Snow in Spring

Snow in Spring

It’s Spring! Normally I’d be thinking of crocuses and daffodils and waiting for the hibiscus to send out thick buds that will turn into giant red flowers. But this season has started off strangely. The bushes in our backyard are showing puffs of white instead of the colorful promise of hydrangeas. Branches from the pine trees are touching the ground with the weight of wet snow.

What is going on? This is the fourth nor’easter we’ve had this month, bringing snow and sleet at a time when we should be having a gentle shift into the next season. We speak about global warming and yet we see snow in Spring?

I remember the saying that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. I also can recall one year that we had snow in the beginning of April. So things do sometimes defy expectations. However, we are in a time of large shifts in our climate.  It’s hard to ignore the changes that are taking place across the world. The atmosphere is heating up, causing glaciers to melt, oceans to rise, more floods, and fires in drier lands. And yet, we can still have snow at the beginning of Spring.

What we do affects things, whether it is personally or globally. Our climate has changed over the millennia but we seem to be hurrying things up lately. I hope that our current leaders work to minimize climate changes rather than take a short-term approach for political gains. Our planet is a marvelous place; let’s try our best to support it.

U.S. Spring forecast:

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/2018-us-spring-forecast-cold-snow-to-linger-in-the-northeast-severe-storms-to-kick-off-early-in-south/70004044

NASA evidence of global warming:

https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

Nest Time

Nest Time

This is the time of year when birds get busy. One friend told me about a robin building a nest on her front porch. Another friend described mourning doves at her house. And I’ve seen finches flitting in and out of our forsythia bush with branches in their beaks.

Spring is the ideal time for birds to breed. It provides accommodating weather, seeds from sprouting plants, worms. The trees leaf out to offer hidden nesting places.  

The Swallow here was seen at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum in Philadelphia. There was a flurry of birds, mating couples flitting back and forth from man-made birdhouses in the water. It seemed frenetic at times but there was no doubt that all that activity had a purpose. Soon there will be eggs and then nestlings and the chain of life will continue.

People make nests, too, at least symbolically, where we can feel comfortable and raise our children. Like the birds, we try to keep our little ones safe and well fed until they are ready to be independent and find their own way in life.

Unfortunately, in today’s difficult world, that isn’t always a given. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could count on our nests to be the places they are meant to be?

An overview of nest info and be sure to click on the nesting birds link:

http://nestwatch.org/learn/general-bird-nest-info/nesting-cycle/ 

Do Robins Herald Spring?

Do Robins Herald Spring? 

the robins are here

redbreasts hopping on brown grass

prompting thoughts of spring

This weekend it’s officially Spring. Hard to believe when today’s temperature is in the 30s to low 40s and tomorrow it will be hovering around freezing again. The forecast for Friday is snow.

But there are signs all around to bring our thoughts to warmer times. Daffodils are rising green and confident despite the weather predictions. Soon there will be bright, yellow flowers cheering up the barren garden. The lilac bushes are putting out tiny, cautious buds that will become fragrant purple blossoms. Geese are heading north in noisy flocks. And there are robins bounding over grass that is still recovering from being packed down with snow, finding worms and renewing expectations of the next season

Robins are credited with heralding Spring. Is that true? Well, some do migrate and return as winter starts to let go but many stay in their breeding grounds. They may be huddled in more wooded areas where there is more protection so they are less noticeable; it all depends on the availability of food. Our affection for the robin as herald remains in tact, however, and why not? Robin-spotting is a way for us to anticipate the more amiable season. 

In the midst of Winter it is always easy to pine for Spring but then we often ache for Summer and its swimming weather only to welcome Autumn for the heat-relief it brings. Then Winter calls to skiers, sledders, and everyone for holiday fun. The year’s variety, while it can be challenging, is emotionally bracing. It adds variety to our days and a sense of movement to our lives; almost like a well-written novel, it keeps us intrigued about what will happen next.

For the most part I like the change of seasons. And when I see the robins, even if they have been here all along, just out of my sight, my energy shifts into a lighter space. It’s time to expand, to plant, to come out of the house and greet the world that, like me, is ready to be new and refreshed. The first robin we see is a reminder of all of that.

