It’s definitely spring on the seacoast of New Hamphire although the thermometer doesn’t always reflect the season. Last night dipped into the mid-twenties. Water in the birdbaths are frozen solid this morning and blades of grass in the lawn are frozen stiff. Those temps won’t last long today. The thermometer will rise to comfortable mid-40’s, perfect for a brisk walk and perhaps a bit of fussing in the garden.
We’ve had rare nice days of 50’s and 60’s with blue skies and sunshine that lured me out for a little garen work. I’ve done most of the spring edging on the borders. I’ve trimmed and pruned. I’ve done a little cleanup but not too much leaf removal until we have steady temperatures in the 50’s to protect any insects that might winter over in the leaf litter. I’m careful of not working in too wet and squishy ground, too, as too much treading will squeeze ozygen from the soil.
Except for buds swelling, there is not much to see in these borders. No blooms but the crocus greens are above ground… and promply nibbled down by a bunny we have yet to see. The only signs are what he leaves behind in small piles in the lawn. That’s not the only wild visitor to the garden area. Early morning on April Fools Day, I spotted a larger plant-loving animal grazing nearby. I’ll have to watch this fella near the arborvitae as another name of arborvitae is ‘deer candy.’
I won’t have to worry about rabbits or deer grazing one of the first greens above ground….several plants in the onion family. We see chives, garlic chives, and the ornamental allium greens that are not fazed by the cold. I have two varieties of allium and love both. The allium ‘Giganteum’ was moved in the fall to a more protected area. The sturdy scapes can be up to 4′ tall with a dense round flower head. With that height, they needed a protected area between shrubs and out of the big winds.
The allium ‘Millenium’ below grows as a compact mass of rosy round blooms about a foot in height that appear mid-summer giving us over a month of glorious blooms and shiny green foilage that persist following the blooms. I have divided my clumps a few times and fussing over several in pots, hoping to have them ready for our garden club auction in June.
All the often overlooked plants in the onion family are carefree, drought resistant, pest-free, easy to grow, and greatly attract butterflies, bees and other pollinators. We have a lot of bumblebees that visit but have not seen a honeybees for a couple of summers. Hallelujah, a friend and nearby neighbor is a brand new beekeeper. We have seen the early scouts from her hive several times and I know they’ll be back for all I offer in this garden all summer… including the blooms in the onion family!
That’s awesome you have someone nearby keeping bees. I’ve wanted to do that myself, but not sure I could keep up with it as my responsibility list is already long. I hope those bees help you out! 🙂
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I’d love to keep bees, too. So many beekeepers are popping up around these parts that a ready supply of honey in various flavors is always available. I’m thrilled to have one so close to us.
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Awww what a cute picture! 🙂 Spring is definitely coming! And wow that’s great about the bees 🙂
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I want the bees in the garden. I didn’t invite the deer… although he is cute. 🦌
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Ha ha ha…I am about to post a photo of a deer in our garden also. They can’t wait for the foliage to come out in the forests.
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It’s a first sighting of a deer in the hood. We’re surrounded by meadows that need to green up fast!
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The deer was out taking a stroll, dreaming of the future buffet – at least that’s what they do here. I had planned to take up beekeeping, but the husband has developed severe allergies to the stings, so that’s out. I was feeling pretty concerned that I didn’t see any honey bees on our fruit trees, they are always plentiful, finally this week they showed up in droves – yay!
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Don’t you love the sound of bees on fruit trees? We have a couple of crabapple trees and I can’t wait to see blooms and bees.
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Someone else just posted pictures of snow in Maine. I am glad to be in California.
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Yes, there is snow north of us but we can see the lawn again in southern New Hampshire. It’s solid ice a few inches into the ground. I tried to dig up a plant to move yesterday and felt like my shovel hit bricks… just solid ice.
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So . . . are people just not allowed to pass away over winter if graves can not be dug?
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😊 Depending on location, some may still have to wait for the thaw but now they have ground heaters to thaw the soil and heavy machinery for digging.
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Goodness! I should not have asked.
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