Ah, Sprinter!
That wonderful season here in central Wisconsin which can include spurious moments of snow sculpting (an excellent off season use of my gardening tools!)-- The Gardening Twins and I have been getting very good at carving out dragons from banks of snow pushed up in the yard after snowplowing. In addition to snow carving, Sprinter also includes time for indoor gardening under lights.
I wish I had a picture of the truly nice scaly 15' dragon we carved last week. Instead, oh frabjous joy! I have a picture of a teeny, tiny crocus!
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| This crocus is incredibly tiny, maybe 1/2" in diameter and the palest yellow. Quite cute! |
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| A little out of focus, but this is my hosta bed under my large white pine. Those two spots of bright yellow are crocuses. You can see I have a lot of clean-up from the ice storm. The white at the top is my deep ditch level with snow. |
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| Sprinter is also the time to observe garden heaving, always a joyous occasion! Gardeners wishing to experience Sprinter heaving need to be sure to plant and transplant new plants in late Fall. |
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| Sprinter winds bring dessication of evergreen plants like boxwood on foliage above the snow line. |
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| Allium 'Summer Beauty' is a member of the allium family know for their use in Sprinter tonics and early Spring salads. |
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| This established perennialized clump of tulips 'Ballade' is emerging. This might be a phenological indicator that Sprinter may be coming to an end in a few weeks. These tulips retain their red leave coloration throughout Sprinter. |
Today, the temperatures hit 50, almost a normal high for Sprinter. It is the latest day in 38 years to hit 50 degrees in central Wisconsin during Sprinter.
Sprinter always includes lots of flood warnings and wildlife living on the raised roads running through low-lying areas so be careful driving in these areas. We are forecast for a couple inches of rain on Thursday, but do not despair fellow snow sculptors! Many inches of plowable snow are forecast for Friday!
Something must be DONE. At least there is that crocus... but, damaged boxwood? It's like you are blogging from another planet... (Are you SURE Wisconsin is real?) I just happily added you to my Starsome Blogs list-- I hope it feels like a bit of sunshine!
ReplyDeleteIt surely does feel like sunshine!
DeleteAlthough I was born here, when I returned after having been living abroad in Illinois, many natives refused to acknowledge my native status. Being on the Village Board, I am holding my breath that no " Birthers" question my resident status. My mother recently found my original hospital birth record, so I can produce that, if needed.
Given all that, even with incredibly bad cell phone, internet, and television reception, I think Wisconsin IS a real place. This morning's fog however, had me thinking maybe it is all a dream where ectoplasm and reality collide.
Ah yes, Sprinter, when a young gardener's fancy turns to frozen mud. When the majestic snowplow truck turns every street into a modern Maginot Line of snow fortification. Don't you wish this season could go on forever? What do you mean, it IS going to go on forever?
ReplyDeleteFrozen mud is much nicer than unfrozen mud!!!
ReplyDelete