December memories
Ha! I bet you thought I was going to entertain you with stories from the backs of closets or under beds. And how would that relate to the frigid photo above? Are you confused?
Well so is our yard this spring. Confused. After the brutal winter we are managing to get through a sad and wet spring. We didn’t get any forsythia blooms, no redbud blossoms, the Japanese maple is dead, many of our birch were irretrievably bent during December’s ice storm.
So this spring instead of planting beautiful young flowers, patting soil gently around their tender roots, our tools look like this:
Cleanup tools
And the results are just as harsh.
Makes me cry
It’s a sad spring, but some things are blooming, and Katie of course tries to brighten our day. So I guess we will accept what is and move forward with what’s left of our landscape. Let’s hope next winter isn’t as harsh. I don’t think the plants that survived this last one could make it through a second.
Hey Mama! This one made it!
I don’t think I could either.
brrrrrrrrr
Change Is Hard 
May 31, 2014 at 6:35 pm
Taking down trees is just the saddest thing. Next winter simply has to be better than the last. My forsythias didn’t bloom either, but other peoples’ did. Maybe next spring…..
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June 1, 2014 at 9:30 am
I hope next spring is, well, springier.
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May 31, 2014 at 6:55 pm
Our forsythias were pathetic. Our clematis were both killed, as was the hibiscus. Sad, sad sad!
Our sassafras tree was damaged to the point it needs to be removed. And that’s the tree that had Prometheus moths a few years ago. It was so cool to have a flock of silkworm moths!
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June 1, 2014 at 9:30 am
It’s all sad. Every day I find more things that are just gone.
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May 31, 2014 at 7:20 pm
Wevelots quite a few plants too – my big gardenia is struggling to regrow and my sweet olive tress is sown to a third of the size it was.
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June 1, 2014 at 9:30 am
You had a lot of ice and cold too, even down there!
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May 31, 2014 at 7:21 pm
My forsythia has never done well but this year it’s so nothing I think it has to come out. And we only had a couple of weeks of unusually cold weather. At least you have that beautiful peony! And, of course, Katie.
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June 1, 2014 at 9:31 am
The peony is a tree peony, the kind that don’t die down. I have two. Only one has any blooms. But yes, we still have Katie! 🙂
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May 31, 2014 at 8:05 pm
I totally agree—it was a rough winter. Let’s hope we have a lovely summer.
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June 1, 2014 at 9:32 am
I think we deserve an extra month of summer. Maybe two months.
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May 31, 2014 at 10:01 pm
That is one gigantic peony. I don’t envy the winters you have, but I’m definitely coveting your peonies!
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June 1, 2014 at 9:32 am
It’s a tree peony, has hard bark, doesn’t die back in the winter..different blooms, and blooms earlier than the traditional peony. The traditional ones are in bud now..soon we will have blooms I hope!
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June 1, 2014 at 6:48 am
Katie brightens it all up with that smile! So sad when mother nature wreaks havoc on itself! Hope the summer blooms pretty!
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June 1, 2014 at 9:33 am
I hope so too!
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June 1, 2014 at 8:03 am
You are so right about this winter – so very harsh, and many plants around here have had a difficult time too. The worst for me were my lilac trees. Lots of dead branches and hardly any gloriously fragrant blooms. I’m starting to wonder about my butterfly bushes too. Their growth seems far behind normal this spring. Your peonies are ahead of mine – still waiting for blooms here!
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June 1, 2014 at 9:34 am
Our butterfly bush is coming up from the roots but is only about 1 inch high so far. It was brutal this past winter, so cold, so much snow. But the stuff under the snow survived. The stuff out in the air just died.
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June 1, 2014 at 12:07 pm
I can’t even get started on little lost trees. Too sad. Need to focus on the plants that made it through, as we did — even if barely!
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June 2, 2014 at 8:34 am
You’re right. I’m trying not to dwell on the lost.
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June 1, 2014 at 1:56 pm
Dawn, I totally empathize. We lost one crepe myrtle, one hydrangea, and the bulk of our show-roses. Our holly doesn’t look too happy, either. It’s amazing how harsh nature was this winter. And, like you, we’ve had a mostly nasty spring — wet, dreary, yuck — and now, temps are soaring into the upper 80s with storms predicted for much of the week. Sigh. We take what we get, but we don’t have to be happy about it, ha!
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June 2, 2014 at 8:34 am
It was an amazingly terrible winter. I hope we don’t see another like it.
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June 1, 2014 at 2:32 pm
There is one good thing about having a clear out of your garden, NEW STUFF 🙂
Can’t get any more squeezed into ours, Summer and roses at the moment. Not looking forward to Winter one bit, a bit of Summer sun wouldn’t be a bad thing either. Enjoy your garden. Luv’s x
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June 2, 2014 at 8:34 am
Good point Frankie, good point.
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June 1, 2014 at 10:51 pm
It was a harsh winter. I’m grateful that we did not suffer an ice storm. Almost everything made it through the cold but the ice would have been a whole different story. Katie is blooming tho!
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June 2, 2014 at 8:35 am
Katie is always blooming. Lucky dog.
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June 3, 2014 at 4:20 pm
Thank goodness winter is over. (We hope.) Cleanup from these brutal winters can be something else. I like what you said up there about needing two extra months of summer. That sounds just about right.
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June 4, 2014 at 1:31 pm
It sure was a tough winter. Thankfully, we didn’t suffer the ice you guys did 😦
Our redbud bloomed, but only on the upper branches. Everything seems to be leafing out, though. As my mom likes to think: at least this gives you the opportunity to try some new plants!
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June 8, 2014 at 9:26 pm
I number of us in my southeast Michigan neighborhood lost plants over this last winter. This has not happened in the 9 years I’ve been here.
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