20 March Update

The temperatures over the past week has been substantially below normal: as much as 10F/5.5C below normal. So too is precipitation. A large upper low over the Canadian Maritimes is bringing cool air into our region, and forcing storms to the south of us. That trend is expected to continue for this week. But, as can be seen below, the garden continues to flourish.

The dwarf iris "Katherine Hodgkin" have appeared over the past 3-4 days. A beautiful addition to the early garden.

As can be seen, the mixed species crocuses at the front of the main bed continue to fill in.

Another view of the east side of the main bed, with mixed species crocuses.

The Crocus tommasinianus are up and blossoming under the maple tree in the front yard.

The daylilies are starting to show new growth in all areas of the yard.

Tiny Scilla mischtschenkoana are active in the east bed in the front yard.

Finally, the daffodils naturalized in the rear half of the back yard are beginning to break ground.

Squirrels

Over the past couple of weeks--since the ground surface thawed--I have had a problem with squirrels burrowing in the garden. They actually have been doing it all over the yard, but it's only in the garden that it becomes a nuisance. They don't dig very deep, but they do root around the plants and bulbs, occasionally burying the plants, or digging up the roots. They do not target the bulbs, but they do seem to appreciate the softer soil in the garden to dig in. At this point they have not done any serious damage, but I plan to monitor their activity. My assumption is that as more alternative food sources become available their digging activity will abate.

The State of the Garden--12 March 06

We had a few days of unseasonbly mild weather over the weekend, with highs on Friday of 68F/20C. Saturday and Sunday were cooler, but still quite mild. The weather is supposed to stay mild through midweek, with below normal temps, including the possibility of snow, for the weekend.

The weather has brought out the crocuses, as can be seen in the following photos.





Some daffodils in the northeast corner of the yard.


Finally, scilla breaking through.

Last Weekend's Project

We had one good day last weekend that allowed us to start cleaning up the east bed in the back yard. Key to rejuvenating the area was removing an old crabapple tree on the border of the yard. Here is the tree before we started.

The growth in the tree is ivy that has grown up over the years, and literally choked the tree.

Four hours later it looked like this.

Overview and pics from 5 March 06

Presently the are 8 "beds" or areas of interest that I have to tend. Below are current pics of some of those areas.

The pic above is of the main bed shown earlier (taken 5 March 06). Blossoming crocuses can be just discerned on the near side (or maybe not). Note scraggly lavandulas in the foreground.

This pic is of the bed surrounding the base of the Red Maple in the front yard. This bed is exclusively bulbous plants (taken 5 March 06).

This pic gives an overview of the front with both the main bed and the tree bed shown (taken 5 March 06)

In addition to the main and tree beds in the front, there is a small bed in the eastern part of the yard (taken 5 March 06).

On the eastern part of the back yard is a section of overgrown weeds under a rather forlorn crabapple (taken 5 March 06).

The rear of the yard is bordered on the east by daylilies. I naturalized 800 narcissus bulbs in the rear half of the back yard. They were "landscape" bulbs, and therefore will have only one blossom per bulb. In following years they will blossom more vigorously. There is a small raised bed in the middle of the photo (taken 5 March 06).

Our Winter

We had a *very* strange winter. Until November 15th, it had been unusually mild, even hot. then the weather dramatically switched, with below normal temps until January 1st. We even had a surprisingly heavy late November snow.

From 1 Jan. til 15 Feb. we went through a period of unusual warmth--really springlike weather--with heavy rains. All the plants, both perennials and bulbs showed activity. Some of the crocuses actually blossomed. Since then, temps have been below normal, punctuated by a record snowfall of 22"/56cm in one storm.

First Steps

These photos were taken of the "main" bed in September 2005 at completion of most of the plantings, but before the walk had been properly laid. The photo above was taken to the northnortheast. Note the yews in front of the house. They're to be replaced this year. I am not looking forward to digging out their roots.

The photo above is taken to the southwest.

Ted's Garden Diary

Enter my garden diary. Through the year i will publish photos and comments about my perennial flower beds. The "year will run from snow to snow--Feb/Mar to Dec. The house is in north central Connecticut, a Zone 6 area. All plants are purchased locally and from suppliers that grow locally.

The gardens I tend now are at my home, but by the end of the year I will be tending a garden at another home. Descriptions and discussions of both areas will be included. Specific plantings will be introduced as the plant activity ratchets up over the next few months.