Such beautiful color, Claire.

I noticed that red morning sky a couple of times lately. Not as pretty here as over the water there, Claire. :-) So nice to see the movement of the water in your video.

I've been repeating that mantra all week - 'in like a lion, out like a lamb...' [g]

I was curious to look back over my photos to see how the March weather has fluctuated over the years.

2007 - no crocus photos until April 18th - that was really late - Snow on March 17th...

2008 - March 30th, first crocus photo

2009 - March 20th, first crocus photo

2010 - was a pretty early year. By March 20th, we had crocus and daffs already up and by April 1st - the leaves on the lilacs and clematis were already open, and by the 7th of April, the Amelanchier Tree was already blooming.

2011 - It was March 31st again, that I had my first crocus photo, but by April 2nd, it was snowing again.

2012 - Another early year - we had crocus up, daffs blooming and leaves on some shrubs on March 22nd -

and then a late cold snap on March 27th....

2013 - by Mar 28th we already had a mulch delivery sitting in the driveway waiting to be spread. Mar 31st - first crocus photo and open buds on the clematis

2014 - It was Apr 3rd before the first crocus photo and open buds on the Honeysuckle. But by the 15th of April, it was snowing again.

This morning, we have 15 inches of wet snow sitting out there! [g] Wonder what it will be this year?

Fascinating history of spring bulb appearances, PM2! Quite a variation in time of sprouting and blooming. It's so nice to see pictures of flowers!

15 inches of wet snow!?!? Ouch - we had 4 to 5 inches of slush and what we didn't manage to shovel off is now frozen solid. I used my garden rake to score a lot of the leftover slush so at least it didn't freeze in a flat, slippery disaster.

The next few days are supposed to stay below freezing and then on the weekend it should begin to warm back up to something more reasonable for March (if you can call anything in early March reasonable).

My snowdrops are buried so I don't know how they're doing, but the Arnold Promise witch hazel is blooming away. I visit it every day to admire its flowers. The American holly berries are long gone.

I'm ready for that lamb to trot in.

Claire

Claire, I always notice how different the weather is on the Cape from where we are. Sometimes you are luckier and sometimes not. :-) Glad you got a break this time. We also have frozen puddles in our driveway. I keep looking for a forecast for a warm day. I don't mind the 15 inches, I don't think we've had enough precipitation this winter and the spring garden could use all that snow melting. Not that 15 inches amounts to much.

Oh - the Arnold's Promise is blooming? Even in this cold? I have got to get me one of those! [g] I haven't seen snowdrops or any sign of new growth on the hellebores, yet. I thought hellebores would bloom early but most years, they seem to bloom at the same time as the crocus and other bulbs.

I haven't noticed the berries on the Hollies, but, I did have a flock of robins a couple of weeks ago on my Aronia that was covered in berries all winter. There's just a few berries left now. They usually eat those last.

I'm not really ready for spring yet...lol. I should be, but I've been so busy, I haven't been doing much to get ready. I ordered seed and have them in my hand, but haven't started them yet. I have to get a move on. And I didn't get to the pruning of shrubs yet. I didn't have many to do before spring, but the couple that need it, I have to get a move on. Now I have to wait for all that snow to melt.

Looking at my photos, it would seem that in just three weeks, spring should be here! That's not long at all. I'm excited to get out there again, too.

PM2: The Arnold Promise witch hazel has been blooming for over a month now. I first noticed the buds opening on February 5. It's in light shade but I've been reading that witch hazels are understory shrubs and it doesn't seem to mind the location - it's just rangy rather than being compact.

This morning, March 9, 2019

I broke down and ordered a Winter Champagne witch hazel which should bloom orange in late fall to early winter. I'll plant it near Arnold Promise - I'm hoping the bloom will overlap with Arnold Promise for a while since our winters here are really late to get going (they hit their stride in late February to early March).

Even if they don't bloom at the same time, I'm getting enormous pleasure out of the winter flowers.

Claire

Claire, That's great - I've seen some beautiful photos of mature 'Arnold's Promise' but it's been awhile and I don't remember where. I also liked that 'Winter Champagne'. If I get to the Arnold Arboretum this spring, I'll see if I can find one and take a photo.

Where did. you buy it, if you don't mind my asking?

PM2: I bought the 'Arnold Promise' from Forest Farm back in 2007 as a one gallon pot sized plant. I'm not sure when it started blooming - I do have blooming photos from 2016 but I think I overlooked it earlier because it's out of the way in the winter and mixed in with some wild cherries. The area has more sun now after last March's nor'easter pruned some pines (that's a gross understatement of the damage to the pines).

I ordered the 'Winter Champagne' from RareFind Nursery as a two gallon sized plant and it's scheduled to be shipped the week of April 29. It's no longer on their website.

