Scanner art by Craig Cramer, gardening & more
So you have something to listen to while you peruse all the pictures below.
Here’s NYC’s Nickodemus in their Mideast groove mode (Cleopatra in New York) …
Or if you’re more in the mood for Latin Funk, here they are with Funky in the Middle:
There was a lot of it.
An interesting couple of days here with freezing rain, heavy rain, high winds, power outtage overnight, a little snow and then some sun with everything still iced over. Page on down and you’ll actually see my first flowers of the year, too.
Frozen bittersweet berries. (Click images for larger view.)
Get up close and personal with the 2200-pixel version.
Heavy rains Saturday pushed our little stream over it’s banks.
I was worried about how the beaver dam would hold up during snow melt. I should have more confidence in their construction skills.
Fog over the ridge provided some drama.
Frozen aconite flower bud ready to pop.
Cyclamen in bud, but they’ve been in bud for about three months now.
Some sun on Sunday morning.
Gratuitous doggie pix, Fred:
And Jade:
Close up of the willow in the background above to give you an idea of how much ice is coating things.
Snow-capped monarda and some more bittersweet.
… of the season.  Snowdrops and crocuses pushing through on a south slope along Tower Rd. west of the Rockwell Azalea Garden on the Cornell Campus.
It started snowing right after I shot these. By the time I got home, any ephemerals that may have decided to show themselves here were covered.
Not much happening here gardening-wise. Here are some pix from this weekend of my bulb-forcing efforts, compared with a week ago.
I’ve never really done much with bulb forcing, save for buying pots of force bulbs in full bud from our student horticulture club. I realize now (duh!) that I’ve been missing out on a lot.
Buying the forced bulbs when they are about to bloom is great. But now I realize that I’ve missed out on what I like most about bulbs: Watching for the first signs of green poking up. The logarithmic growth stage where you swear you can see them growing. The appearance of the flower buds. And the first sign of color peeking out from the flower bud.
You miss all that fun when you buy a pot just as they’re blooming.
This vase my old buddy Steve gave me for my 50th last year is perfect for forcing bulbs with a little fish gravel and water.
The big bud on that narcissus in the tea pot popped open while I was at work today.
The albutilon hidden away with the other plants that are supposed to be in semi-dormancy keeps popping out flowers, along with the begonia. They look good in the blue bowl.