Robin myths and reality:

http://tailsofbirding.blogspot.com/2008/03/robin-is-not-sign-of-spring.html

More about robins:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/lifehistory

A Golden Time of Year

A Golden Time of Year

The crocuses that greet us as we open our front door are soft yellow. The daffodils in the backyard and on the side of our house are deeper yellow. The goldfinches that find our feeders are brilliant yellow! More gold than not, they are aptly named. It is hard to sulk about the weather when there is so much to awaken to us of the vibrance of Spring.

The supermarkets in our area have pansies for sale – yellow (of course) and purple and pink flowers just invite me to think about gardening. The coreopsis and yarrow will be out soon and, not doubt, so will the dandelions. The sun, which plays hide-and-seek at this season, varies in color from a whitish-yellow to an intense gold.

Yellow is a heartening color. It is the color that resonates in our solar plexus. It energizes and inspires us, stimulates us for learning and ups our intelligence. It brightens the artist’s palette and adds light to the ordinary.

So amid the sporadic raindrops, despite the temperature shifts from cold to warm to cool to hot, even with the uncertainty about the future climate, this time of year is golden. It is filled with promise and hope. And goldfinches to remind us to appreciate nature.

If you like yellow flowers, you’ll love these:

http://www.mlra.org/wildflowers/yellow.htm 

Colors have meaning:   

http://www.colormatters.com/yellow

Is It Spring Yet?

Is It Spring Yet?

The poor squirrel, huddled in the bush, no doubt confused by the latest weather. It’s confusing for all of us. We had about 3-4 inches of snow today while down in the D.C. area, there was 8 inches on the ground. Isn’t that south of New Jersey? New York, which is north of us, didn’t have any.

On March 20th it will officially be Spring. It may not feel like it to us yet but the flowers know. Daffodils are beginning to peek out of the ground.  Snowdrops, crocuses, hyacinths, forsythia, snapdragons, camellias all welcome the early spring. Time to think about the garden.

As the snow melts, I venture into the backyard to see which plants have survived the winter. The pachysandra have defied the ice onslaught. Our dappled willows are starting to put out foliage and the azaleas have hints of green under the latest coating of white.

Mother Nature has her own timetable, taking in the amount of light as well as the temperature. We do, too. Some people have seasonal affective disorder, being particularly sensitive to the shortened light of winter. Many of us have said this year, “I’m ready for Spring!” The warmer weather and the brighter days tend to cheer us up. The brightly colored flowers help bring a lift to the spirit.

Ah, Spring. It’s almost here. Enjoy!

A list of flowers that grow all through Spring:

http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/A_List_of_Spring_Flowers

Seasons can affect how we feel:

http://www.mindpub.com/art027.htm

Winter Is Getting Warmer - Really

Winter Is Getting Warmer - Really

Even though we officially have to wait until March 20^th there is evidence of Spring all over. New leaves are sprouting on my azaleas. The lilac bushes have impatient buds on all the branches. I see robins hopping around the neighborhood pecking at the saturated ground for worms. Clumps of ice are slowly melting, revealing things that have been hidden for months. Practically everyone I know says the same thing: I’m ready for winter to be over.

We aren’t the only ones yearning for Spring. Ducks have had it hard this year. They migrate to find food and nesting places, both of which become difficult to find when there is an excess of snow and ice. The robins that have returned, until this week, were pecking away at the snow, trying to get underneath to find food. Geese were spotted making nests on mounds of snow and skidding on the underlying ice. It has been some winter.

And yet, the earth has had a warm year. In some areas, it has been an unseasonably warm winter. The earth has been setting records in the past dozen years. As temperatures rise, ice melts.  Polar bears are losing their ice environment. Islands have flooded. The oceans have risen. It is a self-perpetuating cycle: as temperatures rise, carbon dioxide increases and as CO2 increases, temperatures rise. It’s a complicated situation to understand, especially after an extended period of snow. So I went to NASA’s website for kids to help make sense of it all: http://climatekids.nasa.gov/climate-change-evidence/

I wonder if the definition of our seasons will be changing in the future and what is our part in that change? It’s not something to sluff off because it isn’t only the ducks and geese and polar bears that are affected, it’s us, too. 

