Garden

[SharkE]

[terrier3]

On 3/21/2015 millieshops said:

Just chiming in to say that as a long-time snowbird, one of the things I miss about being south for the winter is the way spring and summer brings the north alive. I'm actually thinking of going back one April to see spring come to Long Island. I miss those forsythia, the tulips and daffodils, and all the flowering trees and shrubs.

My son has always been very sensitive Re: when trees leaf out.

He actually knows the differences among maples, oaks, elms, ash, etc.

He even knew that the saucer magnolia on the side of our driveway blooms around my birthday every year at the end of April!

Our forsythia were BURIED in snow by the plowman...they still are encased in black ice/gunk. I just got an everblooming lilac out of the ice...I think it's going to survive!

[Lilysmom]

Hp

Here in Nova Scotia we are so far under snow and ice that spring seems years away. We have seven foot high snowbanks still. I chipped foot deep ice from my stone entrywY yesterday. My dog is walking over top of shrubs buried deep in the snow.

We have rain today and overnight. Hoping for a big melt to take away some of the white stuff. The lake ice will be very slow going this year! LM

[Stella Dallas]

Hi again, fellow gardening lovers!

The weather up here in Seattle has been so darned odd! We just had one of the mildest winters on records and the winter-sports industries were mostly closed down by the end of February/early March. We had several weeks of such spring-like weather that everything came out of dormancy and/or bloomed early.

Up in the Skagit Valley, the annual tulip festival is, for all intents and purposes, a month ahead of schedule. They'll still have the festival, of course, and all the fun stuff that goes with it but the daffodils are long-gone and the tulips will be past their peak, if they haven't already died back.

(OK, I see what I said isn't clear: The Tulip Festival takes place in April but everything has bloomed so early, in March, that the flowers themselves will be on the wane by the time the actual festivities take place.)

And now, for about a week, we've had nothing but gray, gloomy, rainy days so possibly winter has double-backed on us and they're even predicting snow in the mountains this weekend; although unless they get about 10 feet, the ski season will be a bust this year.

I've been wanting to start some seeds for my vegetable garden but they all say, wait till all danger of frost is past, which in this area is April 15th. I'm going to give it a try but I'm unsure; we could have nice weather from now on or it could turn cold again.

And don't get me started on the local squirrels! It's a good thing for them I don't own a shotgun (yet) because if I did, I'd blow the little basterds to eternity, and all the little rotten little family members they bring with them.

[Stella Dallas]

On 3/20/2015 namealreadytaken said:

Forsythia are among the first things to bloom, to include flowering Quince. When you see the bright golden posies (forsythia), take out your secateurs and prune your roses. This is a warning that roses can bloom within 6-8 weeks, so get busy pruning.

Flowering quince brought back a funny memory.

Years ago my husband and son gave me a flowering quince for Mother's Day (I love their pretty flowers).

Well guess what????? Someone forgot to tell the quince that it only FLOWERS and instead it fruited all over the place. I didn't want to fool with the fruit so I composted it. They really do have the prettiest flowers, a shade of red I can't describe. And all these years later I still have it.

[luvmyteddy4]

My forsythia is in full bloom now and I am so glad I pruned my rose bushes last month during a few warm days we had. They are budding out really well. I have around 20 rose bushes in the backyard and 10 in the front flower beds all different colors. I can't wait.

My lilies are getting tall and the tulips and daffodils are going strong. We finally had some good rain this week and now sunshine.

[debcakes]

I was riding my bike down along Lake Michigan on Sunday. There were forsythia blooming. By my house, about 5 miles west of the lake, the flowering trees were beautiful this past week. Lilacs are coming on now. What a difference in when things bloom, huh?

[JustJazzmom]

On 3/26/2015 Stella Dallas said:

On 3/20/2015 namealreadytaken said:

Forsythia are among the first things to bloom, to include flowering Quince. When you see the bright golden posies (forsythia), take out your secateurs and prune your roses. This is a warning that roses can bloom within 6-8 weeks, so get busy pruning.

Flowering quince brought back a funny memory.

Years ago my husband and son gave me a flowering quince for Mother's Day (I love their pretty flowers).

Well guess what????? Someone forgot to tell the quince that it only FLOWERS and instead it fruited all over the place. I didn't want to fool with the fruit so I composted it. They really do have the prettiest flowers, a shade of red I can't describe. And all these years later I still have it.

I've eaten quince and its similar in taste to apples-- mild in flavor.