IAM FEELING A LITTLE ADRIFT (IN A DRIFT?) MYSELF. I admit it. And then this doodle shows up from Andre Jordan, and I was like, yes, that’s it: I feel lost. No wonder, when I can’t even see the pathway ahead of me. Ah, snow. “I would like it to stop snowing now,” Andre told me the character in the doodle said to him, but I know it’s barely January, and snow is actually a kindness to the plants that sleep beneath it. Sigh. How are you holding up over there, friends? Shall we send out a search party?
doodle by andre: white out
January 7, 2010
doodle by andre: a postcard for the garden 
doodle (and slideshow) by andre: old friends 
doodle by andre: raining on her parade 
Our first snow of the season started last night around 7PM. Right now, it’s gorgeous…changes the dead brown and muddy color scheme. Also, I received 4 catalogs in the mail yesterday, so I’m dreaming big and content right now.
In my part of the world, February is the cruelest month: part winter, part spring.
we’ve had yet more snow last night and the weather man is saying it ‘s 3 degrees but the wind makes it feel like minus 20.
at this moment the plans for our garden (new plants . new fencing) seem a long way off.
Thank goodness for seed catalogs! Even though I live in the city and can’t order a fraction of what’s in them, browsing and dreaming of my “someday” place upstate helps keep me toasty and warm while the wind and cold rages outside.
Andre,
Happy New Year, Thursday’s have never been the same since you have arrived at Margaret’s door.
We are expecting more snow tonight, but the weather men/women cannot get the inches correct, so I will wait and see. Seed catalogs and projects will get me through the long road ahead.
The snow hasn’t accumulated enough for x-country skiing – maybe today! If Andre put a bird bath in front of the gardener in his cartoon, it would be a picture of me replenishing the drinking supply for my winter friends.
I find that knitting through the winter keeps me content to let the weather do what it needs to do while the gardens get a good sleep!
PS: I also get a lot of winter entertainment from the birds, bunnies and deer; so that helps, too ;-)
Half buried and expecting more snow through tonight, in Chicago, which would be fun if only it were the weekend. On the plus side, I seem to be winning the war against the aphids that managed to get inside and attack everything. I was contemplating starting this year’s seeds in some kind of a bubble.
I’m thinking about climbing snapdragons or purple bells, for the hummers this time — something vertical that will bloom early and often. Maybe a climbing rose … that’s the cabin fever talking. Containers only, here.
Here in Nebraska, we are beginning to think we are living above the Arctic Circle! The air temps are 5 below with a windchill of 45 below! Thankfully, the garden catalogs have begun to arrive and I’ve been sitting by the fireplace, dreaming of things to come!! :)
Here on balmy Long Island, it’s in the 20s (by day at least), with snow thick on the ground. I’m making do by adding to my garden library at thrift shop sales and devouring the information therein. By spring, I’ll be far more educated on such subjects as mixed hedgerows, and ready to go!
Not too bad here in the Rondout Valley. I’m enjoying being able to see the tracks of anyone who has been wandering in the garden. Deer, cats, squirrels galore. Also, apparently, the UPS man who used the yard as a shortcut.
Welcome, Estyn. All the tracks show here, too — I love the ones from birds in a fresh snow, like hieroglyphics. See you soon again.
After the past week, it seems old hat when the weatherman says “6-12 additional inches by Saturday evening.” I think we’ve had a couple of feet since New Year’s Eve. But I did receive an envelope of zinnia seed packages from Johnny’s, inspired by Margaret’s beautiful red and lime ones last summer. (Mine are all the pinks. I love pink!)
Today we’ve had a very cold day; as I’m writing this, my husband is keeping me posted on the outside temperature (Thank you, dear…:~( ) with a -8 F and a 10 mph wind. Although we have not had any fresh snow today, the wind was blowing, they said, between 20-30 mph. making travel impossible for us. The country roads we travel were blown shut once again and yesterday when we were feeding the cattle, we already were stuck once and that was plenty. I like winter (shhhhh, can’t say it too loudly) but I do feel sorry for the wildlife and the animals without shelter. How did our grandparents and great-grandparents do it? They had thicker skin, I swear. Always look forward to your blog, Margaret.
