A Very Different Spring

Taxes done.  Kevin's newsletter in the turning-the-numbers-into-words phase.  Next week hope to have it into production while I pack 900 packages of seeds that we send to his clients - the closest I'll ever get to feeling like a drug dealer.

And the garden.  I've never seen anything like it.  After my desk work, I've been turning my attention to garden clean-up.  This is the first year that I'm not apologizing for stepping on burgeoning tulips, hosta and new perennials during my first leaf rake off the beds.  There are none - the ground is still frozen.  In fact there are patches of snow on the lawn.  The Eastern White branches are still frozen where they fell in December.  It is the oddest thing to go back into a bed with my little wire hand rake and hear the sound of metal scraping off ice under the leaves.

Clean-up is so much easier not having to worry about decapitation.  Although I suspect I may have raked more than a couple of i.d. tags into the compost.  Rob Howard of the Spec said that the ground in Hamilton was frozen to the depth of 5 feet.  I suspect we were pretty close here, as neighbours (many long-standing) had their pipes burst for the first time ever.  So it will be very interesting to see when things appear.

Here are a few (well more than a few) shots of morning walks, ice, and precious few garden shots:

Taken a few weeks ago - you can see just how colourless everything is.  Usually by now the branches of the large trees are in bud:

This is my new favourite recommendation for areas with lots of snow and ice - Fargesia 'Red Panda'. It was completely covered in snow - got so fed-up with winter and the shovelling, we just piled it on top - figured it would never pop back up, but look - it has - and that ice at the base is about 10cm thick.

Bed in front raked - many of those leaf bits are stuck in ice.

About 5-weeks late, but finally in bloom - Hamamelis:

As the snow melts, there are a few bits of snow mould here and there.  Fortunately a good rake and the first hard rain clears it away.

When there's just one plant in bloom, and even though the focus is poor (this is when I want a camera where I can select the focus!), I just have to include it.

Not the best year for broadleaf evergreens.  This is a Mahonia that will have to shed its leaves to look like something.

In a couple weeks with a hard rain this will end up splattered on the road below.

The Town of Oakville has been run off their feet trying to attend to the trees damaged in the December ice storm.

The green bits here are pine needles - the grass is completely brown.

Taken a couple of weeks ago - interesting how some plants manage to create pockets of warmth.

At least the birds think spring is here - notice the ice in Lake Ontario in the upper left of the photo.

There were days that looked like we lived much farther north than we do.

Pretty, cold and bright.

Easter bunnies on the move.

Beyond comprehension how sturdy plants like this one have taken such a hit.

We're close to the hospital (and hospital parking is very expensive), but surely this can't be very good for the car?

And, it's been a while.....Burlap Crimes:

And a few little bits of hope - not from my garden, but heck, these days I'll take it wherever I find it:

Forecast 17C today - with any luck the remaining snow will melt into memory.