Outside

Tired of the Cold

It's been a cold, cold January here in Minnesota. After over a week of below 0 temperatures in the middle of the month, we had a bit of a warm-up, then back into the deep freeze. When I left for work at 7:15 am this morning, it was -16F, with windchills up to -40F. I suppose I should be happy that we're having a "normal" Minnesota winter, but after the last few years of "global warming" winter, I think I became soft and spoiled.

With the cold, it's been difficult to think about gardening. At left is the garden two weekends ago, as seen through the ice covered porch windows at -10F. The good news is that February is almost here - it will still be winter, but spring is getting closer all the time. This weekend I will finally start putting my seed orders together. One day it will be warm again!

January Bloom Day: Limelight Hydrangea

I live in Minnesota, where the temperature was -4F when I left for work this morning. There is nothing blooming outside here. And since I don't do houseplants, there is nothing blooming for me indoors, either.

So my offering for this first Garden Blogger's Bloom Day of 2008 are pictures of Limelight Hydrangea taken September 22, 2007. This was right after I got my new camera (in fact, it may have been the same day), and only 11 days out of surgery. I really didn't know how the camera worked yet and was trying to figure how to use the "macro" function (which I did not figure out with these pictures).

In any case, I really like this plant. The blooms start out light green in late July or early August, then fade to white, then gradually turn this pretty pink/peach/rose color in September. There are generally flower clusters in various stages of maturing, so as fall deepens you have many colors at once. The photo on the right (also taken 9/22) shows the flowers as they are changing from greenish/white to the rosy pink.

I first planted Limelight in 2006, but it didn't bloom that year. In 2007 the bloom was moderate, but there has been a lot more growth. I'm guessing that Limelight will really start coming into its own this summer.

What Our Coyote Eats

** Warning: This post is not for the squeamish! Don't page down unless you're sure you can look at pictures of what coyotes naturally eat! **

It's become a regular Wild Kingdom around here. Mr. Coyote has been active over the past few days, and we've discovered what he's been eating when he's on our side of the pond.

Yesterday, Spouse was looking out the kitchen window and saw the coyote doing something behind our next-door-neighbor's garage. As we watched, it was obvious he was eating something. Given the distance (about 20 yards), and the obstructions (deer fence and brush), it was impossible to tell what it was, but our best guess was a deer.

Even though we couldn't see what he was eating, I took a poor video anyway. (Ignore the audio, really. I was thinking I could edit it out, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.)

Today, I decided to go see what it was. Yes indeed, it was a deer, a big 10 point buck at that. It's been there awhile - you can see the snow on top of it (it hasn't snowed since Christmas Day), and it's frozen to the ground. Pretty much the entire back half is gone, along with the innards.

Just this morning our resident "doe matriarch" stopped by to check out the deer fence next to our deck. She doesn't seem to know that the dead buck is probably only 20 yards behind her. She's the oldest of our herd (there are only a few deer left in our suburb with these old, mid-90's tracking collars), and even though you can't tell in this photo, she's pregnant. She better watch out.

Paths into 2008

It's bright and cold today, a fine way to bring in the new year. Looking over the pond from our living room window, we see the many paths made by the wildlife that passes through our yard and neighborhood.

What a privilege to share our little piece of land with animals like deer, snowy egrets, opossums, owls, turkeys, and even the pesky rabbits.

This winter we've added another wild inhabitant: a coyote. We first saw him in broad daylight on Christmas Eve day. Today he made another appearance - carving a new path across the pond.

It's a new year and a time to scribe new paths. My goal this year is to add to my life: increase and enhance the natural ecosystem of our yard, seek out and embrace new ways to be successful in my business, purposely bring more joy to other people's daily lives.