We have had snow pretty much constantly since a week or so before Christmas, here in my little corner of the Catskills. Every day it seems a new dusting (or more) appears, so it is really pretty, but also very cold – single digits at night, maybe to 20 in the day. Deer, rabbit, and innumerable bird tracks all over the place, but most notable where I put out food every day. I’ve had my nose in the big seed catalogs, but this year I am probably doing my ordering from the local seed bank ;-)
“A way to garden” in winter for all those dreaming of spring…..
Last fall I decided to pot my tulips instead of putting them in the ground. This affords feeding 3 times as recommended, removing them when they are unsightly, thwarting squirrels (I have them in the garage until spring) and placing them where ever I desire. Sooooo, CHristopher Llyod said you can leave tulips until as late as December… So in the first week of January I thought who dreamt this up??? Me! I put up 500 tulips in many many pots! I had a great time in the garage (complete with layers of clothes on) “gardening” and was happily pleased that I had thought up “a way to garden” in the winter!
“A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST SATURDAY.”
With the snow piled up outside I am sewing and farming virtually.
Two weeks ago we were 20 inches deep in beautiful insulating snow. Within a week, it was mostly gone, leaving mud and small snatches of white in the northernmost pockets of the garden. This transplant of ours from the Hudson Valley to Northern Virginia is going to be quite an education in a new way to garden! Dare I say I miss the single shovel wide icy walkway from the back door to the bird feeder? Do I prefer the muck? I miss NY!
Love the snow! It gives me time to read, and I have just finished reading the most wonderful book,
‘Making More Plants’ by Ken Druse.
Absolutely fascinating and beautiful!
I love Andre’s work, this one so sweet. I worked all November to have closure with the garden while putting away hoses, buckets, furniture. I’m not good with endings, ever. (Gardening has helped.) Dec. first finally said “thanks, sleep tight” to the plants and creatures. Every day since I look out at bare branch sculpture in the snow, and know the garden is still there.
Just the other day I envisioned spring flowers in bloom.
Thanks, Margaret, for helping us all keep watch,
MJ in Providence RI
Welcome, Esther. Thicker skin would be good, for certain. :) Many days here one just has to sit tight, as there is no safe way to go anywhere, either. Ah, winter: the supreme test of patience.
Welcome, Sylvia. I am crazy about the birds tracks in the snow; little hieroglyphics. The great Victorian-era naturalist John Burroughs (who lived in the Catskills, too) called them stitching on the coverlet, as if it was a white blanket covered in fine needlework. Love that.
Welcome, Marianne. I miss Christo, as Christopher Lloyd was called, and love the idea of your tulips experiment inspired by his instruction. Let us know what happens…fascinating.
Welcome, Karen. Hahaha. Virtual farming is always good; my sewing skills are not something anyone would encourage, however (just could never master that or knitting…I am too impatient with handwork). So I write, and read, and binge on dvd’s from Netflix. :)
Welcome, Cyn, relocated to new ground (and weather). Yes, I prefer if it just stays frozen till spring and there are no mucky meltdowns, and there are narrow tunnels here for me to go about my rounds as you describe: to the feeder, the bar, the car.
See you all soon again; and to all the familiar faces, a warm hello in these colder months. Remember — we are gaining on it. It’s not dark at 4 PM anymore! Progress.
You don’t want to know that it’s been in the low fifties here, and I was out moving shrubs around this week, do you?
Deirdre
Oh, that looks like me out there, except here it’s mud. Rain, rain, rain. Absolutely need some sunshine. Even the plants look quite soggy. :-)
d.
Welcome, Dahlila. Oh dear, mud season, eh? Ours will be here in another 6 or 8 weeks, some years worse than others. Hold on; spring will come. See you soon again, I hope, and no mowing in the muck, right? :)