Brrr!

The weather has been its usual up-and-down lately, but now we are heading into a frigid spell, plus winds, so wind chills will be low enough that Clio and I may just have to skip a dog walk or two. I can bundle up - baclava, YakTrax, layers - but there is not much I can do for Clio's paws. Not that she understand this. Maybe we will take a quick one around the block.

The local avian community is presumably appreciative of the feed I provide. While visiting a friend who lives in a rather woodsy setting, I sat amazed at all the cardinals at her feeders - at least a dozen. I'm lucky to get one pair. My daughter had to remove most of the trees from around her house and hasn't started landscaping the yard yet as she is having the fence replaced, so her birds are even more infrequent. They like to have a spot to roost.

I have had a cold for the past two weeks, which has left me semi-comatose from either the cold symptoms or the cold meds. TV and jigsaw puzzles are about all I have been able to manage. It's finally abating, though.

I like jigsaw puzzles where I can immerse myself into the scene and pretend that I am there. While we have had some snow this year, it hasn't been enough to get the cross country skis out. But I can dream, can't I?

Project 2026, part 2

While telling my SO about the last post, I realized that I had forgotten the following goals for 2026:

• Replace dead Canada hemlock with gold mop
• Replace dead/dying ninebark with another? Something else?

How many times does a shrub need to die before it not only gets replaced, but replaced with something different? The Canada hemlock has already been replaced once, as have two of the ninebarks. I let the landscapers remove the gold mop in my front yard, as it had become quite unruly, but if I plant one in the backyard, it can become as unruly as it likes (within reason). I'm not quite ready to give up on the ninebark yet, though.

An odd coincidence with all three plants is the hemlock is located pretty much over the natural gasline that runs to my house, while the ninebark are in an easement where a natural gas main runs. Are there small leaks that I can't detect with my human nose? Would that affect the shrubs? And why these and not others?

It's seed catalog time. Even though I don't order plants and seeds like I used to, I still get offers from all over. This week I noticed as odd phenomonon in one catalog: colorless flowers.

I'm a little surprised anyone would choose to grow beige flowers in their yard, but hey, it takes all kinds.

Project 2026

January is one of my favorite times of the year. The new year is a blank slate, just waiting to be overlaid with our hopes and dreams. It's expecially fun for gardeners, as we can finally get our plans in order for the coming growing season.

I did a pretty good job meeting my goals for 2025. Sometimes they morph into something else, but that's okay. It's important to be flexible.

Here's to 2026!

1. The only food I plan to grow is a little clump of asparagus, strawberries (assuming they survives this crazy winter), and garlic I planted last fall in the strawberry bed. And maybe I'll take another shot at green beans.
2. I discovered that the chokeberry plants the landscaper installed by the den are non-yielding, so I want to plant a row of four fruitful chokeberries in front of them; variety will depend on height and berry production.
3. I've always wanted arches over the gates to the backyard and will try to create them from cattle fencing like the neighbor behind me did. The climbing rose can crawl over the south gate from one side and maybe something else from the other side (like a clematis). The north gate could support the honeysuckle vine.
4. I will deliberately plant more safflower, to dye yarn with.
5. The 'Goldsturm' rudbeckia will be eliminated from the Meadow.
6. Rudbeckia hirta will go in the bed around a serviceberry in front yard; it is supposed to actually attract pollinators, plus it's pretty.
7. Arrow-leaf coneflower will join the coneflower cultivar (that was supposed to attract pollinators but didn't) in the bed by the front walk; maybe I'll shift the cultivar to the front of bed, because it is short but blooms a long time.
8. Gotta plant some Mexican sunflowers (in containers?)
9. Also gotta plant some zinnias (in containers?)
10. I want to repeat having pineapple sage, planted in the ground this time instead of a container, as it gets rather big. It's great for an autumn pick-me-up
11. Weeds choked out a few of the plants in the coneflower bed, so I'll order replacements.
12. The penstemon in the Meadow is too aggressive! But before I eliminate it, I must check the plants I moved to the south side of the house, to make sure it is established there, where it can duke it out with the northern sea oats and bee balm.
13. The wild geranium volunteers from the front yard are going to the area next to the goutweed. If the geranium does well, perhaps it will replace the goutweed someday.
14. The Meadow will be limited to the coneflower, the cupplant (which may need to be cut back a bit), the hickory tree, the rattlesnake master, the common milkweed, and some fleabane if I don't accidently pull it. (Fleabane looks like baby's breath from a distance.)
15. More packera, nodding onion, and hairy beardtongue will be transplanted to the backyard.
16. For the rain garden, I will add some ironweed and marsh blazing star.
17. I want to rearrange the portable fencing so the tallest panels are on the south side of the house, holding back the tall plants there, and the shortest panels are around the meadow (to keep the dog out).
18. I've never had much luck with butterfly weed, but someday I would like to try establishing it, maybe in the fire ring (once I'm done using it for fires).
19. REMINDER: Cut back the aromatic asters and goldenrod in June, to see if they behave better.

