M I A again! Ray had to go back into the Hospital for a week and just got him home last night. That man has been in the Hospital for at least a week in Jan, Feb, and March..wonder what April will bring.
All the Semp pictures are so pretty. I hope to post some of my own (Thanks to you guys) soon. I haven't had a chance to catch up reading for a long time, but I sure didn't forget you.
Love & Hugs
Faye

Big hugs right back at you Faye.
Don't ask about April, just enjoy now. April will take care of itself.

Can't wait to see our photos.

Dad's been in a nursing home for therapy for the past two months, due to come home next week. Mom had surgery last week and is at home. I've been running almost daily to keep up with them, frequently driving to mom & dad's to pick mom up to go see dad in the nursing home and being transport to the doc's. So I can relate. We just have to take one day at a time, and stop for a few seconds on the way to and from to look at the nice plants. (and maybe grab a weed or two in passing! )

Wise words twit.

for Faye and Twit. Hopefully you'll find some relaxation time in your gardens.

As promised, more Fame Monstrose. Sorry the pics are not great, but light was weird early this morning on a rainy day.

First pic shows a normal Fame Monst. hen, e.g. lacking the Monstrose form. This normal-appearing hen has only Monstrose offsets. The second pic shows Monstrose hen, surrounded by offsets. The offset in the lower left corner is normal appearing (lacking Monstrose appearance) while the other offsets are Monstrose.

That is pretty strange. Thanks for posting the pictures! Did you put them in the database too?

Are people starting to actually mail out trades yet? It's still too early for me to mail them, although it looks like mine made it through the winter very well with the exception of those eaten by rabbits. If the weather stays the way it is now, it could be an early spring for me.

We're losing our snow to rain VERY early this year, but the ground is still too frozen to dig anything. I'll have things for trade & sale in about a month (if the warm weather holds).

It's too early for me yet too. I'd say at least another month or month and a half.

Too soon for me too. I want to let them get growing more, don't want to disrupt offset formation before it actually happens.

I was going gung-ho by this time last year. Not this year. Even though we had a fairly mild winter, it is so wet I can't work out in the beds. Pretty bad when water squishes around your shoes. I have to be down on my knees to work, even in the raised beds.
I may have to switch to waist high benches, instead of raised beds.

I have sent one trade off this week for sedum. It will be awhile before I am ready to do semps.

Oh good! I was afraid I was going to be the late one here.
Some semps are starting to plump up and change color, but they're a long way from being totally out of dormancy.

Anyone do cold hardy cactus too?

No cactus for me. I do a very good job of hurting myself without the aid of cactus.

Today was warm and sunny (nearly 60) so I was able to get the shadecloth/debris barriers off the raised beds. Sadly, the ground is still so frozen that I couldn't get most of the signage in place - but maybe, in a few more days it'll thaw enough to sort out the signs.

80 degrees at 5 PM on my back porch. My cornelian cherries and Nanking cherries are in full bloom. At least a month too soon for the nankings. It's summer weather here

No sign at all of my Nanking blooming, or my Indian plum tree.
Rain is back, with highs in the lower 40's. Hail, sleet, mushy snow and lots more rain. : (

I am so glad I got to work outdoors yesterday. Sighhhh, the coming week is all rain.

My plants all look like it's the middle of May. I don't know whats going to happen to them now if we return to our normal temperatures.

goldfinch4 said:My plants all look like it's the middle of May. I don't know whats going to happen to them now if we return to our normal temperatures.

I've been wondering the same thing. Generally speaking, the bulbs won't care. I'd expect some pollination problems with early-blooming fruits. Perennials don't much care, the foliage might die back, but will return at the 'right' time because of the stored root energy. Heaven only know about the rest of it.

Kate, I don't think the sempervivum and (jovibarba) will much care about the weather, but I am very concerned about losing fruit crops, including berries and small fruits. Once the fruit forms, a hard frost or freeze will destroy the fruits. So we are looking at maybe losing much of the fruit crop this year.

Also is of concern regarding plants, trees and bushes losing tender leaves during a freeze. If the plant is healthy and has the energy and ability, new leaves can be regenerated from dormant buds held in reserve. However, some plants apparently do not have the ability to regenerate these leaves or new buds in the spring after a frost or freeze. Many of these would die. A good example, I think, is Eleagnus. Even though the ones I grow are very hardy, a freeze after leaves start to develop kills the bush.

I agree with you regarding pollinators. My honeyberries always flower very early. Many years, I miss fruit on them because they bloom before the bees are out.