Smartie's Bar & Grill #75

When does the ground thaw out for planting?
We don’t have arctic weather. We had a snowfall about 11 years ago and that was unusual to say the least.

 

I was being overly dramatic LOL. April 20th or thereabouts is our "Frost Free" date and October 20th or thereabouts is our "First Frost" rule of thumb (hasn't happened yet though and not in 10 day forecast). January into February is usually our real wintery months. Most of the time it is rather mild in the Mid-Atlantic. I had roses blooming on New Years day one before last.

 

What are the seasons like where you are?

 

Like the weather in Texas, erratic. It can be freezing one day and short sleeves the next day. Spring and fall are mild, summer is hot, winters are usually chilly with the occasional cold snap that lasts a few days. We can get into the teens but not like further north. If the temps drop into the teens we will warm up later in the day.
Our coldest months are Dec and Jan with an average high of 70 and an average low in the high 30's or 40's. When it gets really cold it is whine worthy because of the humidity. We have frost occasionally and even had snow once about 11 years ago.

 

What kind of roses do you grow? I have a border of knock our roses. I was going to have them taken out but a week before the landscapers came they started blooming and blooming more. So they got to stay.

 

Right now I have a a couple coral colored knockouts and a Queen Elizabeth. The knockouts are doing well in large pots but the queen elizabeth is in the "I'm about to give up the ghost" state that it has survived before so we'll see on it. I did have a bunch of john kennedy white roses but the deer did their thing on them so many times they decided to join their namesake in the hereafter. I have one of those dark red roses that blooms one year all along the length of its shoots but I don't know its name. It was a rescue. I read somewhere I am supposed to cut all its shoots back but I never have. The deer are my biggest problem with roses. Unless I can find someway to shield it from them, they will eat them in a heart beat. They are also why my burning bush hedge never gets anywhere---the deer keep them pruned to about 18" high. They did get to my coral knock outs once but fortunately they didn't damage them too bad.

 

Also in Texas, but in the mountains of the Chihuahua Desert along the river.. we got hotter than hell, summer and a couple of cold fronts that don't last past noon. When we plant, we have to consider the shade. Gen Shafter, who led the US expeditionary force in Cuba during th eSpanish American War, and for whom a town here abouts is named (much coole than here I might add!) is credited with this quote "If I owned Hell and Texas, I'd rent out Texas and live in Hell".

 

About the same as us in Cambridge UK

 

Brilliant. Just google earthed it. Looks pretty barren.

 

Tis.. but I live on an old oxbo of the river... probably have one of the greener place in town.

 

I guess a lot of folks live along the river.

 

We're hoping to visit Zion national park next May, only a 1,000ish miles from you I'll wave.

 

not really,, in fact the population is rather sparse. Many more people on the other side of the river.

 

yeah.. that'd be like driving to the other side of the state! LOL
We took the motorbike to Big Bend Nat'l Park Sunday, at least 10 hours in the saddle... and that was a mistake! WE had planned on riding over Saturday afternoon, but we didn't have arooms secured and being as it is a long way to anywhere, we didn't want to find ourselves without shelter, nor riding after sunset. I guess next time I'll make sure to have room reserved.. and make sure Honeybunch doesn't back out of the trip!

 

Well we're 5,000 miles away at the moment, so a bit nearer.
I once booked a holiday on the Island of Sardinia and a hotel on Malta. Mrs Tigger does the booking now.

 

The deer here stay mainly in the woods. Occasionally we will see deer tracks in the garden and a couple of nibbles on the plants nothing really bad (knock on wood).

 

I bet you wouldn't live any place but where you are living. The starkness of the place is part of it's beauty, and you don't have to drive far to see gorgeous scenery.

 

Chick,Chick likes to say Good Morning.

 

We lost one of our small herd of Suffolk Red Poll cattle this week.
A 9 year old cow with a 6 month old calf.
Tests results not back yet but suspected heart attack.
It was a sad sight to see as the tractor dragged its corpse down to the farm entrance to be taken away.

 

Well that sucks.

 

I have woods, fresh water, and food I am an urban deer's perfect sugar daddy

I tolerate them for the most part being all touchy feely granola like when it comes to wildlife. It just annoys me when they start getting a tad too destructive to the landscaping. Most things they just keep well-pruned. Occasionally they will completely kill something, particularly if they are new plants. They took out a bunch of fruit trees last year just rubbing all the bark off them, for instance, but my other trees that are already established they don't do anything to other than eat the fruit.

 

I like deer and it is a treat to see them especially a doe with a little fawn.

 

I had two regular does this season. One had 3 babies, and one had two. I still see the one with 3 sometimes, but they have gotten more elusive since hunting season/cooler weather came. The little ones have lost their spots but are still with mom as of about 10 days ago when I last saw them. It is not unusual for them to get elusive this time of year and then just start back to normal hanging about day and night in January once hunting stops and food is harder to come by. One of the does started following me around which started to freak me out so I started spooking her to get her to stop doing it. I put food out for neighborhood cats so she would just follow me to the food LOL.

I had maybe 7 frequent adult visitors this year plus the kiddies. I have seen a couple dozen come through around dusk but that is not that common.

 

Isn't it strange how attached we become. I'm sorry that happened to you.

 

I was in Texas and the wind chill was terrible