Some late-season weather statistics:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/record-late-season-snowfalls

Waterfowl react to seasonal changes, too:

http://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-biology/understanding-waterfowl-cross-seasonal-effects?poe=mostRecent

April Showers...

April Showers…

“April showers bring May flowers.” Remember that old saying? Well, here we are in April, experiencing a variety of showers from the drizzle today to the downpour a few nights ago. The early bloomers are drinking it up while the soil is warming up and loosening for Spring planting.

It’s nice to have the illusion of predictability that the saying implies, especially as the seasons have been a little different lately – hardly any snow in winter (at least not around my backyard though some places had whopper storms that slammed them with feet, not inches) and eighty-plus degrees before Spring had a chance to take a deep breath. But plants are not relying on the saying to do what they do. It has as much to do with where they are growing, whether they are annuals or perennials, when they develop their bulbs or seeds. Even so, rain does bring warmer temperatures and moisture that stimulates plant growth and energizes the earth.

If we look deeper into the saying, however, we can see that it is as much about us as it is about rain and flowers. It hints of sunny times following clouds, of the value of patience, and of keeping a positive outlook even when things seem dark and dreary. Sort of a prompt to our growth as well. Not a bad way to start the season, whenever the season starts for you.

An overview of how flowers grow: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2008/04/do_april_showers_bring_may_flowers.html 

And a look into the origin and symbolism of the saying:

http://feelingsandflowers.com/136/april-showers-bring-may-flowers-%E2%80%93-discussing-the-rhyme/ 

Vernal Equinox

Vernal Equinox

The vernal equinox has just passed, the time when the sun shines right on the equator and the hours of day and night are just about equal. The March or Spring equinox brings increasing daylight, warming temperatures, and rejuvenating plants and flowers.

The crocuses here have already faded but the daffodils are just now flowering. Their leaves have been hinting at blooms for a while and the buds have been teasing but here are the blossoms - at last. And today it is snowing.

It has snowed in late March and early April before so this is not that unusual but it isn’t necessarily welcome. Most of us are looking forward to the temperature moving out of the snow zone. While we are eager for the season to change, we have to remember that the equinox is the cusp of the seasons, the turning point, not the closing of a door; the year holds on to a little of the past even as it turns toward the future.

The daffodils may huddle into themselves for a bit longer but they will return with vibrant yellow flowers and Spring will assert itself. The snow will be gone, early season plants will poke out of the ground, trees will start to green up; there are buds already on the branches.

Like the changing seasons, we tend to hold on to what is familiar, too. But while we honor the past, let’s not close the door on what is unfolding before us. Let’s enjoy Nature’s changes as we move into a new space. And let us be open to the promise of growth in our gardens, in our thinking, in ourselves.

Happy Spring!
 http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/march-equinox.html

A Touch of Spring

A Touch of Spring

Yesterday was sunny with a hint of warm air. The forecast for today is for 60 degrees. Daylight savings had us setting our clocks ahead to allow more daylight into our day. We are on the cusp of Spring.

The change of seasons will no doubt be welcome though it isn’t something to be taken for grated. I remember the year we had an early April snowstorm. The temperature may be pleasing now, yet we had snow only three days ago. Subtle reminders not to anticipate Mother Nature’s moods.

The female cardinal sits on the branch of a snow-covered bush after last Friday’s snowfall and looks out, waiting, I suppose, for a good nesting opportunity. She likes to build her nest in dense shrubbery or the branches of small trees. The shrubbery hasn’t started to leaf though, and nest protection is rare. That’s probably why I haven’t seen any nests in my backyard yet, though March is traditional nesting time.

I actually like these transitional times, especially winter/spring, which touches my essence. The air is infused with a sense of movement, a shifting of energy, that I find invigorating. Flocks of robins, the time-honored springtime harbingers, are everywhere, creating even more anticipation. The air vibrates with birdsong and mating calls. The crocuses are popping up from their sleep-states to check out the new season. Soon Violets, Lily-of-the-Valley, Lilacs, and Hyacinths will add their fragrances and colors to the scene. Ah, Spring. Time for us all to bloom.

