Garden Notes ~ January 2022

New Year's Day brought temperatures in the upper 70s.  Unseasonably warm even for these parts.  

After pruning the crape myrtle tree and pulling my fair share of weeds, I took a little walk around the garden to see how my plants were faring.  Some things go unnoticed when only glancing at them through the windows.

I was a bit surprised to see new buds forming on some of the Encore Azaleas.  I've never seen them trying to bloom at this time of year.

While bending to pull a weed under the loropetalum shrub, I was pleasantly surprised to see the bright pink blossoms greeting me.

Another surprise was finding some of the daffodils sending their shoots up already.  Most were still slumbering away underground, but here and there a few had decided to peek out early.  No doubt the warm temps have them a bit confused.

One of my favorite outdoor tools is our battery powered leaf blower.  It works great to blast the leaves and other debris that tend to accumulate on the patios and front porch.  It gets the job done a lot quicker than the broom.  I found it amusing to see little pansy plants popping up in the beds along the edges of the patio.  It looks like some of my clean up efforts must have blown seeds away along with the other debris.

I may not have placed them in their current new homes, but I've got to admire their tenacity.  Here they have even established themselves among the rocks in the fountain garden.

   

Showing their cheery little faces on this sunny January day.

Since New Year's Day our temperatures have gotten much colder.  In fact, a glimpse at the weekend forecast is showing a 100% chance of snow on Sunday.  I'm not sure what that will mean for the early garden bloomers.

Inside there is a great sense of excitement!

Snow is such a rare occurrence here.

Sitting in front of a crackling fire while watching the snowflakes fall sounds like a perfect way to spend a January day.

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