Just passing through

Those giant metal pinwheels can't come soon enough.  The moose have been tromping though the yard every day for the last week.  We have to listen at the front door before we open it because sometimes they are right there!  Though the moose haven't eaten much, they certainly don't help soil structure in the raised beds by compressing it.  And plants don't care for having their crowns stepped on, even if they are ignored as a food source.  My poor newly planted rhubarb!  Almost a direct hit.

It has been unseasonably warm.  Get those bulbs planted NOW.  Planting bulbs is a pleasurable activity in this kind of weather.  Miserable when it's cold.  You've been warned.

Have you planted your bulbs yet?

Lucky for me, this year I only planted about 5 small bags. Some years I plant hundreds of bulbs so it was a welcome change to be done in two half-hour bouts. I still bought too many. It's easy to tell when that happens because one or more of the following things happens: 1. the process takes so long you need a visit to the chiropractor for your lower back, 2. you are clean out of planting sites and still holding a sack of 200 daffodils, or 3. your dug-up yard is starting to resemble a prairie dog colony.

And what did I choose in this season of apparent restraint in my bulb purchases? Allium moly (cheerful yellow spheres), Allium sphaerocephalum (dark violet), Muscari ameniacum (blue grape hyacinth), Narcissus 'Sundial' (a miniature yellow daff, very refined-looking).

Advice for next year: buy the so-called minor bulbs, like Scilla, Crocus, and Allium. You can plant a lot more in a hole versus the big daffs and tulips. There are still some bulbs out there for the procrastinator. Just be sure to choose healthy-looking, plump ones with the tunic (onion -like covering, usually a brownish color) intact. If it looks wizened or feels squishy, keep moving.