Winter Survivors

It's spring. Really. The weather has been wet, cold, and at long last a day of sunshine. In the dead of winter, I was tempted to clean out the pots. But, thought maybe something would pull through. These winter survivors have been struggling to blossom, and once they do, slugs devour them. At long last, I think they are making headway.

Tulips

Tulips have been around for about 3 weeks now. They've had a tough start with all the rain and cold. They are looking kind of ragged. But they like it when the sun shines.

Some of them have "fat lips" - they curl funny.

Weather yesterday was upper 60s for the first time this year. Today mid-50s and showery again.

A moment of sunshine between the April showers.

Before

It's getting about time to pick up some plants at garden centers and begin the process of developing 2011 container garden. So, I thought I'd show what "before" looks like. Pretty rough, end of winter, rain continues to get in the way. Today, more rain, and about 55 F.

Here are some of the daffodils that have finally appeared.

It is Spring, Finally, Really

It really is spring, finally! Out of all the bulbs I planted, I've only got 1 that is an alternate to the regular old daffodils, but one is enough. And the regulars are holding up really well to the constant rain and wind of the last few days.

Today was in the 50s, rain. We broke a 107 yr old record for the number of rainy days in March! And so far this year, we haven't made it to 60 yet.

The experiment worked!

In November, I bought several bags of bulbs. The plan was to plant them and increase the garden bulbs planted in ground. By the time I got around to it, it was New Year's Day. After planting what I could in the ground, I had some left over. I pulled out my containers and threw them in. I tried using the layers concept - planted 2-3 layers per container.


The weather turned frigid by the end of the day, and I was concerned the freshly planted bulbs would freeze, so I put a cap of straw on all of the containers.


As winter waned, we continued to have ultra wet weather.

And then it snowed at the end of February.

The bulbs had already peeked out of the hay mulch.

But, by the first day of spring, the containers are blossoming and all is well!

March 10 - Daffodils finally come out!

Finally, the long wait is over! Daffodils finally blossomed yesterday, March 10. A blustery, rainy day that ended up with a windy, clearing and sunny aroun 5pm when I snapped this photo. High around 50, but there was a wind chill that took that way down.

It was so windy March 10, that branches fell off the walnut tree, onto the daffodils. Lost a couple as a result of that.

By the end of the day, an 8.9 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan.