Spring is on its way

I'd click my heels if I could jump that high! I'll go with a patch of green weeds though! I swear some of the weeds remained green thru the Winter!
Spring can't get here soon enuff.
I'd say about 10% of my roughly 200 potted plants outside have buds.
I'm just going mainly by the little firm buds, some are even hard to see, but at least their there!
I've even been gently bending the little branches on my seedlings for pliableness.
We didn't quite make it to 70 degrees today, maybe 65.
I'm curious to see the ones that made it thru the Winter so I can empty out the pots that don't have a living plant in them, so I can clean up the yard more.

This morning it was -22 F (-30 C) and then 30 F (-1C) this afternoon...... a whopping 52 degree jump in temperature! After a couple feet of hard packed snow melts we will all be delighted to see some freeze dried brown grass. Aaaahhh Spring!

Wow, now that's a warm-up!

Resin - Is that normal weather for you? I guess I never noticed your zone before.

I certainly warm here. It's about time for me to mow the onions LOL , my yard is infested with them and they look awful.

Teehee!!
Wild Onions are definitely a sign of green, Although the "onions" are further into Spring here.
They always make my nose run when I mow. I call them Wild Garlic but Wild Onion is used to describe them too.
I like when I hit the onions with the lawnmower, they make this unique sound of achievement when there isn't much grass around to cut.
You know you have cabin fever when your talking about cutting the onions in the yard!
Another good thing about Spring is the wild animal (or animals) living in my attic for warmth will be vacating soon and I won't have to listen to the patter of feet much longer!

Will

I finally caught a few azalea blooms today.

"Pride of Mobile" azalea

We had another bigger round of severe weather back on the night of February 28 lasting into the morning of March 1, with the first EF4 tornado ever recorded in the nation hitting about 50 miles from me.(The new "improved" rating system of tornadoes) We got about 5 1/2 inches of rain at my place and as much as 6 1/4 inches in some places. Snow Drops started blooming within about 4 days of the end of our long cold snap(36 days total). Crocus began blooming the day after all of the severe weather. Yesterday Cornelian-Cherry(Cornus mas) began blooming and today Magnolia sprengeri 'Diva' began blooming and a couple other Asian Magnolias have buds just about to burst open. We'll have to see if any more severe frosts hit(below about 27°F or so) to ruin the Magnolias or not(none are forecast for the coming week). My Witchazel are still blooming strong, but all look bleached out in color compared to most years. I think this is because of our unusually harsh long cold snap which hit just as most started blooming back in January. Also, today I have a big flock of Titmice in my yard. They are just smothering some of my Southern Magnolias, apparently roosting in them for the night. We used to almost never see any Titmice in my immediate area until a couple of years ago. Lastly, the first Ground Squirrels appear to be out and about for good now.

Oops, Kman, better be careful of the words we're using lest we offend someone. Didn't you mean to say you had a big flock of Breastrodents? Some of these (looks to me like a cross between a Junco and Cardinal) spend the winter up here.

What a difference a zone makes. Today there is more grass than snow. The crocus are trying to outrun the rabbits. A few early tulips and daffs have just poked through the soil. Nothing in the bird category is "flocking". They seem to be getting territorial in preparation for mating and nesting. The cardinals are really singing and advertising for a mate. Our worst threat for a magnolia wrecking frost is about April 9th. I will never forget what this area looked like when it hit 9 degrees on April 9th after dormancy had broken and the magnolias were blooming. The magnolias looked like the branch tips were covered in brown rags. Bark split showed up on a lot of trees in the following season. Ughhh. Breastrodents?! Oh puuuuleeese. A tufted titmouse is a tufted titmouse.

The "Enhanced Fujita Scale" EF4 tornado would not be a good visitor at my mobile home.
Mobile homes are part of the EF scale. "Complete destruction to mobile homes" I think is how they say it,
I think that might've been just been for an EF3 tornado. I just hope I'm not in mine if an EF4 ever comes!
I'm having a funny time with animals coming in my house this Winter.
I never see them but I know their there! Here, at my little house, there is animals of some kind in the
attic (probably cats or squirrels). At my mobile home there is likely stray cats under the mobile home.
I found muddy paw prints at my mobile home in my bathroom! The paw prints gave them up good, they were in my tub, on the sinks and in several other places. They get in thru a panel that I need to have off to access some plumbing. When Spring gets here to stay, I'll fix it so none of those hobos can get in!
I'm not quite as anxious to see attractiveness in bloom, at my point I want to see buds on anything thats alive!
I have to subject all my plants to being in pots outside, which isn't ideal for their hardiness.
When I see which ones are alive, I can work on emptying out the not alive ones and make more progress on moving from this small house which I rent, into the mobile home which I aspire to own soon.
One good thing about the extreme cold this Winter, it has likely done away real good with the Brown Recluse spiders that have infested my house all these years! I work a long shift at work and I turn the heat off to the spiders' dismay. Oh, what a tangled web we weave!

