Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, April 18

From Don in Kansas, end of February:

The weather can always double-cross you - - this is Kansas, after all - - but it looks like spring is early this year. I snapped these pictures earlier today.

March 20 update (survivor after a hard double-cross freeze)

Phlox grayi

Don't overlook those charming, tough small flowers that invite you to look close in the garden.

And a few of the small flowers featured today:

We're probably done with snow this year, and the temperature hasn't quite hit 100 degrees F yet, though it's come close. The big show is underway outside. Here are some of the early highlights.

Polemonium reptans

Dianthus gratianopolitanus

Linum-narbonense

Be sure to click over at the links for more cultural information and photos, including some larger-flowered plants.

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

2026 Maple Syrup report from the Great White North

We had a very strange maple syrup season this year. We started early March, which is typical, then after bottling our first batch, cold weather returned & shut down the trees for almost 2 weeks. It's not unusual for sap flow to stop when the temperature remains below freezing for a few days but the break this year was the longest in the 15 years we've been doing this. Optimal sap production happens with temperatures of about 45F during the day 25F at night. Sunshine helps. We had very few such stretches this year.

Regardless of the weird weather, we had a very good year, better than Quebec & New Brunswick (our top maple syrup producing provinces). We made a record amount of excellent quality syrup with no sediment. The quantity record was more a result of having more firewood than ever.

As usual, we had our 3 helpers, Maggie, Molly & Candi. You only have to pet their heads to know its maple syrup time. You can feel the hardened droplets of maple syrup they get from hanging around below the spout of the coffee urn style dispenser we use to fill the jars.

WoW! Great yield! Great information! Love your helpers.

Adventure of the Mind

Thought you might like these dogwood pictures from Virginia. The best part is they are very pretty AND I don't have to drive into Washington DC to see them unlike the Cherry Blossoms. This seems to be the week my dogwoods peak and I am enjoying them.

Thanks for the garden thread, as it another one of the AoS decompression safety valve posts it is much appreciated.

Hrothgar

Gardens of The Horde

What's going on in your garden? Got any greens growing?

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, April 11

I closed the comments on that post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 01:35 PM

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