Mother Nature Says "No Spring For You"!

Although the calendar may say that spring has arrived, Mother Nature has other ideas. Here in middle Tennessee, Mother Nature has decided that it's not quite time to say goodbye to winter. We've had some very cold, gloomy, wet days since the first day of spring. Today I woke to a dusting of snow with more in the forecast for today and tomorrow. 

I had a lot of plants coming out of dormancy, so I hope all my "babies" are okay out there!

This past Saturday, 3-23, the weather wasn't great, but it was nice enough for us to do some work in the garden. We were able to get the new beds in Morrow Park Phase III completely ready to plant. 

We just added this small path that connects to the larger path. The small section in the right front has a little bermuda grass in it, so it will need to be sprayed with grass killer once the bermuda comes out of dormancy. It wouldn't do any good to spray now because since the bermuda is dormant, the spray would not travel to the roots.

 

Compost and aged horse manure have been added to all planting areas. My hubby tilled everything together and I smoothed the beds with my rake. My hubby is a master at making new beds. He tills every new bed to a depth of about 12 inches. Now all we need is some warm weather and some plants......

Well I'll be darn, look what I found in the garage :-)  I have quite a collection waiting to be planted.

There are 42 plants here. This coming Friday, some of us gardeners from Clarksville are going to a wholesale nursery in McMinnville, Tennessee. I have my list already made and it's a looooong one! Many of the plants I buy on Friday will be used in the BIG SURPRISE coming to Morrow Park Phase II. I also have 41 types of flower seeds waiting to be planted.

I know spring will be here soon, I just have to be patient. In the meantime, I can still enjoy all the bird activity going on in the garden. I can always count on them for some great entertainment. For those of you following my Bluebirds, they are still here but haven't chosen a house yet (as far as I know.) The male is the most aggressive Bluebird I've ever seen. He has no problem chasing other birds away from the houses he's interested in, even though he's still "just looking". I did buy them more mealworms, but I've found that many of the birds enjoy mealworms, so I hope my Bluebirds got to eat some of them. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and until next time.....

Happy Gardening!

Words and Photos Property of Christy's Cottage Wildlife Garden.

Let It Snow!

Here in middle Tennessee we are getting a reminder that winter is not ready to leave us just yet. Yesterday and today we've had snow and sleet. This little guy says it all.

The gardens have been blanketed by about an inch of snow. Not enough to fully cover everything, but I have to admit it is pretty!

The snow always seems to bring more birds out. My hubby went out to make sure all the feeders were full! On the bench in the foreground you can see the Mockingbird waiting for his new apple!

Of course he had three of his helpers with him!

We always have Blue Jays in the garden, but today they were everywhere! This was also the first time I'd seen a Jay eat some apple. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough with the camera to capture the shot!

The peanut feeder is just to the right of this structure. They were waiting for my hubby to fill it!

Look closely...the two Mockingbirds are facing off over the apples.

As you've seen before, we have a lot of Cardinals!

Now even though it was snowing and sleeting yesterday, my hubby and I went to the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show. I look forward to this event every year. I bought one Bartzilla Tree Peony, six Salvias and eight Daylilys. Then we visited Home Depot where I bought an "Emerald Heights" Distylium (evergreen Witch Hazel). Next was Bates Nursery (my personal favorite) where I bought two Sonic Bloom Red Weigelas.  They are all waiting patiently in the garage until April 15th (our last frost date) when they will be planted! We laughed and laughed because it was so funny to be buying shrubs as the snow and sleet beat down on us!! I think I'm obsessed with gardening....and that's not a bad thing!

Happy Gardening!

Words and Photos Property of Christy's Cottage Wildlife Garden.

The Beauty of Ice

 Mother Nature is being downright cruel here in middle Tennessee. One day the sun will shine, the temperature will rise and the plants will begin leafing out and sticking their heads towards the blue sky. The next day we wake up to a garden covered in ice...my poor plants. I'm sure they will be fine, but it's just cruel!!

From my windows everything looked so different covered in ice, so I decided to brave the elements and take some pictures. Crunch, crunch, crunch beneath my shoes, then slip, slip, slip....I had to be careful. 

Look what I found...a winter wonderland!

  Camellia

 Icicles hanging from the top of the pergola.

 One of our tiki torches. We won't be using this for a while!

 One of the Pin Oaks. The ice didn't bother Rascal at all.

 The bird houses look cold on the outside, but I bet they're cozy inside!

 The chairs look like they have tassels hanging on them.

 The Crossvine on it's arbor.

 Russian Sage...each stem is encapsulated in ice.

 Poor Mockingbirds..their apples are frozen.

 The Leyland Cypress branches are heavy with ice.

 I thought this was a great shot...can you find all four birds? Three Cardinals... a female on the fence at left and two males on the feeder, and an Eastern Towhee on the right fence.

 My daffodils are trying so hard to bloom!

Spiraea (Goldflame)...it reminds me of an ice sculpture.

 Japanese Privet

 Watch out little fairy or you'll slip right off that rock!

 The gate looks so pretty with it's "greenery" and icicles.

Gaura

I hope you enjoyed my winter wonderland. What's the weather like in your garden?

Words and photos property of Christy's Cottage Wildlife Garden.