Spring Clean Up

The spring clean up is nearly done. Shrubs are pruned and dead leaves are pulled out of flower beds.  The roses showed absolutely no winter-kill this year, likely because the snow cover was quite generous.  I pruned them only for shape and size.  The spring bulbs are up, and I inevitably squashed a few while tromping around out there.  Now that things are cleaned up and I can finally see the stepping stones, the rest of the bulb shoots should be safe!  I can see greens of the tulips, daffodils, species tulips, alliums, pushkinia and grape hyacinths.  The other early spring bulbs are blooming, with large flowered crocuses done already and scillla, chionodoxa, and the tiny spring irises blooming now.  I've found that the bulbs here all do best in the sunniest spots available.  Bulbs planted in shady areas never get around to blooming until it is too late in the season and seem to bloom very poorly, maybe because of the warm temperatures.

Chionodoxa is blooming in a sunny spot

Spring clean up around here seems to be best done in the first week of May, which is before anything produces much new growth.  I noticed some grubs and some little brown pellet-things in the crowns of the siberian irises.  I'm not sure of the significance of those, but the evidence will be in this year's growth.   

Alpine bed, with a healthy dwarf mugo pine

Iris danfordiae, a tiny yellow reticulated iris just starting to bloom

Scilla sibirica

Rhubarb just emerging from the ground

Kona, the northern doggy, lounging on the deck

Otherwise in the garden, I should be putting in annual seeds as soon as possible.  I see that the self-seeded annual corn poppies are already up.  I'll have to thin those out quite dramatically.  I also want to add a few other flowers to the mix, including some Nigella, bachelor's buttons, dwarf cosmos, and some sunflowers.  I also received some gladioli bulbs in the mail last week, but really don't know when to plant those.  I think I'll soon put them in a pot in the garage, for lack of any other ideas. 

Kona got a very early morning walk today, and thoroughly enjoyed sniffing all trees, bunches of grass, poles, and tires.  She ate a rabbit that entered her fenced yard last month, and I'm sure she's looking forward to more tasty wildlife this summer.  Huskies and malamutes (she is a cross) are breeds known for high prey drive, and are very distracted by potential food running across their path (i.e. biking with her can be precarious).  Despite this, she's pretty mellow, mostly ignores other barking dogs, and tolerates a very affectionate 3 year old.       

A Very Slow Spring...VERY slow

There is still not much action in the garden, aside from a few brave (though late) crocuses.  I did a time lapse video of the first brave blooms over last weekend.  The blank field of white in the video is the day we got a blanket of snow over everything (see the last picture in this post to get the full picture).  I've heard there have been some "protests of winter" in the province and I can't say I'm not also getting a bit weary of the cold and ice. 

Today was sunny and followed a night of strong winds that appears to have shattered the neighbours plastic garbage bin and moved our barbeque across the deck.  The ice on Lac La Ronge is turning dark and should hopefully sink in the next 10 days.  We will look forward to the tinkling bits of the ice making their final appearances.

Blue herons at Montreal River, just west of La Ronge

Montreal River at sunset

Our yard 7 days ago (April 21, 2013)

Thankfully, most of the snow has melted, except for in shady spots where it had been piled up over the winter.  This does mean that the spring clean-up in the perennial beds will need to be done soon.  Though a little later than usual, I should also be planting my direct-seeded annuals soon.  I have a few dwarf cosmos to try out. 

Barely Spring, With Glowing Skies

This past week has seen the beginnings of the spring melt.  We can finally see the gravel road in front of our house without the usual layers of snow and ice.  I suppose the muddy season will be upon us soon, though more snow will not be suprising.  You can still drive your truck on the lake, go ice fishing and sled down the hills.  This is the time of year to resist looking at my friends' facebook posts of the wonderful green spring pictures in their more southern climates. 

First Willow Buds

I haven't really started the summer annuals yet, but plan to start over the coming weeks.  I aim to only start planting annuals outside after the first week of June, so I can't let things get overgrown inside.

There is very little earth bared of the great banks of snow at present, but with more sun, we should see Pulsatilla and crocuses soon! 

Sundog over La Ronge

I got to see my first sign of spring today: the willow buds growing near Lac La Ronge.  Thanks
 to the iphone, I captured it as the dog dragged me on to more desirable sniffing grounds.  It was still rather cool out this afternoon, as the prismatic colors of the sundog (parhelion) attest.  Interestingly, there is a description of this phenomenon from the 1500s by the founder of the Hutterites, Jacob Hutter.  How did we ever live without Wikipedia?

I have been watching the skies with my camera at the ready all winter.  Most nights when there was any aurora activity noted on satellite reports,  we had snow and limited visibility.  I noticed some lights on March 29 though, and managed to see a great show from about 9:30 to 10:30 pm.  It was fairly early in the evening compared to other times that I have been out to see them.  Short after this, the moon rose above the horizon and the lights were no longer to be seen. 

Aurora borealis near La Ronge

This is the time of year to get seeds by mail order and dream about the garden-to-be.  I have finally found a great use for Pinterest, in which I only had a marginal interest up to now.  I have collected the pictures of all the annuals plants/bulbs/seeds that I plan to grow this summer on one "board" and started another board for a garden I will create in a future property (in a warmer climate - oh, the possibilities!).  I used to make a Word document with little jpegs all over it, but Pinterest has made this process simple.  I like to see all the annual plants on one page in order to plan the contents of the barrel pots and make sure that colors and textures are complimentary.  It is like a gardeners palette and I am finding it inspirational.  The paper and digital worlds sometimes come together too, like the weeping pussy willow I spotted in my garden magazine.  I "googled" it, found the picture from a garden center, "pinned it", and voila -- part of my future dream garden.  Many hours can be wasted at this.