Impatiently Waiting For Spring

This may have been the first stone wall built on the pioneer farm here.  Grading uphill from the river bottom land, stones were abundant in this early field.  Along the field's edge, the order of the stones ranges from still solid wall to fallen down heaps.  The wall in the background represents two early springs efforts to put things right.  Low late winter sun softens this ground first as spring begins to take hold.  While the gardens remain frozen hard, this area will yield to determined hands and tools.  Newly restored wall will result from the first real outside work of 2013.  The stone cairn that holds the string defining wall's edge will have to be moved as the wall is overtaking it.

This from seed baby arbutus plant is expected see its first spring.  Three hairy leaves with more growth in the center  should carry it through the winter.  We visit here almost daily offering kind words of encouragement to this little guy.

What may be mother arbutus sports two bud clusters peeking out from the cover of overhanging leaves.  Can the scent of a flower actually be remembered or are we just stretching our imaginations looking forward to the first flowers of spring?

The sod house is anything but a work of art.  Primitive but functional, it already shows the effect of shade.  The sod mound prevents warmth of direct sunlight from reaching the ground where snow remains.  Frost hardened, winter is well under way here in this small spot of ground.  Pots of Oriental lilies are winter ready.  The next big challenge here will come from marauding rodents intent on chewing tender green new growth.  Traps, repellent and the will to move all of those pots stand ready to do battle.  For the moment, the wire cages keep the deer from walking here as we impatiently wait for spring.  Of course winter is the next season to arrive here, but if the arbutus is ready so are we!

Lily Regale Winter Ready

We have been working with these Chinese Trumpet lilies for at least four years.  Van Bourgondien lists them as hardy to zone 3 so we thought it was a simple matter of placing the bulbs in the ground and flowers would follow.  Spring frosts burned their new growth black year after year and no flowers followed.  The three bulbs in the top picture spent last winter planted out in the garden.  Frost hit them again this spring but they did manage to send up late green leaves.  The bulb on the right is likely to divide itself next year.  All three bulbs have been placed in the lily sod house where they will enjoy protection from late frosts.  We hope all three will finally flower next summer.

These bulbs spent last winter in the sod house and they did flower this year.  Stem roots above the bulb provide secure anchorage for a heavy flower laden stalk and may support new bulb development.  Each short green leaf springs from a new bulb.  The bulb on the right has quite a tangle of new bulb growth.  We will sort this jumble out next spring when we set out the parent plant.

Each pot is now home to one bulb that flowered last year and one bulb that took the frost.  White foam board has been added to the walls of the sod house to try and control grass growth there.  Last spring the grass curtain provided cover for the rodent that made its nest here.  Limiting that grass is the first line of defense against the lily eating creature.  Traps will be set wherever the rodent chews through the foam.  22 caliber ammunition filled with bird shot is on hand.  Its use is unlikely since it would injure the lily stems.  Repellent granules are also on hand.  Our preparations and vigilance may allow us to keep the pots in the ground here until they grow too tall to fit under the tarp.  

Lily Sod House Emptied

This morning found two red squirrels and two rabbits in the garden.  Confronting a red squirrel is an interesting experience.  Despite my tremendous size advantage, there is always a long moment when the squirrel gives me a chance to turn and run away.  I really expect an attack at any time.  Having logged thirty-four years teaching eighth graders, I am slow to run.  So far it has been the squirrel that turned tail.

Two days ago a nipped lily was spotted in the sod house.  Deer were incorrectly identified as the culprit and the entrance was blocked with wire cages.  Today I spotted many more damaged stems.  The slanted cut on the stem led me to incorrectly identify rabbits as the lily destroyers.  I began to move the potted lilies out of their sod house.
  

The extent of the damage was quickly discovered.  Long sought after Lovely Girls now had cut stems. When the Pandoras in the corner were pulled, a nest of stems fell into the hole.  A large rodent tried to escape but fell into one of the holes left by a pulled pot.  During the short time that the rodent remained trapped in the hole,  I saw its beautiful gray fur and pointed snout.  This nesting mother-to- be was the stem biter.  Knowing that there is no match for a soon to be mother, I knew that all of the lilies had to be moved.

Many of these lilies will produce no flowers this year.  They may regrow enough leaves to nourish the bulb for next year.  In any event the expectation of lily flowers everywhere this summer has been dashed.  Some stems remain intact so there is still a chance for some flowers.

It is unclear what future use the sod house will see.  I thought that all of the sod regrowth was a neat plus.  New roots would knit the blocks together making the walls stronger.  Covered passageways were also created.  When that rodent pulled itself up out of the pot hole, it disappeared from sight as soon as it got behind the grass curtain.

The basic concept of a massive heat retaining structure to shade the lilies delaying their emergence and  then providing warmth on frosty nights is sound.   This lily house did protect its occupants well on several bitter cold nights.  Perhaps a dry stone wall, well filled with sand, will solve the rodent problem.      