shortleaf, could it be raccoons? They love a bathroom (water) and move around at night. I hope no one sees an EF anything this coming spring storm season.

Major Robin sightings in Brodhead Wisconsin last weekend. Ten to twelve were enjoying the dried fruit from a Hawthorn in the backyard. Plenty of Cardinals--but not one brave Robin yet in our Chicago yard. I'm listening for them --but so far haven't heard a single one. Maybe tomorow.

Hi Snapple, raccoons is a possibility. I've seen them around. Though in this mobile home
community, unfortunately stray cats are everywhere. I like cats, I've had an all black one for ten years,
since she was a kitten. I've seen them go under other mobile homes. The repair guy says they dig up
in there if they can find a crack big enuff to have their litter. He said he has found litters of stray
kittens inside mobile homes!
When I saw those paw prints in my mobile home yesterday, my head was spinning all around
and I was thinking "oh god, maybe its still in here". "Maybe theres more than one", "maybe their going
to get me in my sleep".
Once Spring gets here good. I'll try to be sure they've vacated and I'll seal the place up.

The Yellow Jessamine is blooming and it smells fantastic! It completely covers many shrubs in the woods here.

I caught this beautiful picture of P.palustris forming new cones. A sure sign of spring.

Very kewl Chad.

Went for a drive this morning in the rain. First dogwoods in bloom here. And iris for the first time this year. Also, a few spirea, bridal wreath.

Man oh man, I bet that was a pretty sight. :-)

There was also Redbud, Bradford Pear, and some fruiting pears near the old college grounds all in bloom. the next show will be from the azaleas.

After about a six week "yellow flag" forced pit stop, the Cornus mas are revving up their engines again. 'Golden Glory' is looking good at the Valley, but there is snow forecast this evening here.

Various Forsythia are looking decent, and the remaining reluctant witch hazels (probably all 'Arnold Promise') are colorful.

A few magnolias were daring to swell up and peep out; they are going to fry this weekend. Maybe a Magnolia stellata Brown Mush™ naming opportunity portends...

I see green peeping from the soil, I see green!!

No robins yet, pretty cardinals still, and a pileated woodpecker.

Although there have been numerous sightings locally, I got my first backyard robin today! The tulips are stubbornly pushing through the soil, in spite of yesterday's light snow. I've got one of those weeping pussy willows that looks like "Cousin It" leafed out (at least it's on its own root), but it's starting to pop and for the next three to four weeks will put on a very nice show. Kept pruned and untangled it has good winter interest too. The buds on the Weeping Higan are swelling. This will be the first time blooming here. Might not be much as it was a 6'' caliper transplant late last June. Thankfully the magnolia buds are still tight. Next Wednesday is looking like the day the weather will turn a true spring corner.

I'd like to have a weeping pussy willow, they're so elegant and refined.

PrairieGirlZ5 - I will post pics of this tree when the catkins are out fully and then again when it is in leaf. It really is a big leafy mound when fully leafed out. They require a firm hand with pruners. You can prune anytime. Also after the first hard freeze to avoid a straggly apperance through the winter I have to pull off the browned leaves that didn't fall. It is not fully dehiscent. The spring show and the winter interest, when it is cleaned up, make it worth the maintenance and the "Cousin It" look through summer. Try to find one that is not a top graft.

Rich's Foxwillow Pines had them at MidAm, I forgot to ask if they were grafted. Thanks for the reminder.

Snapple; "Cousin It" . What is that?

Cousin It would be from 'The Addams Family'.........

Minus the hat, of course. I guess my age was showing.

http://www.fortunecity.com/bennyhills/pun/190/cousinitttheaddamsfamily.htm

Now i got ITT. Cousin Itt. Weeping Pussy Willow. HAH! HAH!