Spring in Minnesota

Well, my wishes for a snow day came true!  Here are a couple of shots of the view from the deck at 10:00 this morning.

Though it's hard to tell, it is still snowing and blowing, and we have several inches of snow on the ground.

 

I guess it was a little overly optimistic of me to put out lawn chairs already.  Spring in Minnesota is so unpredictable.  While others around the country are posting pictures of lovely flowers in bloom, I'm just getting excited about perennials finally waking from their winter slumber.   I try to rationalize living here by believing that the long, cold winter only makes the spring and summer that much more sweet, but in reality, I'd love to be sitting outside in 70 degree weather in March.  Heck, I'd even take 50!  C'est la vie.  Another day to stay inside and dream of spring flowers to come.

Snow!

I can't believe I'm actually cheering for a blizzard in March, but I am!  I'm lucky enough to work in a school district that I love, which is incredibly stressful, difficult, yet rewarding work.  But I can't help but feel like a little kid at the prospect of a "SNOW DAY!"  For those of you not working in education, remember the sweet victory you felt when listening on the radio just to hear your school called out as one that is closed for the day?  And suddenly, a little gift from heaven above, a day where you don't have any obligations, where you don't have to deal with the bully on the bus or science homework.  As an adult, I appreciate those days even more - a day without meetings, without appointments, without stress.  A gift of a day that I can do whatever I want with.  If we have a snow day tomorrow (which looks pretty good at this point) after our 10+ inches of snow prediction and blizzard warning, then I will spend the day lounging around with my kiddos, playing games, maybe watching a movie, and definitely dreaming of the gardening season to come!

Signs of Spring

Today, the mercury rose to an absolutely gorgeous 52 F.  It was wonderful to come home from work and see that all the snow had melted off of the lakeside hill.  Although we still have a few inches of snow in the yard, the unseasonably warm weather prompted a quick garden tour.  Most of the snow in the gardens has melted, and I was able to pull away some of the dead sedum stalks to unveil the earliest emerging sedum buds.  I love the optimism of these plants - they usually emerge very early and are early harbingers of the gardening season to come.  It's nice to finally feel that spring may actually come to the great northwoods!

Glorified Weeds

Kathy Wieditz truly has the most beautiful home garden on the planet, in my opinion.  She propagates plants from her gardens in northern Minnesota to sell as well, calling her business Glorified Weeds.  I'm just as excited to see her gardens in bloom as I am my own!  Here is a link to her garden gallery to enjoy.

Sidewalk Garden

Lacking software for garden planning, I used Better Homes and Gardens online garden planner to plot out a "sidewalk garden" to make the path to the house a little more interesting.  Everything shifted a little after I saved it but it gives the general idea.  The plan involves the following plants:  Endless Summer hydrangea, nepeta (the three bluish looking mounds), pansies, hardy geranium (in blues or purples, not the pink as is indicated), bearded iris (the larger looking ornamental grasses) and a gold sedum I'm ordering from Bluestone Perennials titled "Sedum Angelina"(the shorter looking ornamental grasses).  I'm hoping the Iris will do something in this location - I have had NO LUCK at all with bearded irises at this house despite being able to grow them just fine at our previous home a mile away as the crow flies.

The Catmint and Geranium (Jolly Bee variety) I plan to get from my favorite gardener, Kathy, at Glorified Weeds (glorifiedweeds.webs.com). The Iris plants will be moved from another location in my yard, the pansies will come from Young's Greenhouse in Sturgeon Lake, and I'll pick up the hydrangeas at Spring Fresh Garden Center in town.

Johnny's Seed Disks

This is the extent of my early seed planting - next year I'll invest in some lights and attempt to grow my own tomato plants by seed, but until then, these little seed disks from Johnny's Seeds will do the trick!  The starter set came with six pots and six seed disks:  parsley, thyme, basil, greens, sweet marjoram, and chives.  But I opted not to plant the chives - really, once you have chives, you don't need any more!  Instead we planted some marigolds in the sixth pot.  We'll see how it goes - it's fun to actually "plant" something after this never-ending winter!

Blooming Fence

I came across this fence project in the Summer 2009 Better Homes & Gardens Do It Yourself magazine (thankful for my workplace magazine swappers!).  Complete directions for this project can be found at http://www.diyideas.com/outdoorideas/Structures/fence-ideas_ss12.html. 

This fence project would look amazing out by the end of the driveway, right behind the boulder that we brought over from the shops last fall.  And it would be easy to find some colorful annuals to fill the pots to bring some color to that shady area.  I just have to figure out where to get my hands on an old portion of fencing.