December Thaw

Our recent weather has not been kind to us or our plants.  Freezing rain falling on frozen ground quickly created a substantial coating of ice.  Trees remained only wet as the wood was not yet frozen. Electric power was uninterrupted but the roads were a nightmare.  More snow fell and soon it looked like winter.  This morning's warm air finally cleared the driveway and most of the snow cover elsewhere is gone.  Ever present clouds keep it gray, wet and depressing outside but a walk about was definitely in order.  Geese are still here and their honks filled the air as they flew north just above the river.

Any walk out of doors of necessity starts near the arbutus transplanted close to the house several years ago.  Temporarily removing the protective wire cage allows this native plant to appear wild and free.  A hungry rabbit was seen nearby and the cage was replaced following a quick look and a picture.  These buds look ready for an early spring opening.  We will not miss that.  The rabbit shall not find food here.

A walk up the lane took me to the arbutus transplanted this year.  They too live under a wire cage.  A larger cage, nestled in a low stone wall, is on the to do list for spring.  Spacing between the small transplants seemed adequate at the time but a natural location under a white pine tree and frequent watering when rainfall was scant resulted in impressive growth.  There is still no sign of new plants from the seed produced here but we expect to see new plants after their seasonal period of cold.

This appearance of wintergreen is totally wild.  Neither purchased plants nor transplants have survived my attempts to help this plant reestablish itself here.  Fallen leaves from the birch tree litter the ground but the wintergreen leaves remain above them and their life process continues without my interference.  That is as it should be.

Cardinal flower is a native plant that grows here only in a garden.  This clump of daughter plants is seriously overcrowded and without division will likely choke itself out.  Six brown stems identify this as a single two year old plant that multiplied to six plants this year.  Next year will see this clump try to support the growth of up to thirty-six overcrowded  plants already vying for space.  The way that cardinal flower multiplies may be a factor in why attempts to reestablish this plant in the wild have failed.  The tenacity of the escaped pasture grasses may simply overpower the slight native making reproduction by seed impossible.  Spring will find a dozen pots of cardinal flower waiting on the stone wall until the weather settles so that they can be planted out.

Yellow Footprints

An outside walk was absolutely necessary today.  Air temperatures were well above freezing with fifty plus degrees forecast for the weekend.  Warm rain will soon melt all of this snow.  This was a last chance to tramp about in our December snow.  New sightings were there if one looked closely.

Frost had entered the ground in advance of the snowfalls.  Despite recent days where the air temperature remained below freezing, the insulative blanket of snow kept that cold away from the surface and allowed the warmth of mother earth to thaw the covered ground.  As I walked back down the lane today, I was surprised to see that my incoming tracks were well wet with yellow moisture.  Organic litter that had fallen from the trees was decomposing in melt water trickling under the snow.  A water bar at the base of the hill directs runoff into my woods.  Solids settle out in the deep leaves that cover my nearly level ground.  Each spring I harvest this black gold and use it to enrich soil around my cultivated wild flowers.  I cannot work my garden today but natural processes are at work helping with next year's garden.

A stone bench marks the final resting place of  Becky's parents.  Its location was selected in a somewhat remote spot that overlooks a long ago favored fishing hole.  Two quarried blue stone slabs cap this bench and Vermont marble marks the graves but the bench is built with stone found here. The end stone that rests on an outward slope may work itself free in a geologic time scale but its placement remains solid for now.

This huge red maple tree was the first treasure found when we initially looked at this land.  Its location near the declining end of a bedrock ridge saved it from the early farmer's axe.  Between two of the numerous trunks was a hollow that perfectly fit my back.  Every hike here included time with me standing almost in this tree.  The first trunk to fall had formed my sanctuary.  Now a second trunk is nearly on the ground.  Its snow cap neatly outlines the fallen giant.

My plan was to have my ashes scattered at the base of this tree.  It seems to be failing faster than me so a new plan is needed.  My stone walls seem to be holding up over time.  Perhaps one of them will  do.

Quick Garden Thaw

It was kind of a dreary day, but with the snow completely gone from the garden I just had to walk around and take a look.

Ed's gorgeous stone entrance to the basement was all cleared of snow.

The lamb's ear looks fuzzy and fine!

In the bed down by the road most of the plants look great, but this perennial flax looks especially terrific.

This big mound of foxglove  looks all ready to put on a magnificent show in the spring.

Of course the weeds are  getting ready for spring too. This garlic mustard just begs to be pulled, but the ground is only soft at the surface.  I'll deal with it later.
 

Finally a very small patch of yellow caught my eye as I headed inside. I suspect it is a temporary fungus. If you click on the picture to make it bigger and look closely you can see a tiny slug.  I have never seen one that small before. I usually dispatch slugs found in the garden, but this baby slug was a cute as they ever get. I let him live. It was fun to see the garden uncovered briefly but I'm sure these plants would like their blanket of snow back.  It sounds like they won't have long to wait!

Spring For A Day

Today our weather was almost unbelievable. It is December 4 in upstate New York and the temperature in the shade reads 62 degrees.  Whatever else I might have planned to do, the pull to walk around the garden with the camera  was stronger.  I stuck close to the house like the smartest of the deer in our neighborhood.  I don't feel comfortable walking the paths in the woods while there is possibility of running into folks with guns and Buck Fever.

Everywhere I walked the ground was thawed.  The red color of these yarrow leaves caught my attention.  They are not the flowers that I miss so much, but are still lovely.

So many of the plants are showing new growth in preparation for spring. This picture of catkins on the hazelnut with green grass, trees and blue sky in the background hardly brings December to mind.  I enjoyed our breath of spring even if it only lasted for a day.  As I write this a cold front is blowing through.  Tomorrow we will be back to December's chill, rain and perhaps snow, but today was fantastic!