Spring continues to March on

Daffodil Rijnveld's Early Sensation March 27th 2019

Spring continues this week, we've had a couple of good rains since the last time I've posted. Temperatures have mostly been in the 50s, however yesterday the 27th it was all the way up to 72.F and the need to wear something to keep cooler was strong for the first time. In the garden there is plenty of action to be seen. Snowdrops and Crocus continue, Winter Aconite and Snow Iris have joined in the show and the first Daffodils of the year opened. I have over 2,000 Daffodil bulbs throughout my yard which makes spring a very colorful season. Also to add to the list of firsts I planted the first plant of the new year and it was Magnolia 'Genie' I had one previous but it didn't make it through the winter I believe because it was a little too young and planted too late in the season. This ended out being a good thing because I placed they new one in an area where it is more likely to do well.

Snow Iris Bloomed 3/20/19

Winter Aconite Bloomed 3/19/19

The flowers of early spring are typically small like the above but they are very powerful in the colors they provide. Flowers like these stand out like jewels in an otherwise dull brownish landscape. I really like Snow Iris and Crocus but the blooms only last days for me because something always comes each night to eat them, and you can probably guess what they are.... Rabbits, again with the rabbits. Snowdrops are supposed to be resistant to that however I still find some of the blooms nibbled off from time to time. I combat this by planting lots so a few missing blooms doesn't get as noticed. I have Tulips but I wouldn't normally if I didn't fence them off immediately when they sprout. The good news is they have never touched the Daffodils or Winter Aconite which is why I only plant those from now on. You would think this might limit me in sticking with just those but there is a multitude of colors and bloom times that Daffodils come in. The blooms typically last two and a half weeks but with as many cultivars as I have currently there will be blooms of different sizes and shades for the next 6 weeks.

Front Garden as of 3/28/19

As you can see there are plenty of Daffodils about to pop. I have one cultivar blooming now and several more that are starting to nod and showing color that will likely start to flower in the next few days. You can also spot the rabbit cages on the Tulips. I also noticed the Forsythia is starting to show color as well with just a bit of yellow starting to show.

Back yard 3/28/19

I did notice the grass is starting to have a hinting of green now, wont be long before mowing season starts!

Instant Spring

Crocus, bloomed March 16th 2019

It sounds like a perfect name for a scented candle or a laundry detergent but it actually describes how fast the season changed in the last couple of weeks. Since my last post and the snow has completely melted away and relieving the Snowdrops once again also allowing the first Crocus of the season to begin to bloom. This was the fastest snow-to-flowers I've ever seen and it seems like everything is super extra energized from an extended sleep this winter.

Tulip and Daffodil sprouts as of 3/17/19

Whats different about this spring is that as soon as the snow melted off the flower gardens around my house the spring bulbs were already several inches out of the ground. Typically I have a couple weeks to remove last season foliage before worrying about stepping on any plants. I had to be careful when I cleaned this this week with everything popping up. The growth throughout the winter was because it was warm to start Winter off and hefty snowfall kept everything insulated so well that it was getting a head start under the warm snow as we waited for spring to arrive. These Tulips will have to be fenced off or the rabbits will eat them for sure! I planted Tulips before I knew how bad the rabbits were in my area, I never planted more after that instead getting Daffodils which they leave alone.

Galanthus Snowdrop 3/17/19

Galanthus Elwesii 3/17/19

This isn't the first appearance of the Snowdrops this year but actually their second or third. They started blooming in early January but were covered up under snow until just last week. They are much happier soaking up the March sun. I noticed there is a bit of genetic diversity between some of the Elwesii Snowdrops, I found a patch that is extra special because the petals are rimed in a dash of green. Typically can expect a clean traditional white. Snowdrops are always the very first flower to appear in my garden followed closely by Snow Crocus. With the temperatures staying in the 50s this next week and heading for 60 by weeks end I have a feeling next weekend there will be many more flowers starting to bloom.

