SNOW! We got about 7 inches of heavy wet snow yesterday (Thursday). It's still there even as I write (9 am Friday) but we're forecast to go into the low 40sF today so I imagine a lot of it will melt. According to the National Weather Service, it's official: this has been the wettest year on record for Central Pennsylvania...and we're not done with the year yet. As for this sudden snowstorm, I remember this sort of thing a few years back: everyone braced for a terrible winter because of snow before T.giving, but that was it. We had virtually no snow or winter weather for the rest of the season. I wonder if that will happen this year? I have to say, I enjoyed the snow...even shoveling out the driveway. I'm hoping we have some milder snowless weather before December so I can get a few more things done in the garden, but it was nice to see snow again.
I've been very very busy with the editing work so got very little time to get outside and do things. I did get all my dahlias dug up and stored, the "special" cannas, and most of the "ordinary" Indian shot cannas. I just beat the snow by literally minutes getting a big clump of cannas dug out and moved into the basement early yesterday as the snow flakes began to fall. I had to abandon a smaller clump...I covered them with a plastic box and I'm hoping I can still salvage them once the snow is gone. It's no great loss if I can't...I've got loads of the Indian shot this year.
I was also able to get the north gable end of the greenhouse up...I really should not have put that off so late. Next year, I'm going to try to get the gable ends covered by end of September. I did not get the south end covered...the forsythia behind the greenhouse have grown so monstrously huge over this rainy hot summer that I estimate it will take me at least an hour to hack my way back in there to work. That will have to wait until the snow melts.
One big concern about the snow. I see that my big, spreading mugho pine here below the deck is nearly flattened. This mugho has been having some "issues" with snow load over the past several years...every time we get a heavy snow it spreads out and flattens (which is entirely normal for the mugho). The trouble is, it's not springing back up fully ....each time it goes down, it comes back up just a little less than the last time. The whole plant is getting huge and I'm worried that if it flattens and spreads much more, it's going to swallow up the whole area below the deck. I would hate to have to remove it, but I'm not sure it's a good plant for this spot anymore. I wonder if I should consider contacting one of those firms that buy and remove big landscape plants for resale?
And that's about it...I still need/want to do two big jobs: move the two fairly big honey locust from below the deck into the pine gap...two huge holes to dig, with the accompanying removal of tons of blackberry roots/canes; and also dig out and pot/grow on the many small dogwoods that have sprouted in the Jungle Cliff 2 years ago and are now nice size little treelings. I was thinking of buying a bag of crocus corms and as I dig out the little dogwoods, I can toss in a few bulbs in each hole... sort of a "two 'fer".
New kitten is doing very well! He/she has more than doubled in size and is now officially a "big cat" sleeping on the sofa and eating with the other cats (who still are wary but beginning to settle down). Only problem is that little kitten brought in a big lot of fleas. We're doing double duty with the vacuum cleaner and all the big cats are getting their flea drops this week. I'm combing the kitten and whichever cat comes within range daily. This is an old-fashioned way of dealing with fleas, but it really helps. Get a flea comb, fill up a container with icy cold soapy water and comb the animal. After every swipe, clean off the comb into the cold water (or swish the comb in the water). You'll remove fleas, flea eggs, dirt, etc. and the cold water will stun/kill the fleas. Then flush it down the toilet. Also, I learned this from a vet...don't dust out your pet's bedding into the yard, etc. Shake out bedding over the bathtub and then rinse the tub down with hot water (make sure you have a drain screen in to catch hair...that yukky clump of wet hair should be wrapped in paper towels and into the trash in case there's live bugs in it). THEN launder or replace the bedding. Vacuum ALL the floors (hard and soft) daily. Sprinkle flea powder UNDER the furniture cushions and under pet beds and bedding (fleas and larvae tend to go down under soft bedding/cushions to hide, so you kill them where they live). I never put flea powder on my cats, only on their bedding. I only "flea drop" my cats twice a year (instead of monthly), none of them wear flea collars, all of them go outdoors, and we've never had a bad flea problem. Knock on wood.
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