No Daffodil Sightings This Year

Oh, okay, a few here and there but the warm winter has many things ahead of schedule around here. One that has me surprised are Morning Glory seedlings, but this spot is an oasis of warmth in the late winter and early spring. Protected from northern winds and heat absorbed by the stone wall keeps it nice and toasty. Even a few Petunias made it through the winter but no flowering.

Others include perennial snapdragons, a few straggling violas or pansies that probably reseeded from the previous year. No mass plantings of violas and pansies this past winter. Below is about the only spot that also shows whitish daffodils. I don't recall the exact name but it appears they bloom 2-4 weeks after most of the common ones.

And loads of Moon flower seeds ready to drop. Three seeds per pod. I probably had 15 flowers (minimum) each day from mid August to late September. Basic math tells me I have about 400 seeds. I wonder if they'll come true this summer. Three original plants...massive. They'll be loads of these around here this year! Here, there, and everywhere.

Lookie here! A freaking healthy perennial from seed last year! Real healthy. Lupines I believe.

And how about those stubborn Columbines? Who knows. Third year for them.

A few yellow daffodils up the driveway, along with those same white ones shown earlier.

Added - About those Moonflower seeds. Most have either been destroyed by mold or became a nice winter meal for some insect critters. I managed to retrieve 50 or 60 while others of question just thrown under the porch.

Mid April Goings On

Not a whole lot of things to report. Tulips were a bit of a failure this year or maybe I expect too much from them. I'm also here to report they're over rated in my opinion. A few decent pics from earlier in the month. They're scattered here and there.

Made the trip to the dairy about the same time for some cow manure.

Twelve bucks, or 200 shovels fulls from my count. About 70 still left on the ground. If I didn't have the topper shoveling wouldn't be necessary, but it's good exercise with four small breaks in between.

There's actually much more going on but I've had no interest keeping the blog updated of late.

Ooops. Little Wind and...

Had I waited another five minutes to look out the window while eating lunch I imagined the fire department down here pumping water from the creek to ward off a forest fire. Scared me and I hustled like crazy to put this thing out. Kind of reminds me of my younger days while playing with gas and matches. Don't all kids try it at least once? I almost burned down the stables when I was about ten. Not sure if any family members knew about that.

Weather getting too warm. Something like 81 degrees today. Even some Tulips have appeared up the drive. Too bad the Violas are not as bushy as other areas but they have been making a comeback in this area since my return. Maybe another month and some great color?

Early spring project on the south side of the driveway.  Removing compacted gravel and filling with composted mulch. I figured I'd go nuts with rows of Marigolds as they did so well last year in good soil. Throw in some Cactus Zinnias behind the fence and there will be some major color up there come July. Incidentally that particular Zinnia claims 2-3 feet height on the package, but grew from three to seven feet last year.

A few plants picked up at the Lions Club sale in May of 2009? Christmas Rose. Seems they want to bloom now.

More Daffodils up the driveway planted last November.

And several at the top of the driveway with a Forsythia bush.

Bugs Affecting Daffodils?

That's what it appears to be. After all it hasn't been that hot and many are doing quite well. Some haven't even bloomed (across the creek)But it appears the ones deeper into the woods have been affected. The pathways were quite a sight last year, but not this time around.

Looking okay up the drive. This is a newer area that was nothing but packed gravel last spring. Daff's look good but seeded Violas didn't make it. I also had some planted ones but they were nibbled away from some critters. White ones are from fall '09, others planted last fall. On other side of drive are also new ones planted.

Moving further up the drive, patches of more daffodils were put in the ground last fall...

These are closer to the cabin along the driveway or on the rocky hill where nothing seems to grow...

Some Violas and pansies mixed in with Day Lillies greening up nicely. This is opposite the north face of the cabin or visible looking out the kitchen window. I also have some Thalia daffodils in there but they are slow to bloom.

Hostas are popping through the soil...

Some stubborn Columbine that took forever to seed last year are showing here and there...