I'll be sure to watch the two witch hazels more closely now that 'Arnold Promise' has grabbed my attention.

Claire

March 4 we woke to a beautiful snowfall.

Sunrise Monday

(Can you tell that I am somewhere with a better internet connection than I have at home?)

I have checked my vernal witch hazel several times and it has shown no blooms yet. Whatever is left of Diane after some harsh winters is buried under snow.

Very pretty photos Babs, too bad we are still taking photos of snow. [g]. Not much of mine has melted yet. Yes, I can tell the difference in the internet connection. :-)

I just looked for the 'Arnold's Promise' at Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton and they have different sizes available. It might be worthwhile to start with a larger plant? They have a 3-4 ft for $200. Wow. Expensive. Might be worth waiting for the fall for a sale, but you lose a whole growing season.

The internet connection difference is that I mostly don’t post photos when I am at home since it takes about 5 minutes per photo. Every repair person who has come to the house has said something like, “I have never seen an internet connection this slow!”

That would drive me crazy - you have a lot of patience! :-)

We've had several unusually warm days and nights and today I found crocuses blooming! The first ones are always under the beach plum on the bay side of the house. It's a sunny, south spot.

These are the tommasinianus 'Roseum' crocuses.

Now that the snow is essentially melted, the snowdrops have been uncovered and they're appearing in all sorts of places where I'm sure I didn't plant them. Squirrels? Chipmunks?

It's supposed to cool down again with nights dropping below freezing, but nothing like we saw during the lion phase of early March. Welcome March lamb!

Claire (keeping a wary watch for a late season blizzard)

Wow, finally, crocus! :-) Our yard still has some ice and snow in spots. We did have melt down of most of the snow in the yard, but the ground was still frozen in some spots, where water was puddling, which is very unusual in our yard. But now the yard is so wet and muddy, that I am avoiding walking on it and I haven't been able to take a close look at anything.

In the front, where I have beds right along the walkway and driveway, I normally get a lot of crocus and there's no sign of them yet. Not even a stem. And no sign of snow drops yet either. I've always thought mine come up later than everyone else's. You are z6b, so you are a little warmer than I am. I'd assume I should be seeing something in the next week or two.

Here it is wet in the low spots, but still snow everywhere (including under most of the water) except where plowing removed most of the snow. I may go snowshoeing in the woods tomorrow, and who knows . . . . there may yet be some ice skating in the field if we have a few cold nights and days. Which is to say that the gardening season and flowers have yet to arrive here, and the only outdoor work I have done has been stomping out the worst of the ruts in the gravel drive before it refreezes with cold weather starting tonight.

So thank you Claire for posting your early flowers!

Babs, there is something to be said for late winter activities. Our son went to ski country for the weekend. I just noticed that you are as cold as 4b - I wonder how many weeks behind z6a you are in the spring?

Yesterday was our first day outside. It was gorgeous out. Warm enough for a light coat and no gloves or hat. A little windy and increasingly so as the day went on. We made a checklist of all the supplies and tools we need for the growing season and a list to take to the nursery later. I managed to cut back the dead stems on phlox and salvias and dead alyssum. I started on the Pennisetum and found it was still frozen in the middle, so that was the end of that.

We have a ton of branches and debris all over the place from a number of windy storms this season. My DH set about taking care of some of that in the front and taking the broom to the driveway and the street edge.

The last thing I could do was to trim the Blue Holly in the front. It gets a trim every year. It is large and pushes out a lot of new growth every season. This year I barely had to trim it, which I was surprised by. Even more so, I didn't have to pull off a lot of browned and damaged leaves. So I am confused. I thought we had a cold winter with no snow cover that would be hard on the garden? Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention to the temperatures, it just seemed really cold a lot of the time. Or maybe it's all the snow that damages the foliage on the holly every winter. [g]

Winter aconites popped up after the snow receded next to my driveway. This was a great welcome home Friday after work. This is exactly why I planted them here last fall.

Oh, so lovely, Jackie! I am not sure if they would be hardy here, but I may have to try a few.

Jackie - Isn't it great when something works out the way you planned it? :-) A nice burst of color after a long winter!

We got out this morning to get after the pruning I was itching to do. The temps were cold over night and it was only 35 here this morning, but sunny without wind. The ground had frozen again, enough to walk out there without mud. We had to take the electric saw to a Gray Dogwood that suffered damage last year. It suckers a lot, so we just cut out the older damaged growth in the middle and left the suckers to fill back in.

Then a Sherry Sue Clethra that was leaning into the sun maybe due to not enough sun. So we did the same thing. Left the suckers and cut out the older leaning growth. While we were in that area, low and behold, crocus foliage! We moved some crocus and other bulbs there in the fall and nice to see them coming up. And when I got up close to the daffodil patch, the foliage is probably an inch out of the ground. So things are stirring.

