March 22, 2009

It looks like my little experiment tying buckthorn branches around the corkscrew Hazel has worked - knock on wood! As of this afternoon there's no sign of critters nibbling away at the tender buds. Take a look:










There's no lakes of standing water this spring either, unlike last year (or the three years before that) - I'm not too sure if that's an indication of a low snowfall this year or better drainage/evaporation this year? On the other hand, the wild temperature swings has lead to some extreme freeze-thaw upheavals. Take a look at these normally upright obelisk-ish stones in the pea stone patio:














And just to prove it is, indeed spring, here the first snowdrops of the year in my Toronto garden, photo taken last Saturday: