Shhh.... Old man winter might hear you thinking that Spring has Sprung and will rear his ugly head.

I too have lots of yard work (home and lake) that I normally have done by now and have just begun at home. I'm afraid by the time I have the yards cleaned up it will be time to celebrate Independence Day.

Happy Gardening and to Gardens Overflowing this Summer!

Sandy

It is comforting to know that I'm not the only one panicking about getting things done. I have several trays of seedlings to plant and have been too afraid to do so before now, for fear of them getting crushed by the snow. Now if I could only figure out a reliable way to keep the bunnies and deer from eating them. Good luck fellow Minnesnowtans!! We will prevail. LOL

I don't know where to start-I'm so far behind!

My tulips are just starting to come up and my daffodils have yet to make an appearance.

I'm still taking stock of what survived the (eternal) winter and what did not.

This the first time in a few years I didn't start any seeds early inside, maybe it was a good thing?

I have a ton of lily bulbs that should have been planted a month ago.

So are we just 'skipping' spring altogether and going straight to summer?

AAARGH!

Beginning of April I figured winter was over so I pulled out all of my driveway snow removal guides and put them away. A heavy snow soon followed and I did not have those helpful guides.

Two weeks or so after that I took down the snow fence. We then had a mid-April blizzard.

I figured that had to be it for winter snowfall so last week I prepped the snowblower for summer storage, put it away, and pulled out the summer machines. We then got three inches of snow.

That was the last straw. My snow shovels and snow broom are staying in their places on the porch, by the front door of the house, and by the garage until, oh I don't know, late June or so until I finally put them away. Heavy winter clothing and snow boots will not be put in storage yet either. I fear if I put any of this stuff away I will get snow. I am not a superstitious person but I am also not a fool - I have had it with winter this year and I am not taking any chances. ;)

Happy Gardening,
-Tom

Ha, ha, Tom. Yesterday I put all my snow shovels away and removed the snowman themed rug by the front door thinking maybe it keeps snowing because all these snow theme items are still out. Also not superstitious... just saying.

My snow brush is still riding around with me in my car. I'm afraid to put it away too. A lot of co-workers put theirs away and when we got that foot of snow in April, my snow brush got a workout in the parking lot at work. June 1st is my hopet to not have that darn snow brush in the car.

Whew....I thought I was the only one that had'nt put up the boots and heavy winter coats yet and there are two snow shovels still sitting outside my front door.

My Nanking cherries are in full bloom as are two Manchurian apricots that I threatened with the chain saw last fall... A lot of other trees/bushes/perienniels seem to be taking a wait and see attitude before committing to budding out or blooming.

Nothing in bloom here yet, but nankings, apricots, tree cherries, flowering crabs, etc. loaded with flower buds. Maybe after this weekend cold snap blows through - need warm sunny weather so the pollinators can get out and do their work. :)

At time of writing this, NW wind is howling, temperature is plummeting, and a cold rain is falling. No frost issues in the forecast so I am not concerned (not that I could do anything about it anyway). My early tomato plants are not going to like it much, though - will be interesting to see if they are as cold-hardy as they are claimed to be.

I thought I heard chance of frost tonight (Sat 5/11) so I just covered the flats and pots outside in plastic...

Yep, at time of writing this it is 3:15am Sunday May 12, and the thermometer reads 32 degrees. Just spent the last hour bringing in all 50 of my tomato, pepper, and herb flats, impatiens, geraniums, and the container tomatoes, herbs, and oxalis. Also covered my seven "cold hardy" tomato plants that are already in the ground.

One weather site predicts a low of 28 here, another predicts 32. This coming Wednesday's high here is predicted to be 90. That is quite a spread, and I consider Wednesday's temperature to be ridiculous to the opposite. Ah, you gotta love Minnesota, the Land of Extremes.

Sunday morning it got down to 27 degrees here. Bird baths were frozen solid. Protected tomato plants survived just fine.

May 15 is the date I use as the average last frost date for my area which means that this cold snap was still in the normal range, just later than it has been the last couple years. I hope that is the last frost until fall, short term forecast seems to indicate such.

Now I have to worry about a forecasted 90 degree day this week frying my tender transplants. In Minnesota gardening, if it ain't one thing, its another - definitely keeps you on your toes.