With the little bit of frost we had a couple of weeks ago many folks were relieved that they were done with zucchini and cucumbers, but hopefully folks covered the pumpkins as we are having the best weather of the year if you exclude the wind. But the wind has cleared much of the smoke, so there is something good about all of it. If we could just get some more rain. Since we haven’t had much rain our thoughts turn to fall watering.
Read MoreSo, the past couple of weeks I have been out and about and sometimes I end up paying more attention to the landscapes I see than to my driving. I am always trying to see what plants folks have in their yard and how those plants are doing. I see some spectacular shrubs and trees, and I see some shrubs and trees that have outlived their useful life for one reason or another.
Read MoreMany of us live in the urbanwildlife interface and I will not bore everyone with my opinion of that here. At my house in Florence we have a mule deer doe that hangs around our yard with 3 fawns. We don’t know if they are all hers or if she is babysitting but 4 deer hanging around the yard every day is taking a toll on the plants. Fawns are the worst as they will taste everything they walk by.
Read MoreFor those of us who endlessly complain about the weather, we have had plenty to complain about this year. The past few days of temperatures in the 90s during the last days of May feels too soon for that kind of heat. Even though my feet might be cold a good bit of the time, the rest of me is usually much too warm. I would rather put on more clothes to get warm because it is not my best look with less clothes. (No wise cracks, please!)
Read MoreI have been speculating since last October that we could see weather related plant damage this spring, and we are far enough into May to begin to see the results of that early October freeze. October 8th last year temperatures were in the 70s and October 9th and 10th they dropped to low 30s. Many plants cannot recover from that kind of temperature change. Specifically, many of the linden’s leaves were frozen before they had their fall color change.
Read MoreBack in the day I remember that our church youth group had a tradition of passing out carnations on Mother’s Day. I had to check my favorite internet resources to refresh my memory on why that was a thing. History lesson for today: Mother’s Day was started by Anna Reeves Jarvis in West Virginia before the Civil War as a club to teach moms how to care for their children.
Read MoreIn this strange and unsettling time we are reminded how interconnected our world has become. A few years back there was an active campaign to buy American made products if possible but lately we have been distracted by the day to day noise around us.
Read MoreIt has been yet another tricky couple of weather weeks in our Montana spring! I think back to when my two boys were young, and we had the neighborhood Easter egg hunt at our house each year. Looking back over the photos, some years the kids were in cute Easter clothes and some years they were wearing snow suits. Back in my college days in Bozeman (we don’t have to say how far back that was) it snowed 2 feet on Easter weekend. Yikes!!
Read MoreAs we welcome back “Spring” in Montana, those of us who love plants and love to garden are anxious to get out in the yard. At this moment in our current national crisis we want to let you know that we are open as weather permits and that we are working to figure out the best way to serve our customers with all efforts to protect customers and staff.
Read MoreHere I am again writing as the weather changes from a taste of winter back to fall after we enjoyed a couple almost 70 degree days. If you think you are whirling on a rubber band imagine what the trees are thinking. Well, maybe not “thinking”, but you know what I mean. After the heavy, wet snow many trees lost leaves similar to our two summer hail storms, but other trees are still green and holding their leaves. Deciduous trees lose their leaves because they need to save energy for the winter.
Read MoreLooks like Mother Nature thinks we should have an extended bout of cool wet weather even though the fall equinox slipped by with no fanfare. I always have to write several days before this comes out and hope that I am relevant with the weather. I was going to say that no frost yet leaves my hand twitching to get started with my fall clean up and pruning, but it looks like we will have that killing frost in the next night or two.
Read MoreIt is Tuesday, and as I sit down to write today I am checking the weather forecast and it looks like it will be beautiful for Mother’s Day. This cool, wet weather that has been with us has delayed many of our trees and shrubs as they leaf out for the season. That is a good thing as we are still having some areas reporting frost. You have heard me say that I grew up on a dry land wheat and alfalfa ranch north of Reed Point. My father continually lamented the drought and drilled into us that we need to be thankful for every drop we get.
Read MoreIn an effort to avoid my usual last minute style I have been jotting notes of things to start off with this year. As I look over the list I can already tell I have too much for this first effort. That said, without repeating last year word for word I am going to ask you to refer to the Canyon Creek Nursery website under the Pat’s Corner tab to re-read “Will It Ever Be Spring?” to review spring clean-up chores.
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