I saw a Mocking bird the other day and a frog.

Plantermunn,

I forgot about the mockingbirds. We've been seeing them for about 3 weeks and think that we're seeing them earlier than usual. I can't remember when we usually start seeing them.

We've been seeing a lot of Robins too, but sometimes they overwinter here in southern OK, so I am not sure if they are a sign of spring, or if they were too slow, too old or too tired to fly further south.

Dawn

all i have noticed is that my daffodils are pushing up through the soil. so good to see this. i am so tired of being indoors. I mean the only thing I got out of this winter was Christmas and the wonderful bazaars and food, beautiful snow but then an ice storm that destroyed some trees. The last one was the most beautiful, but the most destructive. Now if we could take Christmas into February I would be happier.

Jessaka,

I am tired of being indoors "too much" as well. On some of the warmer days, I get outside for a couple of hours. I can't wait until warmer weather arrives and I can stay out pretty much all day every day, which is what I do from late March through mid- to late-June. Once the summer heat arrives, I try to get outside very early in the day--at or just before sunrise and then very late in the day, but I stay inside during the worst of the heat.

I am not a cold-weather person at all and, the older I get, the more the cold bothers me.

The hardest part for me is going outside very early in the morning, usually before sunrise, to feed all the animals. This morning, I was "late" and the 7 deer (4 fawns, 3 does) that eat here twice a day had to stand on the banks of the pond and wait for me to put out the deer corn. I thought when they saw me coming, they'd turn and run into the woods. They didn't, though, but just stood and watched while I put out the corn.

If I don't get out to feed the chickens and guineas early enough in the day, they start squawking and make a lot of noise.

If it wasn't for the animals needing to be fed, I wouldn't step foot outside in the mornings until the temperature had climbed to at least 50 degrees.

Dawn

My Quince is blooming as well! Yeah! Now I am really glad, I moved it. Just wasn't doing much where I first had it.

My daffs are pushing up the dirt, but my neighbor has some blooming on the south side of her house.

In Tulsa, at my friends the daffs are blooming as well (on the south side) plus she has blooming crocus. I might have to get me some for next year.

I love spring, everything greening up. Can't wait for that to happen all over.

Cold seems to bother me as well, but on nice days I have to make decisions.... mess around in the yard, or go for a bike ride. Usually the bike wins, but I putter some around when I get back. :)

Moni

IN the OK city yesterday we saw Daffs in bloom!

Ahhhh spring is on its way. I have daffs blooming on West side of my house,I planted several more last year, I really like to see them in groups.
Atwoods have a lot of seed pototoes, I couldnt hardly
keep from buying a couple, and I may get them later. ;)
My weeping cherry has buds swelling. I also have some iris up.

Caroline

I must work outside today because I have so much to do, but it is almost 11 AM and I haven't made it yet. It is 53 degrees and I was waiting for just a little higher. I have to pot my two little blueberry plants I bought yesterday. I was telling my husband what I had to do to day and his expression was priceless, when I said, "I had to move the naked ladies". I never remember their other name. This is not the best time to move them but if I don't, they are going to get covered with cement in a few days. I still have leaves to move......but who is behind?

Carol,

I think your naked ladies are Lycoris squamigera....or something close to that. Some people call them Resurrection lilies but that's not nearly as much of an attention grabber as the term "naked lilies". LOL

I stay behind on my garden chores. I was outside for a little while but the wind is blowing 20-25 mph which makes it seem even colder than it is, so I came back inside. I've got a repairman due to arrive momentarily anyway, so I can't wander too far away from the house or he'll think no one is here.

Grass fires have started just north of our fire district so I probably need to stay close to the radio, phone and computer anyway.

Another sign of late winter/early spring that we always notice is that the skunks are out and about....and getting run over. They've been out and about and getting run over, too, for a couple of weeks now.

Dawn

Well the naked ladies are dug up. I have just put them in pots for now until I get my flower bed finished. Also got the blueberries in pots. I just thought I would take a little break then get a few more things done. We have a little wind here, but my potting area was nice and warm with the sun shining on the metal roof.

Caroline - I like to see the daffodills in groups too, but mine look like soldiers marching. Guess the people before me liked rows. I keep saying that I will dig them all up and replant, but I never remember to do it when I have time. In addition, they are in my lawn and I can't stand the dead foliage, so they get mowed down as soon as they start falling over. Maybe I can remember to dig them up this year. They look like they need to be divided anyway.

My irises I planted last fall are 2-4 inches tall now and the lilies are just coming up. I weeded their beds last night. Sure is easier to do when the weeds are just starting!

My one raised bed for veggies is nearly done. It's about 14 inches full and will be 18 when I'm done. Then I get to agonize over what to plant in such a tiny space! Or I could agonize now, I guess. :)

My mother got me three knock-out roses yesterday and I put them in. I've got work I need to get out and do (real work that pays money), but I'm just not that interested in it. I think I'll promise myself to tinker in the garden some more when I get back. Maybe that will get me moving.

