Actual spring ( I guess )

Garden View 2/24/2020

Well I thought it was still winter but the weather has continue to be very spring-like. Well, that comes with a disclaimer because we had two little hiccups in the weather including one night when it hit -9 which actually was the coldest night of the winter, it came with barely any snowcover to protect sprouting plants, due to this some of the early spring flowers were damaged and even destroyed.  However since then, temperatures have warmed back up and the remaining snowcover is gone. The past few days we've had highs in 40s and 50s and yesterday it was 66.F. So I decided that it may indeed be early spring ( arrives at different times every year in Iowa ) and decided to get in the garden early and take off all of last years withered foliage. The removal of all this makes the landscape look so barren, the time from now until the spring plants get fuller is the only time of year that my yard matches the surrounding houses.

Winter Aconite Bloomed 2/22/2020

 The Snowdrops are continuing to be in full bloom but another has joined the show. Some Winter Aconite were seen starting to bloom in the Woodland Garden, these are really cool plants because they literally pop up overnight, I was watching closely one day and went back to that spot the next and there they were, blooming. They also really like to be planted in spots that are full shade- in the summer months, the reason for this is because even though these are planted under a Sugar Maple, its full sun this time of year without leafcover. I added another couple packages of these last fall because of how well these have preformed for me. They sort of look like Crocus but unlike those these are rabbit and squirrel proof.

Lenten Rose As of 2/24/2020

This Lenten Rose actually started to sprout prior to 2020 starting, last December when we had all that warm weather then. It was protected under the snow. The big cold snap mentioned above did cause damage to some of the blooms, so when a second cold snap threatened I covered with a piece of builders installation to prevent further damage since this is one of my favorite for its black flower color. Removing the leave reviled its already almost blooming and probably will be in a couple of weeks.

Tulips 2/24/2020

Group of Snowdrops 2/23/20200

This one little group of Snowdrops ( Elwesii ) is being a bit of a showoff having a dozen blooms or so in one little spot, haven't seen that one before, ironically it didn't have any last year so I guess its making up for lost time. Tulips are also really started to pop after yesterdays high of 64. Cleaning the garden was a difficult task this year as 90% of the spring bulbs were already up when it came time to remove last years foliage. The ground never really froze this winter giving the bulbs that head start. We'll see how things look in another week or two!