Where was the snow last week? I actually found myself wandering around the yard last weekend, visiting the summer greenhouse, checking on my tool friends in the shed just in case I need a dandelion tool next weekend, and starting the mower, just for kicks. I mean, who expects hoodie weather and visible lawn in the middle of January? Not this Alaska gardener.
As far as I am concerned, it's pretty hard to concentrate on things winter when there is so much lawn showing. Our entire backyard is exposed as I write this and fortunately, despite being frozen, the grass appears green. I feel like I am in Seattle, not Anchorage.
This fall's leaves are still where I left them, in beds around the trees and shrubs doing their mulch thing. They are starting to unfreeze, dislodge and with the hard, warm Chinook winds, blow around a bit. I started the mower to be sure I could, just in case I have to go out there and mulch them up again -- wishful thinking on my part, I know.
Things are great in the backyard greenhouse. I had to take my sweatshirt off, in fact, as it was pretty warm in there. Of course, outdoor greenhouses can be eerie places this time of year, without plants; the skeletons of Brandywines, Black Krims and Oregon Springs haunt the place. One still had a few fruits, and one of those was covered with the most amazing, thick, white, foamy fungal colony I have seen since, well, since last spring.
OK, I will admit it! I actually tried to stick my index finger into the soil of a couple of containers first in the greenhouse and then on the porch, just to see if it was thawed enough to plant a few sweet peas just for kicks. It wasn't, as some of you who also tried discovered. And of course, we should be thanking the stars for that, instead of feeling just a tad disappointed and wishing for even warmer weather to arrive so we can simple chuck this winter thing and get on with outdoor gardening.
My impulse was to even examine the buds on the birch tree by the back door, the one that I have come to rely on for my phenological observations regarding the arrival of spring, leaves the size of squirrel's ear and all that planting out stuff. Is it my imagination that suggests they actually have started to swell a bit and could pop out way earlier than normal?
Of course, I could not help looking for dandelions in the now visible, green lawn. They were there in spades when I put the lawn to bed, but for the life of me, I couldn't find any signs of the plants. For just a moment, I wanted to call my neighbor over so we could stand there and congratulate ourselves for the purity of our lawns, even though we both know the dandelion roots are safely tucked away. Plants will come back when spring finally and truly does arrive, and most probably with an unbelievable vengeance that will require us to redouble our failing eradication efforts.
I have to say, I was happy to have my faithful hound, Gracie, patrolling the grounds as I pretended it was spring. We live in an area where we worry about bears, and if this gardener is wandering around looking for some sort of confirmation that this really is early spring, then there has to be a bear doing the same. How can they sleep when it is so warm outside? It feels like spring.
I don't know. Maybe it is a factor of not being able to ski or snowshoe or even safely ice-skate that causes the Alaska gardener's mind to play tricks. After all, this is Alaska and despite great advances in weather -- and with all our faith in Jackie Purcell for so many years -- our weather is not really predictable by any manner of man or beast, except for one simple fact: Spring never comes in January. Never. I have a feeling it will soon be time to get back to the catalogs.
Jeff's Alaska Garden Calendar
Fido cleanup: When there is little snow and warm weather, it is a good idea to get at those dog droppings.
Plantskydd: If you want to apply this wonderful moose repellent, warm weather periods are the only time to do so. This is sticky stuff and it is not fun to apply in the frigid cold.
Houseplants: Some, you will know which, will start to lean toward the light this time of year. Turn pots 1/4 turn every few days to prevent bending.
Pelargoniums: If you have any growing indoors, now is a good time to take cuttings. Let them callous over by exposing cuttings for 48 hours before inserting into damp sand or sandy soil mix.
Amaryllis: Get yours out of storage and water.