First fire of the season

Well, since my last post we've had our requisite last snowfall of about 4 inches,  but ever since we've been on the warm up and the forecast looks great!   There's even a 70 set for later this week,  and maybe even a thunderstorm.   We did have our first official rain this weekend,  and with this forecast,  I think things are going to start greening up.   My tulips were on hold since I left them outside,  but I think they should sprout up quickly now.   They had a setback when Indiana the puppy dug them out of their pots,  but I think they will pull through.   Now it's time to burn the branches that fell over the winter!  And our Christmas greens. 

Beautiful Weekend!

We had a great weekend down in Iowa.  Things are a bit further along down there,  about 3 hours South,  but not too far.  Our ground is mostly firm now (a few days in the 60s seems to do the trick), but nothing has started to show signs of spring yet.   No buds on the lilacs,  no irises poking through and the tulips in my pots have not showed any signs of progress.  The grass hasn't started to green yet either,  but that's ok.   We pulled out a couple of patio chairs and are enjoying a beautiful,  65 degree evening on the deck!

Tulips

Well,  I never got the tulips out of the garage like I planned,  and now it's just below freezing at night and in the 50s during the day,  so I decided to put the pots straight onto the patio.   I put them where they will get morning sun and have watered them...we'll see what they do!

It feels like Spring!

Above freezing temps for the full 10 day forecast!  Time to think spring chores!  The ground hasn't thawed yet-we have standing water all over the yard-so today we only picked up a portion of the doggie droppings, but we have to stay off of it for the most part until it dries out.

On the To-Do list will be to pick up the rest of the droppings, pick up any trash and sticks, burn the brush that fell over the winter once it dries out, and unpack the patio furniture!

Pups a playing

Honey and the newest member of our family, Indiana (Indy for short) are out enjoying the weather.   The Cardinals are too, singing from the tree tops.   It's only supposed to get up to 18 today,  but the sun feels warm and the extended forecast is showing a light at the end of the tunnel.   We have one more batch of snow in the forecast with mixed reports on how much we are supposed to get (Tuesday) and then we warm up to above freezing for highs by next weekend.   We have little snow on the ground now,  so hopefully we will have a quick warming this spring!

Tulips

The 10 day forecast shows some hope...temperatures above freezing for next weekend!

I think it might be time to try forcing the tulips I planted in pots and left in the garage over the winter.  I can never get them to last long in the garden beds due to the squirrels, etc. that seem to just love them, so we're trying them in pots this year.  I bought new bulbs in the fall and crammed them into pots with potting soil before it got too cold.  I varied from some of the directions and left the dirt dry as I didn't want my pots to crack in our cold Minnesota winters, so I'm not sure what will happen.

Here is what the National Gardeners' Association site says in regards to forcing:

Forcing bulbs to flower. Bring the chilled pots into a 50 degree F to 65 degree F room with bright, indirect light for about two weeks. The warmer the temperature, the shorter the flowering stems and faster the bulbs will flower. When the bulb shoots are 2 inches tall, move the pots to a sunny 68 degree F location. They'll flower within a week or so. The cooler the temperatures (60 degrees F is ideal at night), the longer the flowers will last.

http://www.garden.org/howtos/index.php?q=show&id=1326

I'm not sure we have a 50-65 degree room with indirect light...but I guess we'll try it and see how it goes!

Spring!

So, I know it's early.  But we had a nice January thaw in the last week or so, and now, even though it's going to get cold again soon, we have a whole flock of robins in the front yard!  I wonder what they will do in the coming week?  Will have to do some research...