I am always fascinated by the ice falls on the rock formations along some of the highways I travel. One day I had my camera with me and stopped to take some photos.
The ice falls form after a freeze - thaw situation.
I think the green in Green Thumb Sunday should be white for today. The garden is under a blanket of snow from Friday's snowstorm. And even as I write this post some more white flakes are drifting down from the sky. So for this Green Thumb Sunday the above book will be off my gardening shelf. I'll be dreaming and planning what I can do in the garden once all this cold and snow is gone.
reBlogged
to books
Posted by Crafty Gardener Reblogged by Old Roses to books on 2008-02-05, 07:03:24
The storm on February 1 dumped 21 cm. of white snow on us. We didn't even attempt to clear away the snow during the day, but waited till yesterday.
The first task was to clear the front walk and in front of the garage so that we could open the door and get to the snow blower.
The photo above shows the layers of snow at the end of the driveway after the snowplow went by numerous times. There is the clean layer which seemed to keep accumulating and the dirty layer the the snow plow so graciously added to the end of the driveway ... and so on. These layers were only visible after the snow blower was used to clear the driveway.
it was quite the week for nasty weather. On Tuesday we had ice rain early in the morning, which changed over to rain as the day went on. Wednesday was the windiest day we have had for ages. The wind gusts reached 120 km/hr and they caused lots of damage and Friday was the snowstorm. I'm certainly glad to see that week over.
Yesterday I drove out to Long Island and visited Planting Fields Arboretum. My main goal was to see the Camellia Collection but I was, however, a little early as most of the plants were just in bud. There were a few blooming but the real show looked like it would be coming in a couple of weeks. Hardly a disappointment I decided to go to the Main Greenhouse and have a look around. They still had the Poinsettia display up and that was colorful with some interesting types and colors. My camera fogged up and I wasn’t able to get a clear picture in that part of the greenhouse. The other parts of the greenhouse have Orchids, Succulents and Cactus and Begonias in separate rooms with some other tropical plants displayed along the way. . . .
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to botanical_garden
on Feb 3, 2008, 11:18AM
I don't want to sound impatient, but I do I am sure... I have been saying the same over and over again and nothing has changed.
We've had beautiful sunshine today, but it was still rather cold outside. The rear part of our garden is still frozen. Tulips and crocuses are attempting to find their way to the top. Some perennials like phlox are already showing new growth. . . .
This is a big event for me, as it’s the first time I’ve ever kept any of these for myself; last year, I gave them as gifts. Or maybe I did keep some, but they bud blasted, which is what I thought had happened this time. As you can see, the bud tips were somewhat brown and wrinkled (more evident in an earlier image, below), but after what seemed like forever, the blooms came out. I suspect the lights and humidifier in the plant room may have helped. I have a bunch more coming up; most are the double form, though.
What do you call the tissue-y covering of these buds, the part that peels away? I can’t seem to find this info. All daffs have it, including the very uncooperative Obdams I have outside, none of which bloom anymore. I’m finding indoor daff forcing much more rewarding than growing them outside, at least in my garden.
reBlogged
to bulbs flowers
Posted by EAL Reblogged by Old Roses to bulbs, flowers on 2008-02-05, 07:01:04
Most gardeners cant resist the idea of a colorful or fragrant garden right near their entryway. So it seems odd that so many of us completely overlook the span...
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to design
on Feb 3, 2008, 8:01PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to design on 2008-02-05, 07:00:02
Beautiful home, nightmare of a yard. Dead trees, dead lawn, empty planters. Homeowners, Augie and Kristin Alonso are brought to justice by the Garden...
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to design
on May 12, 2006, 9:36AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to design on 2008-02-05, 06:58:34
James Wandersee and Renee Clary give us the scoop on the Super Bowl’s portable field-in-a-pan. No matter which team wins, this history of athletic turf is unbeatable. EarthScholars, Rah!
Well, today's weather made me eat my words from my last post. It was sunny and reached 60! The ground was too wet to do any garden work so I picked up sticks and other debris from the wind storm we had a few nights ago and looked at plants. Do you wonder if people who are non-gardeners notice the beauties in the winter landscape? I got my camera out and took a few photos:
The Chinese Holly 'O'Spring' is always beautiful, no matter what the weather is like -
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to flowers
Posted by Phillip Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers on 2008-02-05, 06:58:03
In my past life as a chef one of my favourite ingredients was the humble clove - or two - of garlic. The piquancy of flavour could add a subtle distraction to a dish or completely overwhelm it. It's strength of character would depend on distinct nuances between varieties, seasons, growing medium and the enlarging hole in the ozone layer...okay, well maybe the ozone layer had very little to do with it. . . .
Sunday Rest is how I labelled the photos today. I only took about twenty pictures. I woke up late with a terrible headache, which even three mugs of coffee did not shift. I went outside to see if sweeping the wind brought debris would help. I moved a lot of the leaves and twigs into a pile at the bottom of the garden. They will eventually be thrown back into the compost bin. . ..
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to birds
Posted by snappy Reblogged by Old Roses to birds on 2008-02-05, 06:52:58
I'm not very good at these types of things, normally. Let's blame it on my fear of commitment. Never could quite manage to do Green Thumb Sunday or Garden Blogger's Bloom Day (although I have ordered the February selection for the Garden Blogger's Bookclub from the library. Baby steps!). But this seems fairly easy: you just have to grow one additional type of fruit or vegetable than you did last year, and grow it from seed. . . .
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to vegetables
on Feb 3, 2008, 8:23PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to vegetables on 2008-02-05, 06:52:37
I keep reading questions on gardenweb from people who have never grown from seed before and it makes me wonder why they think it's such a complicated process.
Really, there is nothing, nothing complicated about seed starting. If there was, Mother Nature would be in big trouble. Mmm-hmmm. . . .
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to seeds
Posted by Tina Reblogged by Old Roses to seeds on 2008-02-05, 06:51:20
Rhododendron April Rose is one of those "sunglasses" shrubs; extraordinarily bright raspberry mauve flowers cover this twiggy, four foot tall plant. It is one of the earliest lepidote rhododendrons to bloom in our garden, and really lights things up. It is a cross between R. mucronulatum, carolinianum, and dauricum, and is a Mehlquist hybrid. I've never completely decided if I'm madly in love with it or don't care for it... on the downside, its color is hard to match up with the rest of the spring garden, it is kind of twiggy, with leaves that don't look the best after a hard winter, and it blooms so early it sometimes gets completely nailed by late freezes. On the upside, the individual flowers really are rose-like, it is covered every spring with flowers even after sub-zero winters, and it certainly does brighten up the early spring garden on gloomy days. I think it might benefit by being combined with one of the early very pale pink or blush white rhodys to tone it down a little... or, I could just wear sunglasses.
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to rhododendron
Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to rhododendron on 2008-02-05, 06:50:46
Waking up at 4 in the morning is a major feat for me. I hate getting up early and I better be rewarded when I do. I decided late in the week to go on the hike to Fakahatchee
with Chris and JC, I mean afterall what else was I going to do all day? Not much probably. I certainly don't mind hiking out there but sometimes I just hate the rush of having to
hike out sooooo far, three+ miles, some by tram and a lot by swamp and bushwhacking, to only spend a little bit of time sitting and relishing the fact I'm in the middle of nowhere and
to take in the scenery. So, needless to say the waking up early was just a precursor to most of the rest of the day. . . .
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to wildlife
on Feb 3, 2008, 10:25PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to wildlife on 2008-02-05, 06:50:34
Continuing along the wildflower theme started by Elizabeth Joy at Wildflower Morning, this Nodding Ladies' Tresses is a native orchid to Ohio. I bought one when Mom and I went to the Master Gardener's Conference in Columbus in September. It doesn't have that typical orchid look to it, but it has a loveliness all its own. . . .
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to flowers
Posted by Kylee Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers on 2008-02-05, 06:50:07
A gardener’s spring begins in winter, in the imagination. And the imagination is a kind companion, forgiving and forgetful, encouraging and enthusiastic. Last year’s failures are recast as character builders and learning experiences. The coming year is still a blank palette. The seed catalogs are spread from hell to breakfast. Ideas loom large but still seem achievable. Pragmatism may win later in the year but now is the time for optimistic indulgence. . . .
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to seeds
Posted by a gardener Reblogged by Old Roses to seeds on 2008-02-05, 06:49:36
The plastering is complete and the water is back in the spa. The plaster needs to be conditioned for the next week, and then the spa is functional again. I love the mosiac koi.
I will be posting photos of the new layout over the next few days.
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to ponds
on Feb 3, 2008, 2:29PM
Posted by earlysnowdrop Reblogged by Old Roses to ponds on 2008-02-05, 06:49:12
I have a ritual at the beginning of every month. I grab my copy of the Reader's Digest The Gardening Year and spend a while poring over the section for that month to see what I should be thinking about doing. I have to adjust a bit as it's based on temperature conditions in Britain, so I generally have to check out the following month too. The official average temperatures for the month are minimum O° and maximum 8°C (approx 47°F), but this winter and last have been so mild that the real temperatures have been considerably higher. I wonder though if I wouldn't have to make changes even if I were in Britain. My copy of the book was inherited from my Dad, and it dates back to 1972. Given the climate changes there have been since then, I suspect a more recent edition might tell a quite different story. Checking on Amazon it's now called New Gardening Year and is a much glossier affair than the sober text I have. Does anyone have one? It would be fun to swap photocopies of a few pages to see what the differences are. . . .
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to tools
Posted by Sue Swift Reblogged by Old Roses to tools on 2008-02-05, 06:47:35
I planted them both in one of the plastic pots that the charlie brown shrubs came in and put the pot in the kitchen so that I could enjoy it and keep an eye on it. The trouble is that my kitchen gets almost no natural light. Its one small east facing window just wasnt providing enough light and within a week, many of the leaves fell off and it looked near death. . . .
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to houseplants
Posted by Gina Reblogged by Old Roses to houseplants on 2008-02-05, 06:46:43
Winter weather slows me down a lot and at times I have to turn my attention to other curiosities including birds. A blog visitor wrote two days ago and asked if I didn't have a slew of pictures I could float out to readers so there were not such long spaces between posts. Just because I can't garden doesn't mean I don't have projects and lately Gail has been adding to the list. . . .
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to birds
Posted by George Africa Reblogged by Old Roses to birds on 2008-02-05, 06:46:04
Water features enhance landscaping with sound and bring serenity. I show you how to build cheap, low-maintenance water features in this simple do-it-yourself landscaping project, using a "big fish...
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to ponds
on Feb 3, 2008, 12:00AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to ponds on 2008-02-05, 06:44:37
via Gardening in Central Florida on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