Just the facts:

About seasons -

http://weather-facts.com/seasons-facts.php

About cardinals -

http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Cardinal.html#sthash.U4Hvg5JC.dpbs

About robins –

http://www.arkive.org/american-robin/turdus-migratorius/

Robins are Ready for Anything

Robins are Ready for Anything

The robins are here, a visual announcement of spring’s imminent arrival (a more natural indication than Punxutawney Phil’s famous predictions). It is a treat to see them. Several have been hanging out in my backyard for a couple of weeks now. The birds I’ve been watching are having gourmet meals, feasting on the now-plentiful worms in the warm ground. They are patient, standing in one place and turning their heads to better view the field. Before long they jab their beaks into the dirt and emerge with a wiggly prize. Very efficient hunters.

But there is more to American Robins than just their familiar red breast feathers. These large members of the thrush family are flexible birds. They live in a wide range of habitats, in many different environments: in backyards, parks, marshes, fields, wooded areas, and even in the tundra. They are flexible eaters, too. In the warm weather they mostly eat worms and insects, but when it turns cooler or those aren't available they change their diet and eat berries and other fruit. Sometimes they eat seeds from shrubs or trees though they are not bird feeder frequenters. Robins tend to migrate but are not fixated on a date. Their departure depends more on the availability of food than of the time of year or the weather. Some robins stay put and don’t migrate at all.

I think that this flexibility has helped the robin to be more plentiful now than when the colonists came. The newcomers found a wooded land in the east, which they proceeded to thin out for dwellings and heat, exposing the land. The robins adapted - there were worms a-plenty! And in the mid-west where forests were sparse, the colonists planted trees, giving robins places to nest and breed.

In our changing world, as the weather shifts, technologies change, and cultures merge, we could use some robin-flexibility. We need to be able to work with the new circumstances and use them to our benefit to thrive. Robins are good examples.

Answers to questions you have always wanted to ask about robins: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/Robin.html

And more about the American Robin:

http://www.squidoo.com/robin-in-summer-robin-in-winter#module148013736

Thinking of Spring - Again

Thinking of Spring - Again

Lilies and irises are such beautiful flowers. They aren’t ready to grow around my way yet, though with this warmish winter the daffodils have put up leaves. So it was quite a delight for me to get an unexpected bouquet in the mail. It immediately brought to mind the prospect of spring. I actually like winter and particularly snow but if that isn’t happening then I am eager for spring to make its appearance.

We used to have lots of day lilies in our backyard adding early excitement to a sleepy flowerbed. There were also irises, tulips, snowdrops, columbine, daisies and a host of other colorful plants. That was when the garden was new. Most of them have succumbed to a) too much shade from now mature trees, b) bulb-loving squirrels or c) those wascally wabbits. That doesn’t stop me from dreaming, however, and trying new plants that a) grow in deep shade, b) are supposedly anathema to squirrels or c) are not traditionally known to attract rabbits. Only modest success so far. Did you know that rabbits like to eat hosta leaves?

The gardening catalogs are starting to come in the mail and I pour over them. What flowers will we plant this year? And what veggies will we grow? I think that tomatoes will be on the list again, maybe another watermelon plant, some carrots perhaps, and sweet potatoes, which I can start on my windowsill as I did last year. The plant itself is lovely. If anyone is interested in putting in a sweet potato crop, here is a great article from Neil Shelton at http://www.homestead.org/NeilShelton/SweetPotato/SuperTuber.htm on the origin of sweet potatoes and how to plant them. It even gives recipes!

I’m also thinking about zucchini and green beans.

And lilies again.

And irises.

Any suggestions for easy, shade friendly, animal-proof flowers?

Spring isn’t here yet but it doesn’t hurt to plan ahead. I still hope it snows, though.