Spring Pansies as of 3/17/19

I took the plunge. I officially planted my flower pots with one of my favorite spring annuals! Pansies are super tough annuals that thrive in cold temperatures so I don't have to worry about them being damaged by frosts when it gets cold. They can easily tolerate temperatures way down into the teens and even colder if covered up. I've even seem them survive last year when we had single digit lows and lows of snow in late March and April after I planted them last year. It must be known that Pansies and Violas alike really do thrive in cool spring weather. It's all to common problem that people wait too long to plant, holding of until May when you could have had flowers for a month or more before. Not only this but you really cut down on the time you get to enjoy them because once our highs start to get in the 80s towards June Pansies will start to wilt and stop blooming because they need cool temperatures to preform well. So get these in confidence knowing they can handle just about any weather Iowa can throw at them in our March weather!

Spring Has Not Sprug and Sigificant Rabbit Damage Appearing

Front yard as of 3/3/19

It appears like a beautiful sunny spring day.... however it is far from. It's 4 lonely degrees right now with a wind chill of -14.F. We are in the middle of an arctic airmass of near record proportions. Ever since the weather turned in mid January we've had very little in the way of any breaks from cold or snow especially in the past month. February was the snowiest on record for Des Moines for a while there we could barely go 3 days without seeing several inches of snow but that finally broke last week after we got a half inch of rain then snow on top of that. Warmth hasn't been with us much either seems like we're lucky if it even reaches 30 for one day. The only thing looking like spring outside right now is the high sun angle. This week does not show much of any warm spells and melting snow in fact it appears like we'll probably add more snow.

Severe rabbit damage on Lilac

Rose eaten even after fencing

Rabbit damage has picked up substantially in the past couple of weeks. Damage from feeding rabbits this year is by far the worst I've seen. In fact its hard to find homes in my neighborhood with out at least a little damage. In houses near wooded areas its even worse, every twig and piece of bark on favored small trees and shrubs like Arborvitae and Burning Bushes is gone with in a 3 foot reach of rabbits. These plants wont come back well in the spring. When rabbits eat the bark off in this manner everything above where the damage occurs will die and shrubs have to re-grow from that point to recover. Since this is the case, shrubs that bloom on old wood will not produce blooms for many years to come. The reason why the damage is so severe this year is because the grass has been snow covered for an unusually long period of time. Grass is the main/preferred food source for Rabbits. When that's covered up they switch to eating twigs and bark normally off young trees and shrubs, but the longer grass isn't available the more they will source out other food sources. Since its been a month since we've seen grass, I've even noticed well established shrubs be badly damaged this winter. I anticipated this damage so I took measures and fenced most things in November but in the last 2 weeks I've had to fence even more things I wouldn't normally need to because damage has started. Still not sure how it happened but my fences proved not enough for Early Wild Rose because they got through and ate a 3 foot tall shrub to the ground in one night. They definitely favor certain plants over others, besides roses I know rabbits will flock towards Arborvitae, Burning Bush, Lilacs and Azaleas among others. Once the favored ones are gone they will go for less favored like Weigela and Forsythia. The only shrubs I have seen them having no interest in so far are Boxwood, Juniper and Hydrangea, so they must taste the worst of the worst. If you have a favorite shrub especially young I would check on it and if it doesn't already have damage don't take any chances. Get it fenced off as soon as possible.

Prairie Garden as of 3/3/19

Besides dealing with rabbits there really isn't anything else to talk about in the garden. Everything is still covered in at least 10" or so of snow. I will share one item though as I was checking things out I noticed some Snowdrops and Daffodils poking through the mulch under the eve where the snow hasn't been able to reach. The Snowdrops were even trying to take a stab at flowering! I was worried about upcoming below zero weather so I covered things back up with snow. It's interesting how weather can work. Typically right now we would be basking in the spring sunshine with 40s being our average and its not usually to go to 50 degree this time of year. If I was posting in 2018 there would be lows more to talk about as by this time my gardens already went through their spring clean because we had no snow. Spring bulbs were coming up with snowdrops being in bloom for weeks at this point, Crocus were getting ready to bloom. There is some hope for this season, the week of March 11th may have a few days with highs in the 30s, its not much but its something!