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...