Pick a Pack of Pansies

I’m getting ready. I bought a pack of pansies. It was an impulse purchase at my local supermarket. How could I resist those smiling flowers? They made me forget that I had to run from my car through a chilling rain. They flaunted their colors: pink and purple, a dusky maroon and shy, dawning yellow. I chose purple, a regal color.

Pansies are interesting flowers that come full of meaning. The word pansy is from the French pensee, which means thoughts and remembrance. It is most often associated with loved ones, those currently in your heart and those who have passed away.

They are practical, too. They bloom prolifically from spring until fall, adding vibrant color and fun to a garden. Although they look delicate they are rather hardy and make great borders. Pansies, particularly the yellow and blue variety, have a pleasing perfume-y aroma and both the flowers and petals are edible.

For me they, like the crocuses that just came up in my front yard and the robins who made a brief appearance in my back yard, are harbingers of spring. I am looking forward to the rebirth of my perennials and to planting some new annual guests. They all remind me of the cycle of seasons, the renewal of life. Yes, I’m getting ready. For planting. For spring.

For history and cultivation of pansies visit http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/flowers/pansies.html

You Lookin’ at Me?

I haven’t written about squirrels in about, oh, four minutes. But they keep coming up with stuff I can’t ignore. This little guy was running up and down the pole beneath the baffle. Sometimes all we could see was his tail hanging out of the tube, sometimes his head would be poking down. He stopped midway with a “You lookin’ at me?” expression that made my husband run for his camera. This wasn’t the fearful “hide from the hawk” kind of action. Nor was it the “how can I get the seed?” dilemma. He was hanging on with attitude. Expressing entitlement. This baffle was his and we had better not challenge that!

Okay, then. We have lived with this kind of furry brazenness for quite a while now and it doesn’t intimidate us. (Hear that Squirrel?) Only it is coming up to spring and I start to browse the garden catalogs with, if not trepidation, a tad bit of nervousness. Squirrels have challenged everything I have planted. As I mentioned before, we have yet to enjoy one single peach from our lovely little tree. Once a squirrel sat munching on a beautifully formed green pepper while he stared me down. These guys don’t seem to like my basil plants but they dig them up anyway. I could almost imagine them snickering (“Heh, heh, this’ll get her!”) before I bolted out the back door yelling at them to leave those pots alone!

This year I am thinking of trying some patio gardening – blueberries, dwarf cherries, tomatoes. Maybe if I see the critters eyeing the goodies I can move the pots to another location to confuse them. (“As if!”) Did someone say something? Anyway, at the risk of my best laid plans going awry, I will be out there with springtime expectations and squirrel awareness. Those cherries look so darn delicious. This year, squirrels, I will have a harvest! (I hope.)

Any thoughts about squirrel-proofing a garden?

Spring-Dreaming

The snow seems to have stopped for now. Today is meant to be close to sixty. The layers of ice that coated the streets are reluctantly melting and the piles of icy white are pulling back from lawns and parking lots all around town. Spring daydreams are interrupting my work; I sense March in the gusts of wind that rattle against my office window.

But not to get too far ahead of myself, I saw this barren nest in the low branches of a tree not yet convinced that it is time to send out its foliage. A wise decision, I think, as I listen to the latest weather report. The temperature is going to drop down to the twenties tonight.

This time of year is fickle. Almost as if Mother Nature can’t decide what to wear. I can relate. Winter jacket or fleece? Corduroy or linen? Long sleeves, short sleeves, sweaters, or Tees? And the nest? Will it be occupied by the same mother bird for a new batch of feathered babies or is it truly abandoned, left to fray to pieces over the course of the year?

The shifting of seasons is a time for observation. Here in the northeast, because of being in a geographical place that experiences four seasons, we have plenty of opportunities to contemplate the vagaries of nature, indeed, of our own imaginings. When things stay the same our thoughts tend to as well. Throw in a little snow and the neighbors come out to play. Let spring showers drench the soil and we hunger to plant a vegetable garden. Summer heat sends us to the shore, fall leaves turn us inward.

I think I saw a young cardinal on the feeder this morning. It seems a tad early for fledglings to be about but maybe not, maybe mommy birds are spring-dreaming, too. Are you?