haven't disappeared!)
It is waayyy too soon for hostas to be up in zone 5. We are sure to get a hard frost or two in the next two or three weeks. That said, Hepaticas were in bloom a few days ago when normally I expect to see them at the end of the month.
Viktoria
Many a great tune has been played on an older fiddle.
Way ahead of schedule in Iowa, too. I don't think we've been below freezing for three weeks now, and have had two days in the 80's. So far, the hostas are just eyes, but the bloodroot is in full bloom, dutchman's britches are just starting, brunnera is budded, as is the bleeding heart...
Like Linda, we haven't cleaned off any beds, yet, because we were sure it was going to turn cold, again. It will be a miracle, if we make it to May without any frost...
yup, Josh... even up here in zone 4, the spring flowers... bloodroot, mayapple, windflowers... are blooming. Only saw my first hosta eye popping out of the ground yesterday - but with a potential last frost date of May 21, I'm in no hurry to see them emerge.
That idea for hotel sheets is really interesting - never thought about how they get rid of them - with daily washing they must go through a lot of them...
Tigger - about the label thing - I use P-touch and I've got labels that are now over 10 years old, buried every year in snow and in full blistering summer heat. If the p-touch labels erased, it means you haven't used the laminated ones. The ones I use put the printing inside of the film and the print is unaffected by weather.
It's great to see so many of my hosta friends coming out of hibernation!
But it did work.
Mockingbird feeding juvenile yellow raisons - never leave home without them.
It's in the most protected location near the house though.