Frozen But Not Frosted

At 5 am this morning the air temperature was 24F.  Inside of the sod house at ground level the temperature was 30F.  No frost was seen anywhere but bare ground was frozen to a depth of 1/4 of an inch.  Quite surprisingly unprotected plants appeared largely undamaged.  It appears that frost is far more damaging than a freeze.  We are trying to understand the science behind frost but it may be that heat given off when water vapor goes directly from a gas to a solid may actually burn the plant leaves.

These orange spotted lilies were placed in pots  four weeks ago.  Protection from the cold has been provided by moving the pots into the basement on cold nights.  The clumps of lilies in the second picture are where we dug the potted plants.  A plastic tub covers these lilies on cold nights.  Despite the shock of being potted, the warm nights in the basement have prompted faster growth.  Aside from the time and effort to move the pots in a night and out in the morning, potting the lilies seems like a workable way to protect them from the cold.

 The sod house is working better now that we have a more secure way to tie down the tarp.  Rope lashes the ends of the tarp to steel posts that lie on the ground.  Water filled juice bottles still weigh down the tarp at both the front and back.  Four holes show the former location of favored lilies that were pulled from the ground and placed in the basement overnight.  It seems that we over protected as all of the lilies in the sod house are fine.

These are some of the plants that spend their days basking on the stone wall and their nights in the basement.  Some of these plants are newly purchased while others were dug from the garden.  Cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis, is dug from the garden each spring.  The plant is native to New York State but I have never seen it growing wild around here.  I have seen it growing in the Delaware River valley to our south.  Frost frequently kills plants left in the garden so some are potted up and spend nights inside.

Shade cast by the house limits these really new arrivals from sunburn.  We will increase their time in the sun slowly until the are ready to be planted out.  One more month stands between us and the usually frost free date of June first.  We look forward to warmer nights when the plants can be left outside over night.

Finally Some April Rain

Severe weather was forecast for last night.  Heavy rain could fall to our east and significant snow to our west.  The tarp was put on the lily sod house as a precaution that, as it turned out, was unnecessary.    Since Ed waited until the rain actually started to haul out the tarp, he worked alone to cover the lilies.  A concern was expressed that the water filled juice bottles holding down the tarp might wind up on top of the precious lilies.  That is exactly what happened.

It seems that enough water was trapped in a low area of the tarp to pull the tarp and its weights down onto the lilies.  New Pandora bulbs were just beginning to show above ground growth when the sky fell upon them.  Pot rims provided sufficient support for the tarp and no damage was actually done to the new growth.  Once again dumb luck trumps skill.  Ed is not  a slow learner so a new tarp holding system is in the works.
 

This area of the shade garden looks rather impressive.  Transplanted bluets have made themselves at home here and several newly seeded clumps are growing strongly.  Many sprinkler cans full of water were carried here to help these plants through our April drought.  Elsewhere the garden went dust dry but the shade garden was kept moist.

This fringed polygala was an early concern.  Normally its evergreen rose colored leaves survive winter.  Following this year's snow less winter,  no trace of this plant could be found.  All of its leaves were gone.  Thin dark purple stems wound among the leaf litter and I watered what appeared to be dead sticks.  Daily inspections of this treasured plant found little change.  Finally some vertical shoots appeared.  It looks like this transplanted native is a go for its third year in its new home.  Natural rainfall should move it along nicely.

Cutting Sod Blocks

Last night featured a full moon and a hard frost.  The two are connected since the moon has an effect on the atmosphere similar to its pull on ocean water.  Air tides pull more cold here from the north and a frost becomes a hard frost.  This post will fill time while I wait for surfaces to thaw outside.

Cutting this sod away from a planting bed is a long overdue task.  The pasture grass quickly invades the enriched soil of the planting bed making weeding a constant task.  A three foot wide stone filled trench will keep out the grass and make an attractive path.  Additionally, the sod blocks are needed now to finish the lily sod house.

The sharp blade of the mattock has cut around the edges of the block.  Here the flat blade is cutting under the block severing the roots hold.  A metal post serves as a movable straight edge.
  

Cutting under the block on both sides is the key to removing intact sod blocks.  Accurate force drives the blade far under while maintaining a straight edge.  Frequent stone strikes create two different sounds.  One is the sound of steel on stone.  The other is an expression of verbal discontent when the force of the blow travels all the way to the shoulder joint.

Many stones lie under our grass cover.  Repeated plow strikes from years of trying to farm this land have left the stones broken and mostly small.  Visitors admire our paths and inquire about the source of the stone.  They are surprised to hear that the stone paths are made from material already here.  A quick sift separates soil and stone.  Both are useful raw material.

We needed the sod blocks to finish the lily sod house.  Shielding the potted lily bulbs from the low spring sun kept this area cool during our seventy degree March week.  None of these bulbs have sent up any above ground growth while lilies still planted out in the garden are up and growing.  Three black plastic ribs are in place here to support the newly purchased tarp that will cover the sod house when future frost threatens.