Time to catch up

I had been working on this for some time, so I had better get it down so I can clear some space...

This is the time of year that I really dread.  Here in Calgary, the ground is bare and the snow is melting because of the chinook. Two weeks ago we were in frozen in the blast of winter, it was -36c with the windchill of -47c. Windchill means that with the wind, it feels like -47c. It was so cold that I had to put Maggie's boots on her, not something that she likes.  It was pretty funny watching her try to walk around the yard.



Yesterday the sun was shining and it was warm and lovely outside with the temp around 0c. I had a very impromptu project. I had plans to start chopping up our beautiful Christmas tree. I am such a guerrilla gardener that I wanted to use the tree as mulch in my garden, the thought of sending the tree for chipping and shredding for the city just wasn't for me. Of course, later this year I would go to the landfill and fill as many bags as my car can hold (which is considerably less than my Blazer) and enjoy the free mulch on the flower beds. For now, I am slowly using the tree up. I have some huge concrete planters on my front step.  I put a few branches in them (of course I had to use a big screwdriver to make holes in the frozen soil). Then I looked at the ugly planters by my back door. It gets pretty warm on the back deck, but this was just sad and Spring time was so far away.




Before - dead plants

 

I think that it just adds a bit of life to my deck and it gives a use to our Christmas tree. I do have to explain those fake roses...a few years ago, my daughters gave me those roses for Valentine's Day.  They were in the house gathering dust for a couple years, then I put them outside. I'm just a wee bit sedimental.





SO much better!



 



Three weeks later and the snow is just  barely there. Valentine's day has come and gone--tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and that means that there is only 40 days until Easter and Spring!!! I  can't wait to watch my new Tulip bulbs grow and bloom. It is so exciting! It is such a surprise to see what comes up, because I really don't remember what I planted.

Every Christmas, I try to give the teachers something other than Chocolates and "stuff". I found these Narcissis on sale at the garden centre and potted them up.  I put them in my cold storage in the basement and they were ready to give at Christmas.  Perhaps next year, I will pot them up at the end of October to give them more time.  I have one bulb left still in the cold storage, but it doesn't sem to be doing much.

Today I bought my first seeds of the year. I bought a package of Genoise Basil and six countem six packs of Mattiola (Evening scented stocks)!

to be continued...

In closing today, I just want to share with you the beautiful skyline of Calgary.  You can see the Canadian Rockies on the horizon.  The mountains are only about a 90 minute drive away and on clear days, they look so much closer and larger than this. My goal is to capture that image, but I don't think my little IPhone camera can do them justice.