Good morning, gardeners!
Meteorological Spring is here. It brought colors, blooms, surprises and something as precious as gemstones — rain. And, of course, the usual highly deviant behavior of Texas weather.
Rain began falling on Sunday Feb 18, 2018 (68o) and continued for the next six days.
North Texas has been teetering on the moderate to severe drought line for 6 months. Without a doubt, rain was the most wished for sight this February. We should have been more careful about what we wished for.
Torrential thunder storms came in waves on Tue/Wed/Thu after a cold front dropped temps by 37o to below freezing Tuesday night. The northwestern section of north Texas got walloped with an ice storm (several inches) and a Fujita Scale f-0 tornado. Smaller towns in the area are still reeling from loss of power due to ice encased tree limbs falling on power lines.
Eastern exurban homes are flooded with 3+ feet of water. Faulty couplings on natural gas lines in shifting soil are the culprits that caused 3 fires/explosions on one block of homes in northwest Dallas. A 10 block area has been evacuated. All because of water in it’s varied forms.
My neck of the woods dodged the ice storm bullet: morning lows were 34, highs 43. Up to 10 inches MORE rain is expected through March 1 on top of 9.5” inches already. We get a break on Sun/Mon, then 3-4 days of more rain. Last night the entire metroplex was completely socked in with fog.
As our weather forecasters tell us daily, unpredictable conditions (heat, cold snap, freeze, snow, ice, hail, sleet, rain, fog, flood, wind, dust/pollen/smoke, tornadoes) can happen any time in any month in Texas. It’s a “whole ‘nother country” in weather terms and it makes Spring gardening in it very OMG now what? Freeze blankets one day, but not the next.
Every forecast includes a storm risk ranging from low to high. Last night’s risk assessment for today: high probability (100%) of severe thunderstorms through late afternoon causing flooding, medium probability (50%) of hail and a low (but not zero) probability of tornadoes. High temp today: 64o in Dallas.
Typical annual rainfall is around 38 inches, so with this week’s upcoming rain we’re nearing halfway to normal and it’s only the end of February. April and May regularly bring violent thunder storms and tornadoes. Such is temperamental Texas spring weather.
“The mayflies come in April
And the June bugs come in May.
If you don’t like the weather,
Wait another day”.
Green shoots, buds and jewel-tone blooms appeared last Sun/Mon as if by magic. And with that magic came the harbingers of Spring — robins. Even in the cold rain my heart is singing.
The Harbinger of Spring showed off his colors on a grey, dreary, rainy day.
Undeniable Spring color:
The harrowing re-acquisition of my business last year on April 1 stole all of my gardening time. The gardens were completely left on their own until now and there is a lot to do in an untended perennial garden. Without regret I closed the business at the end of last year. At 71 years old my energy level and physical/mental health were severely waning. I was grumpy, tired and stressed. I sorely missed my retirement life and the regular pace/peace of gardening.
Feeling much better after getting back into the normalcy of retirement, clean out/pruning of last year’s dead wood began two weeks ago and will continue for another two, cold rain or not. Weeding of the cursed henbit and dandelions took place while I clipped 4-5’ tall stems to the ground (turks cap, Texas Star hardy hibiscus; 3’ on flame acanthus) along with asters, penstemon, antique roses and wisteria. Hard freezes in January made it easy. The woody stems were brittle and snapped without resistance making major additions to the compost bin along with piles of partially rotted leaves.
My gardening technique is unconventional: do everything in a 4’ circle then move on to an adjacent patch. The routine is to cut back or prune, weed, rake, fill compost bag or refuse bag.
Fertilizing and mulching is done as a second step. I use bone meal, fish meal, blood meal, epsom salt and prayers as organic (and mystical) fertilizers applied directly to the soil or in a watering solution.
Haircuts are desperately needed on massive beds of flame acanthus (hummingbird bush) and salvia and twenty 3’ round clumps of Big Blue liriope.
I anxiously await seeing the peonies push up bright pinkish red buds after the coldest driest winter in years and determine how many black-eyed susans have reseeded. The monster crossvine is green and needs some tlc after its traumatic pruning and manhandling last year. After that, check everything else:
- day lilies, Texas sage, lambs ear, cannas, cacti, sedum, iris, volunteer jewels of opar, purple heart wandering jew…
- move the over-wintering-inside cereus, tuberoses, plumeria, orchids to the outside when temps warm up…
- buy tomato starts
- then on to power washing the fountain, flagstone, siding and driveway.
My newly redesigned potting bench/”shed” was finished on Feb 16 and will be put to the test this spring.
What’s happening in your garden?
Here’s wishing you more normal spring weather in your part of the country!
Note to self: All 3 pairs of my gardening gloves have holes. Buy new ones... and Wellington rain boots!