Everyday, I try to spend some time watching the birds at the feeders, from my recliner in the den. Most of the time, it is the usual suspects. The other day a white-breasted nuthatch joined the red-breasted nuthatch, which is unusual. Meanwhile, a fluffed up red-shouldered hawk sat in the neighbor's silver maple, but none of the other birds seemed too concerned.

Despite all that is going on in the world, something as simple as a bit of wildlife in the backyard can be very healing.

A Thanksgiving gift blooms for xmas

My daughter-in-law works for a garden center, so some of my gifts come from there. At least, that is what I am assuming about the amaryllis bulb that has reached its peak (maybe? it looks like a second stalk is starting) The best part? Unlike flowers in vases, Beau (the destroyer of all things nice) has left it alone.

One

Two

Three

Four

It feels like the local temps resemble a sine wave. I tried to find a graphic that showed this, but the stupid search engines are brain dead. At any rate, it did not reach 60 last Thursday as "they" predicted, but it is supposed to tomorrow (plus thunderstorms). By the end of next week, we'll be back to the single digits with a chance of snow.

The other day, while filling the peanut feeders, a nuthatch landed about a foot away from my face. We eyed each other for a few moments, then it grabbed a peanut split and flew away. I got out my phone camera and hung out a bit, but of course he did not return. The boldness of nuthatches is one reason I love them.

When I purchased my house, the neighborhood was still outside the city limits, the addition next to us was nothing but corn and soybeans, the closest "major" artery was two lanes wide. Since then, we've been annexed, the farm fields are apartments and businesses, and that road is four lanes (plus a turn lane in the middle). All that doesn't seem to bother the deer, though, one of which I spotted across the street the other day.

One more holiday and we'll be done for the year. Here's to a happy 2026!

I'm dreaming of a green xmas....

More weird weather. The snow is gone (but not quite all the icy piles at intersections and along the roads), the wind has been at it non-stop, temps were in the single digits but may reach 60 on Thursday. And so it goes.

Not much else to report on outside. Inside, the amaryllis my son and daughter-in-law gifted me at Thanksgiving is finally starting to bloom.

Is it too early to start planning for Garden 2026? The first day of winter has yet to arrive, yet I already have a list of about twenty changes I want to make, some additions and some subtractions. There are also the chores I did not accomplish, like cleaning the deck and siding. All in good time.

Happy Solstice! See you next year!

Hunkered down, part II

We are experiencing more weird weather, with more to come. Today it's snowing and the temps are dropping to the single digits. Later this week the prediction is for warmer temps and rain. Ugh. But maybe then the ice will finally melt off the roads.

To safely walk the dog on said ice, I purchased some Yaktrax. How this came about is I noticed footprints in the snow that were obviously from a jogger and that included an odd tread pattern. A trip to Dick's Sporting Goods resulted in my leaving my own odd tread pattern. These things really work, too!

I have seen only two(!) starlings at the bird feeders so far this year (knock on wood), but they are in the area, so I'm sure their absence won't last. From on high, sandhill cranes have been migrating, uttering their odd gargling song. They fly very high, barely visible on a clear day, invisible when there is cloud cover.

A neighbor's cat has taken advantage of the unused-but-full-of-straw doghouse in my backyard. Better a kitty than an opossum or - gah! - a skunk. I love wildlife... but not too up close and personal.

THIS is WINTER

The weather has actually been very winter-like for a change. Today's dog walk was just about perfect: temps in the high 20's, no wind, light snowfall. The only problem was the icy patches beneath the snow.

Even though my neighbor blows my driveway, I enjoy shoveling when the snow is light and powdery, especially in the dark when it is so silent. So peaceful.

While I am not doing much outside, some things have been fixed inside. The landline died, and when Frontier came to fix it, I decided to just do away with it. The end result was upgraded equipment and a much lower Frontier bill. Now I'm chasing down all the accounts that use my old phone number.

The microwave started making zapping noises, as though there were metal in there, so I had that replaced. It took a while for the unit to be delivered and installed, so I had to "rough it" - use the stovetop for reheating food, making popcorn, cooking bacon, etc. That resulted in more pots and pans being used, so more dishwashing. Glad that is taken care of.

The other pressing matter has been getting my RMD started. Having three different IRAs complicated things, but I think everything is ready to go now.

Today's "helper".

Happiness is a warm lap.