My daffodils are 3 or 4 inches tall and the tulips are 1 to 2 inches. Some crocuses are up too, but no blooms yet. I can see the flower buds on the daffodils. I'm thinking that when the buds color and are about to open I'll cut a few and bring them inside for their lovely fragrance.

Now, to work with me!

I've had crocuses blooming for almost a month, the very early yellow, white and lavender snow crocuses that I planted very shallowly, and for the last week the darker purple and gold big crocuses. ANd the early shallow daffs have been blooming for almost a week now. And the old fashioned quince has a few buds open on the few twigs that didn't get broken when the oak limb fell on it during the ice storm. And now the plum and the almond are breaking buds too. They may both come out to be replaced with something that will produce for me.

The spring peepers started up right after the ice storm on that 70 degree day. And today a flock of geese passed right overhead going straight north.

A sad sign of spring--a few days ago I saw the dog chewing on something bloody and it was the hoof and ankle of a newborn calf. I don't think she would kill a calf--she's ten years old and too fat--but perhaps one was stillborn and she found it.

Yes, Lycoris Squamigera, the Naked Lady or Surprise Lily. I still have plenty to share if anyone wants to come dig in May or June.

Last year I dumped a lot of small pots of soil into some huge pots so I could put the small ones away for the winter. I guess I dumped one that wasn't empty. I was mostly cleaning up from the peppers and things that I had in containers. In the fall I planted this big tub with salad greens and we ate them until the week before Christmas. One or two mustard greens survived and a new spinach plant was up, so I just ignored it. Next time I looked I had about 15 or 16 daffodils already about 6 inches high in that tub. I dug them out today and their roots were in China. That must have been one of the first buckets of dirt I dumped into that tub, but that didn't keep them from growing. Once I finally found the bottom of them, I got them all out and potted up to take to my daughter. I called to ask her if she wanted naked ladies and daffys, and her answer was, "I want everything." You think I am bad, huh.

I've seen robins with the fattest little bellies, turtle doves cooing, noticing nests being built in the still bare trees. Daffodils and tulips pushing up, herbs starting to leaf out, and CRABGRASS!!!! 8-O

River,

I think crabgrass, bermuda grass and Johnson grass will survive nuclear destruction and live on long after we humans have been wiped off the face of the earth. : )

Other signs of spring; baby bunnies and baby goats.

Dawn

Here in OKC my daffodils on the west side have been blooming for 2wks. My tulips are up to about 6" & the redbud trees have buds. I'm so ready for warmer weather.
Rhonda

Today I saw ornamental pear trees in bloom in Ardmore. They aren't blooming here yet in Marietta.

Rhonda, I'm so ready for the warmer weather too. It was a very chilly 19 degrees here last night, but it's pretty nice this afternoon.

In the Bowlegs micro-clime, Romance crocus has been blooming for several weeks now (started before the last ice storm in January), neighbor's plain yellow Daffodils are blooming (mine are a late blooming heirloom variety called Loving Couple) and quince is in full bloom. Muscari are pushing up but not blooming yet. Roses all over the yard are putting out tentative new growth.

Buds are swelling on Maple, elm and apple trees, and we've had Robins stopping in to checkout the yard. Our "lawn", which is a mix of whatever wants to grow here and can tolerate occasional mowing, is already greening up nicely, and the Iris are about 6 to 8 inches tall already.

We've had 20 new kids born so far, and there is nothing more fun than watching them cavort on the hill on the north side of the house. Oh, and there are four new chicks brooding in a ten gallon aquarium so I can amuse myself watching them too. To me, baby chicks are like forcing Pussy willow and Forsythia; just a little jump on Spring for the winter weary. :^)

Littledog,

Thanks for giving me chick fever. I've been avoiding going into the farm stores so that I won't see them and want to buy them "now" since our nights are still relatively cold. Our hens are getting broody and sitting on their eggs, but since the rooster died and we didn't replace him, those eggs aren't going to hatch! : ) The hens don't appreciate us gathering the eggs that they are "planning" to hatch either.

My cannas are up 3-4" in some beds, but not in others, too, although it seems a bit early for that.

Dawn

Dawn, what kind of chickens do you have? Think your Girls might be interested in a handsome young Rhode Island Red cockerel? (hatched mid October)

Littledog,

We have Silver-laced Wyandottes, Black Australorps and Barred Rocks. I am sure your handsome Rhode Island Red cockerel is a very nice fellow, and am fairly sure our girls would adore him. I don't want a rooster, though, and it is for the most practical of reasons. DH works nights and the constant crowing of a rooster during the daylight hours wakes him up. That's why we didn't replace the previous rooster when he passed away. I also don't miss being chased around the yard by a rooster who thinks every human being on the property is invading his space and must be attacked.

Dawn