Weird Weather of '09 #10

Mortswife...Way too late in the season for snow! Hope you warm up soon!

Judi, I was thinking about your tomatoes this morning and hoping that they were OK! Sorry about the hanging one, but fortunately it is easy enough to replace this time of year. Note to self...that is the kind of thing to make note of in your notebook...too early for hangy things!!!

We had frost again last night, but it is warming up already and looks like it is going to be a nice day! Hope you guys have the same.

Judi.....I keep watching to see when my neighbor puts her hangy thing out. This is her third year with it, so I'll follow her lead. Thinking about putting the others out tomorrow, forecast is a little better. I'm sure they're root bound in the pots they're in, need to get them out. Last year I potted them up in larger pots and when I put them in the ground, they did awful. So DH doesn't want me to do that this time. I don't think it would have mattered what I did last year, it was just lousy for tomatoes. Everyone was having trouble.

MW.....way to late for snow, enough already! We had frost, but it disappeared as soon as the sun came up. The wind was cold today. Had to wear my winter gloves to clean up the dafs, that's ridiculous!

We are still having snow here too. I had to dig the top off my compost pile because the center is still frozen. I have vaccumed the beds clean of all mulch with my Debris Loader and put down 4" of compost on all of my back yard beds. After doing all that I need a day off. Though I have a lot of compost to keep going. It is nice having a mature garden so I have lots of compost each spring. Going to the nursery open house today in long johns and sweaters.

Hi Sofer!!! Missed you! Sounds like you're moving ahead even with the snow. Good thing you have some mechanical help with all that you have to do. I'm not even sure of the things at the nursery, that can't protect everything and sometimes frost damage doesn't show up right away. Some of them have veggies inside and warnings posted to protect the plants. Still haven't put mine out, but the night time temps are going up soon.

Cold and damp here again. That wind is just so cold, makes being outside uncomfortable. Official temp said 58 today, but that's across town, I never saw it get above 50 here. If it weren't windy, it wouldn't be so chilly.

Sally I'm so sorry that it is still so cold and nasty there! We had some rain yesterday but it was gentle and did not last long.

Sofer it sounds like you work so hard in your garden, and I like the pic of your wife on another thread. She has a very kind face.

Winds died down today. Yeah! Even had some sun off and on. Cats hate it when their sun beams disappear.

Julie, you're too funny!^_^ Yah, we grow fields of ice every spring, I love it. NOT!!!!

As for the bullfrogs, I've only seen 2 in the area that I counted the 12. I think the rest of them dispersed to other parts of the pond for the summer.

Susan105

Counts down on the frogs this year so far. I am hoping becouse of the cooler weather they are just late making their appearance.

I can always count on Mamma! She was posing nice yesterday for me.

BH, I hope that's the case. How do you know it's always Momma?

She has been around for about 2 years.She has certain hiding spots.
And she is the biggest frog in the pond. I am not sure that she is a she..but she hangs out where all the spawn is..so I am assuming it is
her offspring. Who knows for sure! Just great entertainment!

She is a cutie!

frogs are like owls-they look wise. How's your weather, Bea?

Its 45 deg, very cloudly and rain is expected today. Going out now..& hope I can get a few things done in the garden before the rain starts. The frogs are croaking this morning. Love must be in the air!

This message was edited Apr 27, 2009 8:39 AM

I love it when they start croaking. I think we have two different kinds. One set that sings a mighty song very early and another that isn't til mid May.

Bea....I keep expecting her to say something. LOL

Sally.. I am waiting too for her to speak. That would be great! Won't hold my breath however! LOL

Bea, just say ribit ribit in a deep voice. She should talk until she realizes it isn't a frog.

Have you ever heard a bullfrog scream like a woman? I have and they squeal too when they get startled. It startles me when they doit when I walk out to the pond and onto the dock. They squeal and jump into the water, I just laugh after I get my heart out of my throat. LOL!

It's cold and rain/snow mix this morning. I WANT SPRING!!!

Susan105

gardner105..I have heard that when they are startled. 45 here and raining.


1 finch

2 finch

3 finch

4

over at the neighbors there were a whole lot more!
Hope you like my little poem. Feeling silly today!

Aren't they pretty birds, Bea? I haven't seen any here this year. I think it's too COLD for them. The other day I unplugged the bird water. The next morning a sparrow was "sitting on the water" trying to get his little beak in.
They love to sit in the feeder and swing in the wind; which we've had more than our share of this month.
Notice my pathetic lilac bush? I know nothing about them so about 3 years ago I cut it way back. It did have nice green leaves the next spring. I trimmed them into a big heart :-). Last year I had one or two teeny flowers. I'm putting Miracle Gro on them now.

