It’s still winter…

[emeraldking]

Well, it’s still winter overhere…

And the blooming has already begun… It’s totally not cold today15 degrees Celsius… What a temperature for a winter’s day…

 

[Colin_T]

We have the exact opposite now. Nothing green around here because it's all dead and burnt. The daytime temperatures have been ranging between 35-45C for the last month, while night time temps have been around 20-30C.

It's nice to see some green

 

[GaryE]

We've had next to no snow, and the fields are brown and frozen. I have very big plans, once the ground thaws. Winter is planning time.

 

[Essjay]

It's not fair, all those lovely crocuses.

Something has been eating mine I have 4 planters, two with dwarf irises, two with crocuses. The irises and yellow crocuses are fine, but something started digging up the purple flowered crocus bulbs last autumn, something capable of digging a hole 2 inches/5 cm across. Today I noticed another hole a couple of inches deep, and a few leaves with a flower bud in the middle lying on the patio.
What's eating them and why only the purple flowered ones? I don't think field mice or voles or even rats are capable of digging such a large smooth sided cylindrical hole. I wondered if it was the crows as they used to push their beaks into the milk bottles, flattening the foil lid against the sides of the bottles. But this planter is pushed right into a corner under some bushes to try and stop them. All we can think of is squirrels. Do they come out at this time of year and dig up crocus bulbs? There has always been a squirrel colony a few hundred metres away and last summer we saw them running along our fences so we think they've expanded their territory.
Whatever it is, I'm replacing those bulbs with something else and hope the new bulbs don't get eaten

 

[GaryE]

Squirrels destroy bulbs here. The worst are the grey squirrels, which I think you have as an invasive now. They come out pretty early here, although my friendly neighbourhood coyotes and the bobcat that roams through tend to pick them off before they can become established.

We have red squirrels and chipmunks which don't seem to dig.

 

[Essjay]

Red squirrels are our native squirrel, but they are now only found in a few tiny areas as the imported grey squirrel has taken over. It's grey squirrels we've seen running along the fences. Unfortunately for my bulbs, we don't have coyotes or bobcats here ........

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I dare bet it's the squirrels we have one that used a particular planter to bury its peanuts...it was vacant last winter as it had runner beans growing in it over the summer, I noticed by the next spring it had a random do something growing in it and by the time I got round to pulling it up and turning it over to plant out some strawberries I was finding handfuls of peanuts! The squirrel had grown it's own harvest! It comes back nearly every day to dig up its nuts...Needless to say I'm not holding my breath for any strawberries in the summer

 

[GaryE]

Grey squirrels are the terrestrial version of Malaysian Trumpet Snails. They do dig through the substrate, and some people like them.

In my previous house, they had no serious predators. One morning I counted 17 of them in the small back yard. Tree rats.

 

[emeraldking]

When I read this all, you do have to admit that nature is unpredictable...

 

[Essjay]

Like the photo, my purple flowered crocuses are trying very hard to flower, squirrels permitting; and the yellow flowered crocuses are in full bloom.

The pale blue dwarf irises are supposed to flower in February and March; they flowered in January and the flowers bloomed and faded by mid February. The dark blue irises were a bit later, and they too are now fading.

 

[GaryE]

It's beautiful here, We about one cm of snow this morning - just enough to look good, and it's now sunny and -3. I was reading an article saying that with the el nino and el nina patterns expected, we may have a normal summer this year, rather than the weird, rainy one last year. I can see gardens developing. All I seriously grow are tomatoes, green peppers and sunflowers. Everything else is dabbling. The deer herd wrecks most flower ideas, and I'm limited to things they don't like.
My veggie garden has a 7 foot fence... but this summer, all the water from water changes will run into it. I'm moving that fence.

 

[Back in the fold]

Holland , The Netherlands , whatever is the correct name , is so pretty from a plant and gardens viewpoint . You’re lucky to live there .

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'm loving seeing all the little signs of Spring! The last week or so, it's been frog mating season, so our huge garden pond has the annual return of hundreds of frogs, toads, and I guess the newts likely also spawn now? Have seen a newt out hunting at 2am when I let Pixie out and was admiring how many frogs were all over the place, and kicking all the watercress all around the pond, even though I'd left a neat semi-circle of that when I cleared the pond for the winter.

Now it's filling up with frog and toad spawn, some of the bushes are budding and beginning to flower, and my daffodils are emerging. I can't wait to spend some time outdoors prepping the gardens! This weekend.

 

[Fishmanic]

Saw a bluejay today in my backyard. A sign of the coming spring. Hit 40 degrees today.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Saw a bluejay today in my backyard. A sign of the coming spring. Hit 40 degrees today.

Aaww, I wish we got those here! Although I like the European Jay too, and we have some very near my house that I often see while walking the dog.