Snow Moon and Garden Life

I don't think the Triangle will receive snow this week even if we did have a Super Snow Moon. Feb. 18th brought us gentle temperatures in the low 60s. It even brought out tadpoles and a garden frog. We are expecting cold weather starting late tonight with some rain possibly mixed with sleet.

This photo was taken around 6:30 p.m., Feb. 18.

The clouds are rolling in as the moon continues her upward ascent.

Earlier in the day I hung around the garden pond for awhile watching tadpoles and a frog sunning himself.

Small flowers are starting to emerge.

Wild Confederate Violet (That's the name for the pale blue ones. Technically, white with purple veining.)

Common, but beautiful wild violet which is a deep purple blue.

The goldfinches are starting to show signs of Spring with their yellow coloration increasing. I had to take this shot through the bedroom door so they wouldn't fly away. They are enjoying the Hot Meats sunflower seeds.

The Cardinals are gentle birds. The goldfinches are quite relaxed with them.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker doesn't like to share.

Blue Pearl crocus

The forsythias are starting their show.

I'm so ready for some gardening! I planted a weeping cherry tree branch yesterday. This is probably wishful thinking, but I'm hoping that it will root. The mother tree probably doesn't have many years left, so I'm planning ahead.

The paper bush blossoms are starting to open revealing their buttery yellow. This plant needed a gentle winter after last year. All of the outer branches died, but one. We'll be cutting this branch after the blooms mature. It's healthy, but the shape of the bush is distorted with one old branch and the others being much younger. The outer branches protected the new growth, rather like barrier islands protecting the shoreline of the mainland.

Later this week it will be the unenviable task of pulling up Spring onions.