Snowdrops Wednesday, and snowdrops yesterday:
This has been our winter – a true roller coaster of conditions, with overall temperatures so mild many events – ice fishing derbys, snowshoeing races – have been cancelled. The flip side is that sap is already running up sugar maple trees and pancake breakfasts county wide are starting this weekend! I’m joining Jim’s weekly meme at Garden Ruminations for Six on Saturday today for an early look at the spring just a month away.
Aside from the snowdrops (Galanthus sp.), for which an early appearance is not rare, a few other bulbs have taken advantage of thawing soil to push up a month or so earlier than usual, including Hyacinth and these Muscari latifolium and daffs:
We also have the first dandelion of the year!
The baby Brussels sprout-like buds on multiple Hylotelephium spectabile have started fattening up:
And finally, my gardening task this weekend will be to finish pruning various shrubs and trees. Normally, mid-February is a good time for pruning since everything should be dormant, with no sap making its way up trunk or branch. I’ve finished most of my pruning already, but I still have a few shrubs to do, including these two Paw Paw (Asimina triloba) saplings. I’ve written about them before, explaining how rabbit damage last year caused many side branches to grow. I surrounded them with chicken wire last fall for protection and now I want to find in each a single main trunk before I transplant them to their permanent home (which yes, I should have done last fall!).
Have a great weekend everyone!
County Gardening 
Sap rising is an excellent sample of Spring, although Winter looks like it’s putting on a fight to leave.
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A half hearted fight, perhaps…😁😁😁
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I can’t wait to see the new shape of your pawpaw. When will you get the first fruits? In 2-3 years?
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Theoretically, yes…a lot will depend on rain ( or lack of) and if I water them, I think…
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Ah, dandelions. It’s always exciting to see planned-for flowers emerging, but there’s still something exceptionally springish about those pretty bits of yellow.
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Absolutely!!
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Yes, we are having a very strange winter too. I fear there will be snow in summer……
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Now wouldn’t that be something!!
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Baby Brussels sprouts sums up the buds of Hylotelephium perfectly – I’ve yet to inspect mine for signs of new growth. Pancake breakfasts – yum.
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Yum indeed!!😁
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Strange how warm it is there. Our winter has been cooler. Are Paw Paws popular there?
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They are getting more and more popular, I think largely because they are thought of as a ‘native’ fruit tree, as well as somewhat unusual. I like the large leaves, which turn a beautiful honey orange in the fall.
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They make attractive trees, though I think you need two for fruit? There is a breeder in Virginia, have you read about him?
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Yes, two are needed for pollination. It’s difficult and expensive to get plants from outside Canada; luckily there are a number of native plant nurseries in Ontario.
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Good. Another plant that grows here. My grandfather was a farmer and said that they were better if you found them in the woods.. the fruit. It was a big treat.
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Not many are aware that maple sugar comes from maple trees anymore. Bigleaf maple, which was the sugaring maple of British Columbia, grows wild here. Collection of sap is impractical only because of the climate. Winter ends so abruptly that buds break almost immediately after sap starts to flow. I collected a bit of sap for syrup in the past, only because I was told that it is not possible here, but I do not recommend it.
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There are loads of sugar maple on my property, but it’s too much work to collect, boil and bottle when there are also loads of small commercial sugar bushes and syrup producers here. Nice to visit at the end of winter.
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