Saturday, May 03, 2014

Spring II

Spring continues to make it's slow way north. In the past week I have seen or heard:
 - white-throated sparrows
 - red-winged blackbirds
 - goldfinches 

The pussy willows are now out in abundance. And while down "south" (Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis) last weekend I saw Bloodroot in bloom and Skunk Cabbage emerging. 

Trails remain snow-covered in many areas. What isn't under snow may very well be under water. I made a couple of forays down a few trails today to check out conditions and they are still too wet and fragile for use. Dry, warm weather would help immensely to get the rest of the frost out of the ground and allow the snowmelt to soak in. 

Upon my return home from a shortened run today I noticed a few other signs of the change of seasons in my yard:

Scilla siberica

Scilla siberica

Rhubarb sp.

Rhubarb sp.

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)
And proof that we may very well be the laziest gardeners ever, and that some plants that we think of as annuals can survive very cold winters unprotected:
Brussel Sprouts - apparently they can overwinter in Northern Minnesota!
Onion sp. - unsure of variety - again, overwintered in Northern Minnesota. 

2 comments:

Londell said...

Here I thought your neck of the woods was still son skiing and shoeing

wildknits said...

One benefit of a southeast facing, sloped yard with a bluestone wall at the top is the microclimate it fosters.

There is still quite a bit of snow in areas, though it is retreating, just not as fast as all of the trail fiends would like.