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Apr. 10th, 2008 07:16 pmHahahahahaaaa - in the backyard, only the last vestiges of snow remain! So I put on my boots and went stomping around to pick up fallen branches and see what's what.
Tulips are poking noses above ground, as are daylilies of insanity (soooooo many daylilies of insanity...they're already scaring me) and irises. Cow parsley is back, as are the hollyhocks, weirdly enough, I figured they'd have given up by now. Digitalis all still look alive, but I'm pretty sure they're still the same plants that flowered last year - I thought these were biennials?? Guess we'll see if they flower again, maybe they'll prove me wrong. Rhododendron nearest the fence is perky and green already, but the other two are looking pretty flattened; we'll see how they do. The rose - miracle of miracles! - is still green at the base, despite substantial winterkill of long leggy branches. Here's hoping the thing flowers on new wood, because it's going to have to get pruned back pretty far, but at least it's still alive. Not sure I can say the same for the dappled willow, which remains a very dead-looking stick in the ground. I probably should have mulched it. Maybe it will surprise me in May.
The raspberries, to my surprise, have not fared well this year - I thought the insulating snow would be great for them, but the weight of the snow not only flattened all the canes, it snapped some of them in pieces. New ones will undoubtedly emerge, but I don't know that I'm going to get berries this year. Not that I got many last year anyway - I think I have to spray the canes with soap and water if/when they start leafing out, they looked pretty straggly and bug-ridden last summer.
Also surprising is that there is a lot of leaves and crap in the sump hole, but no standing water. I don't know where it's all going, but it's not in my living room, so I'm happy!
Tulips are poking noses above ground, as are daylilies of insanity (soooooo many daylilies of insanity...they're already scaring me) and irises. Cow parsley is back, as are the hollyhocks, weirdly enough, I figured they'd have given up by now. Digitalis all still look alive, but I'm pretty sure they're still the same plants that flowered last year - I thought these were biennials?? Guess we'll see if they flower again, maybe they'll prove me wrong. Rhododendron nearest the fence is perky and green already, but the other two are looking pretty flattened; we'll see how they do. The rose - miracle of miracles! - is still green at the base, despite substantial winterkill of long leggy branches. Here's hoping the thing flowers on new wood, because it's going to have to get pruned back pretty far, but at least it's still alive. Not sure I can say the same for the dappled willow, which remains a very dead-looking stick in the ground. I probably should have mulched it. Maybe it will surprise me in May.
The raspberries, to my surprise, have not fared well this year - I thought the insulating snow would be great for them, but the weight of the snow not only flattened all the canes, it snapped some of them in pieces. New ones will undoubtedly emerge, but I don't know that I'm going to get berries this year. Not that I got many last year anyway - I think I have to spray the canes with soap and water if/when they start leafing out, they looked pretty straggly and bug-ridden last summer.
Also surprising is that there is a lot of leaves and crap in the sump hole, but no standing water. I don't know where it's all going, but it's not in my living room, so I'm happy!