They are supposed to be hardy to z3 so should work for you. I think it’s important to plant these by the driveway or walk so you can see them up close when they flower.

Thanks, Jackie.

Pussy willow buds are getting furry. The tree is very tall so the buds are only visible high up. Not too high for the squirrels, unfortunately. They'll be chewing off the pussy willow flowers, for reasons known only to squirrels since they leave them on the ground.

Claire

Winter with school is busy busy busy busy busy busy busy busy. I guess every season is busy. I feel often like gardening is far away right now. I haven't even wintersowed anything yet. I'm going to try spring sowing in jugs and see if it works. I finally did plop seeds in the fridge. We'll see.

Despite the busy-ness, I still say winter on the water is my favorite season. The low-lying sun turns the water in to a thousand glistening diamonds. This picture doesn't do it justice, but if you can imagine those twinkles moving and dancing on the water, you can get a feel for the magic. When this picture was taken, the tide, current, and wind were fighting each other, making for a tumultuous battleground right in the middle of the river.

All of the photos above are so very beautiful. Truly, nature's garden is indeed a four-season wonder. NHBabs, the new snowfall is breathtaking. Claire, I'm sure the winter sunrises are a special treat. Just beautiful. All the photos of bulbs rising reminds me that I'd like to have them one day, but right now I have no garden area that is easily enjoyed in winter. Whoever built our how had the driveway asphalt come right up to the house except for one planting area which is currently overgrown with bushes. I will hopefully be taking those bushes out this year. Maybe some early bulbs could be enjoyed there. If the bulbs would survive all winter in a resin pot outside I could make it work. Does anybody have input?

Deanna - Gorgeous photo! You are very lucky to have that to look at any time you want. And I imagine it is magical in person. :-)

Lovely, glittery water view, deannatoby! Water is always fascinating with wrinkly waves and shiny reflections constantly changing.

Others may have better input but I don't think bulbs would survive winter outside in a resin pot unless the pot is heeled in to a pile of soil or compost or something insulating.

Claire

As an alternative to outside, you could put them in a cold but not as cold as outside spot such as an attached garage. The starting in February bring one pot a week indoors to a bright cool area and enjoy watching them sprout and bloom.

Something like early daffodils you might be able to plant in larger patches across from a window you look out of frequently.

and I also love that view. Who needs flowers with that to catch your attention.

Thanks, NHBabs. Using the garage to stagger indoor flowers seems very doable. It goes on my list for next year. The south-facing windows should provide enough light. And, at least they will be one house plant that won't get scales. My nemesis, every year.

Yes, about the view--no flowers capture my attention in that area! At the bottom of the photo is a bed that existed when we moved here, but things struggled, shading changed as we removed damaged trees, soil needed rejuvenation. We completely look over that bed. Whatever is in it is completely ignored and unappreciated. So, it's been transitioned to a pollinator bed while I created garden areas in the part we do enjoy--our driveway, which we are constantly driving in and out and in and out of, every day. The pollinators will surely enjoy the flowers by the water more than the view.

You could cut some of those forsythia for indoor forcing now. Just put them in a jar or vase with water indoors.

I didn't know I could do that! Does it need to be warm water initially to jump-start something, or just normal cool tap water?

I don’t know. Perhaps someone else knows.

wikiHow knows:

How to Force Forsythia Blossoms

Claire

The gardens are still covered, the Arnold Promise is still in full bloom, but to kick off a new season, yesterday I bought a new lawn mower and named it after the shop owner's friendly lab, Mo, and today a trip to Costco resulted in more bulbs to plant - peonies, phlox, plus Peony Maxima and Beauty Bowl from another trip, so there will be peonies around part of the house foundation where large shrubs once lived and blue Hepatica for the Spirit Garden. (that's one sentence, hehee)

Jane

Thanks for the research, Claire.

Jane, Probably not needed this year, but starting next year invest in peony rings, two tiered. I have a pair of Festiva Maxima (I assume) that I dug as divisions from my grandparents’ garden when the house was going on the market. They are a favorite, not only for their emotional connection, but also because of the big blowsy blooms and the nicest fall color of just about any perennial I have. The foliage seems fairly disease resistant in my garden as long as I remove old foliage in the fall. BUT, if I don’t get the rings in before they get too tall, foliage and blooms tend to get beaten down in our sometimes hard spring rains. I use the three-legged simple circles of wire with the tallest legs I can find and tuck the stems into the rings as needed. The weight of the plants are such that some years when I pull them out, there is some bend in the legs.

This isn’t a great photo of the fall foliage, but is the best I could find for now. At least it gives a feeling for the color range FM can get. As you can see, the rings are pretty well hidden, though I can see a bit of the top circle as a green line amongst the red and yellow leaves at the front right.

Lawnmower looks like fun, Jane.

