Ghostwater Garden

A Hint of Thaw

Today all the birds are twittering out there, and I heard a bluebird calling - staking out his territory over the snowy landscape.

Definately time to get the bird houses out for them. This weekend promises to be a busy one.

February in Zone Five

Now begin the dog days of winter. Days where the snow still lies thick on the land, but the season has shifted, and the sun is speaking of spring's promise ahead.

Dog spends long periods out on his patch of carpet, soaking up the warmth of the sun and watching the day pass. He is a Chihuahua, and every book and source talks about how much they hate cold weather. Cold, I think, is relative. If it's above freezing* and late winter, he would like to be outside a bit, thank you very much.

His behavior reminds me that it is time to think about pruning, while winter still holds the sap down and the bugs are yet to emerge. The apples are still undergoing a course of strong correction after long years of neglect. I have waterspouts on the red delicious that are as wide as my arm. And one must be careful to check for residue of the poison ivy that once entangled its trunk in cording thick as rope. Up, way up in those branches, bits and pieces of it remain to scald the unwary.

The forcast calls for rain this weekend. If we get a break, I'll be out there with the loppers and the pruning saw, starting my year in the garden.

I traditionally post this on Groundhog Day...

I am a bit behind this year:

Fairy Song by John Keats

Shed no tear! O, shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.
Weep no more! O, weep no more!
Young buds sleep in the root's white core.
Dry your eyes! O, dry your eyes!
For I was taught in Paradise
To ease my breast of melodies,-
Shed no tear.

Overhead! look overhead!
'Mong the blossoms white and red,-
Look up, look up! I flutter now
On this fresh pomegranate bough.

See me! 'tis this silvery bill
Ever cures the good man's ill,
Shed no tear! O, shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.
Adieu, adieu-I fly-adieu!
Adieu, adieu!