Winter Garden At Rest

Welcome. Come on into my winter garden all dressed in white. Another inch of snow fell last night. I heard it pelting against the skylights in our bedroom around midnight. Look how it covers all and makes everything beautiful.

HH might not agree. We own a paving company. Every day that it snows, we can’t work, which means I don’t get Photoshop for my Valentine, or my anniversary present in May. So, I’m about over the snow. I know this falls under “stuff I can’t control,” and just when I think I’m getting that lesson down, God sends another inch. Therefore, this morning, I took out my camera and decided to make some snowy lemonade. Here are some of the things I saw. First, a couple of scenes from the back garden. This is my little bird bath. Although it looks good as a focal point, it isn’t very effective in its stated purpose. As I posted earlier about potential Christmas gifts, bird baths are much more enticing to our winged friends if they have bubblers. I plan to add one to mine in the spring. Also, bird baths are used more in the sun. Seems the little guys are suspicious of shaded bathing. They like to fluff their stuff out in the open (where they can see cats and other predators.) I would place this in the sun, but it is crafted from wrought iron. Read HOT, as in scalding little birdy feet, so it will stay in the shade.

This is the arbor at the rear of the back garden. It is covered encased by Rosa ‘New Dawn,’ a large flowered climbing rose I find almost invasive. We have a love/hate relationship. Every year I whack her back only to have her eat the arbor again. Don’t be fooled by the pretty pictures in the magazines. ‘New Dawn’ is voracious in her appetite. Also, although she is listed as repeat flowering, she only blooms once a year for me. Her best quality is that birds like to nest in her canes. The only other rose I ever grew which could match her for thorn for thorn was ‘Mermaid.” I chopped her down one summer. I still bear the scars.

It looks like I sat on the snowy chair. No, I just brushed off some twigs. The pile at the foot of the chairs was ruining my photo op. The chairs are made of heavy grade plastic. My mother bought them years ago and gave them to me when she tired of them. They remained white until last summer when I painted them with Fusion spray paint. It really did seem to bond to the plastic, and I like the dark green better.

This bit of winter color is Geranium sanguineum var. striatum, or Bloody Cranesbill. I really enjoy this plant in late spring when it is covered with purple blooms. Then, it quietly sits, in its green state, until fall when it turns a lovely orange/red. I saw it peeking through the snow the other day and felt like it needed its picture snapped. This is only one leaf of a much larger plant, about three feet wide by two feet tall.

I have more pictures that I’ll share next time of our surrounding property. When I went out this afternoon, I noticed that although it is only 32 degrees, most of the snow has already melted.

To be continued . . . .