Oh, yeh. That pathetic scrubby tree to the right is coming out this week. The storage units are on the next property. The local vet built them long time ago. I have no idea why he built them so close to this property. The tree is ours. This is the same vet who operated on our young dobie and she got hardpad distemper and had to be put down. The pads on her feet got hard as rocks.

Cute pics BH. I have mainly Sparrows here, but I also have Red-Winged Blackbirds, Yellow Headed Blackbirds, Starlings, Scrub Jays, Blackbirds, Finches, Robins, Barn Swallows, Killdeer and a few Doves. Oh, and I can't forget the Mallard Ducks and Canadian Honkers on the pond.

This isn't a very good pic, but obviously this Drake wasn't interested in staying around the pond area. He's joined with a Dove and Sparrows.

Mortswife, if you're going to trim a Lilac, you're not supposed to trim any more than 2 ft off or it won't bloom again for a long time. Sounds like you cut it back too much!
Susan105

Lots of rain here and some of you probably have snow. I don't mind the rain as it is not terribly cold. I hope those of you that have freezing temps don't lose plants, and that it warms up for you soon!

I am getting impatient and beginning to use swear words in my garden. I have used Sluggo, hand picking, and several different kinds of beer in a saucer - the #@!*! slugs/snails are still eating things! I must use things that won't harm cats & dogs and I don't know what else to do! Ggggrrrrrrr

For several years, I spent lots of money on plants for the front of the chapel. Geraniums in window boxes, impatiens hanging, etc and it just seems too windy. They got watered every day and still died. Then it gets hot in August and they just don't work. We get lots of wind.
I wouldn't have put lilacs in front of the living room window either!

I am a gardener with Turrets (sp?) LOL when it comes to slugs, weeds, and digging holes in a rocky area.

Susan, I am really having a hard time envisioning a batch of jumping screaming bullfrogs, but am giggling trying! I can just imagine how much it would startle you, especially the first time!

Beahive, Love your pics and your poem! We managed to get a couple of goldfinches on our thistle feeder, but nothing like yours! Gorgeous!

Judi, You have all of my sympathy with the slugs! I spend every morning that I can, and every evening walking my yard in the worst areas, and you still never feel like you can get ahead of them! I have found a combo of Corry's bait and hand picking the most effective, but have heard that it's not pet safe. Good luck!

MW, hope your lilac recovers for you soon..a couple of blooms last year is a good sign!

Raining but not terribly cold today. Believe it or not, I was happy to see the rain this AM. I am babysitting my mom's yard right now too, and it was amazing how much things dried out over the weekend. At least I won't have to spend hours watering tonight! Sending warm wishes to you who are still really chilly!

Those gold finches are beautiful. Lucky you to have so many. I have what look like female goldfinches, they have some yellow in their feathers. I also had a couple of males the other day. They clean out the thistleseeds rapidly.

Lilacs need full sun. You should prune after blooms are finished. Take off about a third of each branch that blooms and trim others to shape if you wish.

Judi, try diatomaceous earth. You can get it at any nursery. It will dry up anything that crawls across it, even ants and earwigs. ANY insect. Just sprinkle it around the plants base. It won't hurt dogs and cats.

Julie, I HEAR YA!!!! LOL!

I tried diatomaceous earth - no luck. My neighbor the garden designer has also used it with no luck. Has anyone used Sluggo Plus and is is better than plain Sluggo?

I have seen the finches around for some time. I did not put the feeders out until this morning when I saw them waiting around in my neighbors tree. Hate to put them out when it rains as they get all clogged up..but the little guys were singing so nice and they were cold and hungry on this dreary,rainy day!

for a couple of years I had a bird here which I have no idea what it was. But it's beak was deformed; large and spoon like. I watched him eat out of the feeder; He would scoop up the seeds and he seemed to have no problem eating. I was always going to take a pic, then one day I saw a pic of him in our local weekly paper. I haven't seen him since.

Beahive what a nice photo of that finch. He/she/it is such a beautiful yellow!

I believe the males are yellow and the females brown.

Of course - the males always have to show off! Hee hee.

In the bird world that is the case. The males are the "pretty"ones!

Sometimes I wish I was back in Texas......look what was in LK's bird bath this week!!

That is one colorful bird!