There are two insects that I often see in the late winter. Springtail (sometimes called snow fleas....but they aren't really fleas) are usually smaller than your description and most "spring" along, unlike your scurrying description. Once I set my light colored pack down by a tree and when I turned to pick it up a few minutes later it was gray from all the springtails covering it. I've never seen so many springtails in one place ever again. And in case you care, many scientist no longer consider springtails insects for various reasons. Stoneflies are often seen on top of the snow also. There are some species that are similar to your description, but the ones I see most often are larger and generally fly instead of scurry. The adults are usually near unpolluted streams where they spend the first part of their life as nymphs that live underwater. Trout feed on them and good fly fishermen know stoneflies well. It always surprises me to see these critter out in the snow. Their dark bodies absorb some heat from the sun and help to warm them. They usually are out when temps are above freezing, but it seems like I sometimes see them moving even after temps drop. They amaze me with their resiliance

Depressing! Especially when it has been winter for over a month...lol Beautiful though...Much needed water for next years crop and much needed reflected light back into your home:-) Mike

Thank you, marlene, jane, luvs, punk, & joycegreen (who is a good RL friend & is the one who first showed me the Garden Web Forum here!) ;-) Am happy w/floors & getting close to other rooms to be 'back to normal' (if there is a normal....lots of messes!). Am envious of 70 deg weather & sitting in the bkyard, PM! Wow, I'd take that any day! (our backyard is mostly bare again after high 40's yesterday) DH built just the big tv cabinet about 11 yrs ago & will build a smaller (narrower) type when we get a flatscreen. We had the shelves built back in early 70's when house was new by a woodworker....I've always loved them for photo albums & books esp! Thanks, luvs...I will pass on your compliments to DH. & luvs, the floors require more 'dustmopping' but I don't mind that as much as using the vaccuum sweeper... a lighter color probably wouldn't show as much...ours are a medium oak color. & good for you ...we have 'closet' tv's sometimes, too & VCR's & keyboards but DH did a bit of recycling lately. ;-) punk...the Cardinals sometimes are very co-operative w/me...I have to stand very still & shoot thru windows (half have screens so I move sometimes & that scares them to fly off)...I probably shot about 20 - 25 frames to catch a couple of what I consider 'good ones.' ;-) Ok, I've rattled on....thanks, 'Holiday-ers!' Jeanne S.

I love seeing the things that I cannot grow in my warm climate. I even adore the piles of snow! It’s quite a novelty for me. My Freesias are mostly finished, a few late daffodils remain, the snowflakes are going to seed, and the hyacinths bloomed in January. My hyacinths do return for several years, but the ones in pots seem to do so more reliably. The California poppies are blooming up a storm. I’m not a fan of orange, so one year I sowed seed of the “White Linen” variety. They self sow nicely, but once in a while I have to remove an orange one, or soon I’ll have a sea of orange. My sweet peas have provided endless cutting material since January, and the wild white petunia (Petunia axillaris) is happy everywhere the wind has blown seeds. When the heat arrives, only the ones in the shade will remain as perennials. The dwarf nectarine tree is beginning to bloom. What is lacking in my spring garden, is rose buds. I have a few, but not as many as in previous years. A combination of factors are contributing to this, I pruned many of my roses very late, because I was unwell. I also pruned my HT’s very hard, to make space for the annuals. I also received many new roses, that are just settling in, and nowhere near ready to bloom. I also had a helper, who hacked back roses that he had no business touching while I was at Home Depot buying him more bags of cement. Grrr..... Here’s some of what’s blooming in today’s spring garden. Lisa ‘Southern Belle’ dwarf nectarine tree ‘White Linen’ poppies, closed up on this cloudy day. The sweet peas ‘Nimbus’ with Petunia axillaris, honeywart, annual Salvia, and part of ‘ Abraham Darby’. Everything self sows here, except for Abe, of course. Madame Alfred Carriere has a bloom way up high. I’m in my robe, so I’m not going out front. I had to reach over the wood fence and hold my phone in the air:) My dear Louise Odier getting ready to bloom.