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.

Sandhill cranes are back!

I heard my first crane of 2010 on February 16, and saw my first ones the following day. They've been cruising for leftover barley in the field west of our house. This is a definite sign of the coming spring. However, I do remember in the past that I've seen them standing out in a field with snow falling about them in fairly low temperatures, so I don't expect balmy temperatures to come any time soon.

Our snow depth is still at 6.5" in the yard, and one icicle extending downward from the roof is longer than I am tall.

I haven't checked to see if my garlic is popping up through the soil yet.

Quiet in the San Luis Valley

A couple of weeks ago one would have thought spring was on its way. Not the case now; we're blanketed in snow more than 7" deep. Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) of snow in the yard is 1.37". Mountains are getting snow as I type this. Bald eagles have been making more of an appearance in the area. A belted kingfisher has been seen & heard over by the Empire Canal, and the male red-winged blackbirds are making their territorial sounds over in the cattail area in the Rio Grande SWA. Our firewood supply is quickly dwindling, and soon we may have to ration fires. So, yeah, maybe spring really is on its way!

Seedlings, blossoms & growth, oh my!

So much is happening in the garden! Lots of perennials are coming up that I wondered about over the winter - various penstemons, baptisia, agastache, evening primrose, much more. My little trees (serviceberry mostly) are starting to put on little buds. Lilac is about a week or so away from flowering. Cinquefoils putting on little green leaves, as are the fernbush, apache plume, alkali sacaton grasses. What a great time of year.

So far my spinach, sugar snap peas and mixed greens are poking their little heads above the soil. My tomatoes indoors are about 8" high, and all my other indoor transplants are doing great!

The image to the left is my Nanking cherry, which I planted for the birds' benefit, though it is still too small (2' high) to provide much of that. It has the most beautiful pink & white blossoms.

I haven't set up the irrigation system yet so am doing all of my watering by hand, but since the soil is not yet dried out it's not a lengthy task.

I tried to get my cold frame set up last night but the automatic opener device always causes vexing problems so I'm not finished there yet. My cole crops will go there when it's ready to go, so I can make room indoors under the lights for other seedlings.

Wildlife woke up today!

Saw the local fox tonight for the first time in months! On my evening dog walk it was warm enough not to wear a jacket or vest, for the first time since last fall. Sooooo warm. Home Lake has lost almost all its ice; remaining are only two big soggy-looking ice sheets out near the middle. Tonight truly felt like spring, though astronomical spring (i.e., the vernal equnox, or March 20) is still a few days away.
Though astronomical spring is yet to come, the onset of meteorological spring has already passed - see definition of the spring season below from the Glossary of Meteorology (underline emphasis mine):

spring—The season of the year composing the transition period from winter to summer; the vernal season, during which the sun is approaching the summer solstice.
In popular usage and for most meteorological purposes, spring is customarily taken to include the months of March, April, and May in the Northern Hemisphere, and September, October, and November in the Southern Hemisphere. Except in the Tropics, spring is a season of rising temperatures and decreasing cyclonic activity over continents. In much of the Tropics, neither spring nor fall is recognizable, and in polar regions, both are very short-lived.

ENJOY THE SPRING, "WEATHER" ASTRONOMICAL OR METEOROLOGICAL!