Some Daffodils

...and a healthy stand of Violas and pansies against the stone wall of the house, mixed in with some Thalia daffodils (all white flower) yet to break out. Nice warm area here and the reason for them doing so well.

About five inches of rain fell earlier this week. No more water woes...until the summer perhaps. Creek was busy gushing.

Back to more Violas, and a few Pansies. It's more about light and sunshine for the most part. Down here along the path near the creek these multi colors are beginning to shape up. The area gets very light and warmth as the sun sits so low in winter months hiding behind the steep hill on the south side across the creek. Daffodils on pathway leading west in background.

Fence line shows an assorted number of larger daffodils. Notice more slow growing Violas in the background (right) near the house. Again, very little sunshine, but that changes over the next month or so.

Barrel with some Pansies and tulips..Plenty of those around. More to see in April.

Moving up the driveway, some Tete a tete daffodils  planted last fall. Four flowers per plant, but they're tiny. I should have bunched more of them, but hopefully the next few years they will multiply.

Oh, some more Violas planted along the storage area near the lawn.

It Looks Like Spring!

Arriving home Saturday from my four month winter trip to Florida I thought I would see more color, but that's always looking at it optimistically. No major problems per se considering the ice storm over Christmas. Water heater down:(  The grass certainly grew beyond my expectations, reaching a height of 8 inches in some areas. Fallen leaves drowned out some new seedlings, but that's an ever ending problem around here trying to keep grass growing everywhere without patches of dirt.

Violas doing well here and there. Containers mostly a flop. I suppose they went though some dry spells. Oh well. Daffodils coming out. More when they're all reaching to the sky. Going further away from the house something has been trimming the other Violas and keeping them from bushing out.

Violas & Pansies...Bulbs Too

Earlier this summer the small amount of Violas mother planted surprised me. I mentioned I was going to get a bit more serious about adding more color around here. I just hope these danged things survive while I'm gone for the brutal winter months. Or at least I think they are! Getting buried in leaves is something that may dictate my Florida retreat. That would mean the middle of November once 95% of the leaves are down.

Here's a spot that hasn't done much lately. With the drought that surrounded my property this past summer (not 2-4 miles away) nothing would grow here due to lack of water and just plain lousy soil loaded with rocks. By removing down to 12 inches and replacing with good stuff Violas and Pansies may welcome my effort?

More spring wonders against the cabin or at the railroad tie gardens. Lowes has been a disappointment as far as finding these plants this fall, so I ventured into Wally World where oodles of stuff was available. Yea, I over did it again, but what the hey. I'm not planning on doing anything on the west side until spring, so much of the color will be around the driveway area.

Planters and containers. Not sure how these will do with nobody around for 2 1/2 months or so...

Tulips Part II - Close Ups

These do glow! Apeldoorn's Elite. No photoshop effects either.

Juliette at the stone wall area...

Red Impression...

Tulip Pics & Others

I figured I may as well get them taken before the heat gets to them like some red ones a week ago. Gotta love the orange reddish ones; Apeldoorns Elite. They almost glow when the sun hits them right. Red ones in the center, Red Impression. Those violas sure have surprised me. I'll have plenty of them around next winter. Too bad the Daffodils died out. They would have filled in well here. And those stupid Muscari. What was I thinking?

Dutch Iris in the background growing, but I still think they're fried by coming up too early (December). Wait the package says "late spring" Maybe another month or so until I see anything. Still hope.

And from a further distance showing some more on the wall area. Juliette.

Closeup. Why I put a few Muscari in front is beyond me. I guess I thought they would be fluffier. Mexican Heather cut to the ground...ugly brown, no greenery. Misc reports say they may surprise me the next few months. Impossible to pull out...deep roots.

Golden Apeldoorns...

Purissima, and Red Impression

And some Hostas survived my garden tilling a few months ago. Upper left hand corner.

Adjacent rock garden leading down to creek. Foam flower is one, not sure of the others...

Daffodils across the creek like the cooler climate.

Buds galore on ?? The names aren't coming to me today...

Spring is here!