Wednesday, March 21, 2012

So many ways of wrong.

We have gorgeous weather.  I should highlight that.  Beautiful weather beyond any memory that I have from living my entire life in Northeast Ohio.  We've had record breaking temperatures for the last three days.  With that comes some major issues.

1.  Cabbage whites have been out for about a week.
2.  Bees are out in force, doing their bee thing.
3.  The Korean Magnolia at work has been bloomed long enough to be shedding petals.
4.  My butterfly bushes have leaves-- big ones.
5.  The purple plum is starting to bloom.
6.  The dianthus are back-- and very big.
7.  The mums that my sister gave me, I half planted them while being broken and all, hoping that they would make it during the winter on the worst corner of the house are greening up and doing great.
8.  My garden bed is cleared and collard and snap pea seeds have been sown.
9.  I've had to water the garden.
10.  I've cleared all of the fall debris from the beds and can now start on the field grass removal in a 3' diameter section of one bed and along the tree lawn.
11.  Our central air has been on since Monday.  We turn it on in the evenings.  The pollen is so bad that Hubs can't take the windows being open.
12.  I found a 3" lime green nicotiana growing next to the house.  They reseed themselves every year and usually emerge around June.
13.  I've had the laundry on the line for the last two days, excluding Hubs or anything communal due to his allergies.  It has been in the 80's. 
14.  I've been driving with the window down and the moon roof open.
15.  I took my RAV for a chassis bath today (as well as the upper portion, of course) figuring that it might be the last salt I need to clear from the car.
16.  My parsley is big, green and very bushy.
17.  My sage is very big and very bushy.
18.  My lilies are probably 4" high at this point.
19.  The sedum is seduming.
20.  The black eyed susans are cruising along nicely.
21.  The strawberry I planted last year (a gift from my MIL) never browned out, remained a lovely green and is growing, growing, growing.
22.  Our lawn could stand to be mowed.  The neighbor's lawn crew was out today and her lawn has some lovely stripes.

Why are these things problems?  Well, we live in Northeast Ohio.  State wide mantra is not to pack the snow shovel away until after tax day.  These are things that don't happen until the first or second week of May.

Frost happens.  Hard frost happens.  It actually killed a very well established, probably 5 year old tulip tree. 

I'm looking at the possibility of having to string sheets through my yard not for two bothersome weeks in May, but for the potential of on and off for two months.  Another thing-- if it snows we are in so much trouble.  I will lose so many plants it will just be horrible. 

I'm thrilled to enjoy the weather.  Don't get me wrong.  We haven't had a winter, which frankly I miss terribly, but I hope that if the weather is like this, it is not going to flip-flop back.  Something tells me to ready the drop sheets just in case.  I think that a trip to the thrift for extra flat sheets may be in order.

4 comments:

Rach said...

My fear isn't the return of the cold weather, it's that we'll somehow skip ahead to summer by the middle of April and I'll be dealing with mid to upper-80's from then until June when the 90's hit--making my summer hotter and more miserable than I can remember. UGH!

Melissa said...

Forecasters say, they dont see any cold weather happening. This was the winter that didnt happen.

And Rach, I read an article today that said that the warm winter doesnt necessarily mean a blistering summer. BUT it also said it could mean a blistering summer. Forecasters eh?

Bailey's Leaf said...

Why hello, Melissa! I subscribe to the thought that I once heard on the radio here. "They accurately predicted 10 of the last 2 snowstorms." (Credit to Howie Greene.) Weather is kind of one of those things that I'll believe it when I see it. Still, I did go to the thrift, stocked up on all sorts of sheets for the beds and my sister has me on a frost alert. Hopefully, I now have enough to cover the beds and lone standing flowers (like the peonies that Hubs' grandmother brought from Europe in her suitcase.)

ChupieandJ'smama (Janeen) said...

I'm worried we will get a snow and it will kill all the beautiful blooms and the leaves. I'm amazed at how early everything is blooming. Last year we didn't get leaves until May.
I'm hopeful that the trees and plants know their stuff and hope they know it's OK to come out this early. I'm not worried about summer coming early, I'm worried that next winter will start in August ;)