SLOW-arriving spring

Everything is about two weeks or more behind previous years' progress - lilacs blooming, peas growing, aspen leafing out, everything! Irrigation system is set up and working on shrub, flower, and vegetable gardens. We had a hard frost (about 26 degrees) last week one night, and I had accidentally left many little seedlings sit outside, so ended up losing several basil, tomatoes, and cabbage plants.]
We've had Dust Bowl-like blowing conditions in the San Luis Valley this spring - days where automobile accidents occurred on the stretch of highway between Monte Vista and Alamosa due to low visibility caused by airborne soil.

Three adolescent fox, not two

I got to see the teenage fox pups this AM, yippee! Caddy and I went for a walk and, while strolling through the Vet's Center, what did we see but THREE of them! Two of them are in photo, one's a little hard to see. Mom was nowhere in sight - maybe she was taking a break this Mother's Day!
Such a treat.
I transplanted the last of my raspberry plants this morning into their new bed. Feels hot outside. Wind, as usual, is not letting up much.
The pollinators are buzzing around the blooming Golden Currant.

Cool spring continues

Two fox pups, nearly adult, were seen by B. last night on his walk through the Veteran's Center. It's surprising that this is the first time one of us has seen them this spring; I attribute that to us not doing the customary dog walks due to Caddy's absence at "doggie day care" in Salt Lake City for an extended time.

Spring continues its slow progress. Nearly everything that's still alive after winter is showing signs of growth. Aspens are beginning to leaf out; lilacs have finished leafing out and are now preparing to flower. Pasqueflowers are nearly through blooming. Rabbitbrush is beginning to green up, and chokecherry shrubs are leafing out. Nanking cherry shrubs are beginning to bud out--they're nearly one of my favorite spring shrubs due to the small, white & pink blooms. Raspberry canes are popping out of the ground. Catmint (nepeta) is mounding up & enlarging.
I've started seeds for various tomatoes & peppers, cosmos, marigolds, cabbage, parsley, lavender, Fiesta del Sol sunflower, bergamot, hyssop, and borage.

We're still experiencing windy afternoons, some worse than others.

I haven't compared this spring's temperatures to the past several years, but this spring strikes me as cooler than past ones. We are ahead in precipitation.

Pasqueflower blooming

My earliest-blooming plant is the Pasqueflower, which usually shows its beautiful purple flowers in mid-April, regardless of temperature or snowfall. The bloom has closed up in this image; another image of the same plant appears below. That one was taken 2nd week of May, last year.

The Golden Currant is about to bloom, and the allium bulbs are getting closer too.

I bought a few more xeric semi-native shrubs to fill out the xeric garden. What I've decided to do this year is take out of the xeric garden any plants that require more than a little water, and replace them with reliable ones like fernbush, apache plume, sage, rabbitbrush (various varieties), Ratibida columnifera, Prince's Plume, sticky geranium, and similar ones. I've given up on Mahonia repens (Oregon Grape) because I sometimes forget to keep it watered over the winter, and this past winter I think I lost all three of my Oregon Grape Plants. The plants I've removed from the xeric garden (fall-blooming asters, some yarrow) are being transplanted in other gardens, and given away.

EARLY spring garden events

Am finding more and more developments out in the gardens: delphinium and catmint way up out of the ground, allium bulbs sticking about an inch out of the still-cool ground, and as mentioned earlier, the garlic is shooting up. Golden currant bush (Ribes aureum) is looking like it wants to start budding out, and probably will do so since it's usually one of the really early ones.

I began some seeds inside yesterday - several types of peppers, several types of tomatoes, parsley, lavender, and cosmos. I may be starting the latter too early, but couldn't resist. I love it when those seeds start popping their little green shoots up! They're all sitting on their warming mat while I hover over them, waiting, waiting, waiting.....

I ordered some more raspberry plants - everbearing this time, since I've concluded that summer-bearing raspberries just don't work here, at least for me. I'm going to be giving my summer-bearing plants away on our local Freecycle group. I'm finished wasting water on them!

We're due to have a well-below freezing night tonight, then a number of warmish, sunny days are on the menu, yippee!!!!!! It's getting to the seasonal point where my mind is constantly wandering to the garden, whether I'm at work, or lying awake in bed, or elsewhere.

Last evening I turned my first batch of compost in my Earth Machine composter. I must have started the current batch in autumn, because it really didn't look like it had heated up at all. Nothing frozen was uncovered, which was surprising. But this unit does get lots of sun, even this time of year, so I suppose that's why it was totally thawed out. I added two buckets of new compostables that I'd stored over winter, and a bunch of last year's leaves, and will need to remember to stick the thermometer in it. I'm not sure its composition is of the quality that will heat up well; usually I can sort of tell when I'm going to get a good batch or not, and this one didn't ring any bells for me. Will see later.

Ice on Home Lake is nearly gone. Sandhill cranes and Canada geese are still around, feeding in the fields. Wind has been horrendous; visibility yesterday afternoon was akin to what I imagine the 1930's Dust Bowl era to be like; brown and sand-blasted atmosphere, soil & dried Russian thistles flying everywhere.

First garlic shoot

Returned to the San Luis Valley from a 2+week absence; nearly the only green thing I found coming up was one garlic shoot out in the vegetable garden (see photo). Okay, so there are a few irises also coming up. Not much more. Snow still around in shaded areas. I'm getting antsy to start outdoor stuff. Must calm down.
Sandhill cranes continue in abundance, along with Canada geese. A layer of old-looking ice still rests on the surface of Home Lake. Mountains are getting pounded with snow today & tonight. Should make for good skiing this weekend.

Monte Vista Crane Festival of 2010

Participants in the MV Crane Festival will have a treat for weather this year - sunny & blue sky, with lots and lots of bird life. Driving back and forth between Monte Vista & Alamosa, I can understand why the San Luis Valley is called a "flyway" - with all of the flocks of cranes and Canada geese passing through, from a distance the clusters look like airplanes coming in to land.

The resident great blue heron was sitting in its usual place yesterday evening, in the water near the 3E bridge that spans the Empire Canal.

Home Lake still has a seemingly thick layer of ice with snow on the surface.