Snowy Birds

Winter finally arrived in SW Ontario this weekend with over 10 inches of snow falling. That meant that the birds had to go back to relying on humans to provide food rather than digging through the seeds on the ground. 

These visitors braved the snowy weather and took to the goldfinch feeder. Sparrows and juncos seem to be the order of the day with the odd cardinal and goldfinch thrown in for good measure. Of course, they have to get past Queenie, the squirrel and her entourage who hold court most of the day by the big feeder.

I'm linking in with Mary from Little Red House for Mosaic Mondays.

Skywatch Fridays

It was a glorious day here in SW Ontario on Tuesday, so I caught this magnificent blue sky on my morning walk.

I'm linking in with Skywatch Fridays. 

Wordless Wednesday

Looking For Spring

Everything seems to be a little confused this year and the plants are all askew. We've had such a strange winter here in SW Ontario that I'm not sure if it ever did arrive. Yesterday we had a glorious day with the sun shining and temperatures in the high 40's. It felt like late March so I took to the local trails to take some pictures of this unusual weather.

The only snow I saw was in this wooded area and it was melting fast.

It was a perfect day for walking or running, like this jogger taking advantage of the balmy temperatures. It always makes me sad to see runners as that used to be me before my back got crazy on me. 

In fact, I had the same coat!

This little clump of moss seems to be doing well in the sunshine.

Shouldn't this river be frozen? At least the beavers have been busy building a dam. Or maybe it's otters. After all, I think the creek is named Otter Creek.

This shallow pond was iced over a bit. The only sign of winter other than that patch of snow.

And with this crazy weather comes crazy happenings in the garden. These leaves are opening up already. From clockwise top left: lilac, hydrangea, viburnum and quince buds. 

We're in for some colder weather this week so I'm hoping that the tender buds and shoots coming up will survive.

Forced Spring Branches Update

As you know, about 10 days ago I cut some branches outside in order to force them for some indoor blossoms. This is the result after only 10 days......instant spring.

This collection of photos are just some of the blooms we have in the house right now.....my Christmas cactus is finally blooming, the amaryllis blossom which opened after it was lopped off accidentally and a new piece of coral (well it's not real coral) that looks like it's opening up.

The forsythia is fully opened. I hope it lasts until we have dinner guests coming on Wednesday. I may put it in the garage to refrigerate it for a couple of days to hold the blooms.

The surprise is the flowering quince (middle right and bottom middle). All the photos online seem to show the quince as a deep pink, almost red, blossom. Since we haven't had a spring yet in this house, I was unsure of what to expect. Apparently I have a light pink flowering quince. The buds are not quite open yet, so I'll have to update you when they do.

This was my first attempt at making a Photo Mosaic using Big Huge Labs. Gotta love the internet for all the tools made available to us nowadays. What did we ever do before the world wide web?

I'm linking in with Mary from Little Red House for her Mosaic Mondays.

Turning a (Small) Tragedy Into Something Good

My amaryllis, which I've nurtured since early November, broke. That's the tragedy. I was moving it to water it and knocked the flower stalk over and it snapped at the base. It was nearly ready to open and I didn't want to just throw it out. So I turned it into something good.

Cutting it off and using it as a cut flower, I placed the poor thing in a small vase, added some cut leaves and a few branches of rose hips.

I think I saved the day with something simple. Fortunately it was the second shoot that this bulb had put out, so it wasn't too big a tragedy. But I felt bad anyways. And then I didn't feel so bad.

Bringing Some Spring Inside - How to Force Flowering Branches

Wouldn't it be nice to have something blooming in your home right now? For those of us here in the north, we have to contend with those pots of tulips and daffodils at the grocery store to bring some colour into our worlds. If we're really lucky and have planned ahead, you might have an amaryllis or some narcissus still blooming. And of course, there's always our flowering houseplants to keep us going through the dark of winter.

One of the ways that I like to bring some colour to the house and actually fool myself into thinking that spring IS just around the corner is to force some branches. This is a terrific way to get something going and make me feel like I'm a gardener again. 

forsythia

So take a walk around your yard to see what could be used inside. Forsythia, flowering quince, dogwood, apple trees and even magnolia can be forced into flowering when brought inside. Here's how:

1) Choose a day in late January/early February when it is above freezing to cut the branches.

2) Cut branches about 3 feet long and submerge in warm water in a bucket.

3) Let the branches soak up the water for about 1 day.

4) Change the water and place branches in the vase/holder you will keep them in. Make sure to strip any buds from the branches which are below the water line.

5) Regularly change the water as it grows cloudy (about every 2 - 3 days)

6) Now the hard part - WAIT. It will take about 2 - 3 weeks for the branches to bloom. Longer for bigger flowers like the magnolia. But it will be worth the wait.

star magnolia forced after 3 weeks (last year)

I'm going to try and force some magnolia again. Last year I had great success by waiting until late February and then cutting a few branches from my star magnolia tree.

flowering quince

We have a couple of flowering quince on the property that I have yet to see bloom - we just moved here in July, so were well past the season. Think I'll cut down a few of these branches to see what happens.

I'll keep you posted about the progress. Hopefully in a couple of weeks there will be forsythia blossoming and quince well on it's way to bringing some life to the house. For now, I'll have to contend with these forsythia and quince branches I cut today.