Jane: Peonies are great plants and I agree with NHBabs that rings are necessary as the plants mature, particularly with robust peonies like Festiva Maxima (I have several). The rings are also good, if left in place over the winter, to mark where the eyes are before you step on them.

My Arnold Promise is still blooming too.

I can see you doing wheelies on Mo.

Claire

I have a bunch of peony rings in the garage, but they are a single rod with an adjustable loop, so I often put them in as needed. Have thought about putting in tree peonies where I had to have old shrubs with disruptive roots removed in the fall of '17. These new plants will be placed in between evergreens like rhodies, Autumn azaleas, little leaf boxwood, etc. Had to redo the whole foundation after 42 years, so I'm plugging in with things that will not crush drain spouts or aim for the perimeter drain and am using herbaceous plants that I will not have to spray for Bambi. The tree peony I put in some 20+ years ago, never fails to bloom nicely, no staking necessary, but I'm a little leary of full, south-facing sun for the tree variety. If these plants work, I'm good to go. Also bought way too many seeds to extend the hellstrip - which has been renamed "Street side Meadow" - sounds better, lol. In another street side area, where shrub roses came out last fall, I'm going to empty every seed packet I own in the sunny strip and see what happens. Nice to be at an age where whatever happens, happens. Celebrate whatever lives. I'd rather have wildflowers than grass - despite Mo-the-Mower needing to run his youthful wheels off.

Jane

I agree, Jane - wildflowers are nicer than grass although grass is useful when you need something you can walk on. If you end up with no grass you can always use Mo as a plant stand or maybe put a gazing ball on him.

I've got more crocuses opening up now, all of them various C. tommasinianus varieties which I have good luck with here given the squirrel population.

Probably the C. t. species although there are other C. tommies around.

C. t. 'Ruby Giant'

C. t. 'Albus'

Snowdrops are still blooming.

Here with some variegated euonymus and English ivy:

And a different variety, Galanthus nivalis 'Viridi-apice', I think:

Good old Arnold Promise is still blooming.

I took down all of the red bows in the yard and put up a copper wind spinner on the big old white pine, which is next to the witch hazel. I just needed something moving to look at until the garden really wakes up.

I suppose I could have posted this in the Birds and other mobile features in the yard...

Claire

Great video Claire! I really like your copper spinner. I keep wanting to get one and haven't found one I had to have yet. It's really nice to have movement in the garden. I have a lot of wind chimes, which is also nice.

You have a lot of crocus open. I'm kind of wondering why I don't have more open, but, fingers crossed that they are just a little late.

I haven't had a bird bath or a bird feeder out all winter, but I put birdbaths out a couple of days ago and sure enough I saw a robin taking a bath today and a lot more bird activity going on.

Thanks, PM2! I got the wind spinner from Wind and Weather.

Most of these crocuses opened today (or maybe yesterday) so there's still time for yours. I keep checking and there's nothing, and then suddenly boom, they're fully open. Of course, I have so much leaf mulch they can easily hide until they're ready to make their entrance.

Bird baths really attract the birds - sort of like beaches in the summertime.

Claire

Thanks for the link, maybe this is the year I'll get one. :-)

I was looking at a new map of the zones in Mass the other day and it clearly indicated that my area is now 6b instead of 6a like I thought I was. I wondered if that means you are zone 7a where you are? If your crocus just opened, then it would make sense that mine would be behind you. I also have a pretty heavy leaf mulch in some areas. Thanks.

It isn't really spring until you hear the birds singing in the morning.

We're still 6b according to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map but some microclimates in the yard are probably 7a since we're so close to the Bay.

Claire

Well according to that map, we are in the same zone. Odd. Thanks for the map.

Those USDA zones, unlike Canadian zones, only account for lowest winter temperatures, averaged over several years. So they don’t account for things like the ocean near Claire making temperature changes slower or how hot areas get or extent of heat or cold or precipitation or any of the other climate related factors. So different zone 6b areas can have quite different weather and climate overall.

One of the perks of being by the Bay, besides the warmer microclimates, is the sunrise.

A peach of a sunrise this morning:

It's just a memory (and photos) now, but the sun is shining and it looks like Spring!

Claire

First daffodils this morning! Probably 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation.

It's unusually warm today, in the 60's, but it's supposed to go down to 33 degrees tonight and 27 degrees tomorrow night. Daytime high 45 degrees tomorrow, then more seasonal next week. It's so nice to see seasonal temperatures above freezing! Tomorrow is April 1!

Claire

Ooooooooooo, claire, that was a pretty one! I can't imagine seeing i develop as the morning progressed. Awesome, as in full of awe! Technically, that's awful in the Old Tongue, I guess.

Nekobus, are your Claytonia natural or did you plant them? When I was a kid there was an empty lot that was full of them every spring.