Have you checked your vernal witch hazel lately? As I write this the temperature is 69 degrees Fahrenheit in Chicagoland on February 18th! Our vernal witch hazel has been blooming for a while now…
Hamamelis vernalis, vernal witch hazel.
Close-up of vernal witch hazel flowers.
Back on February 9th we had a thin layer of snow that soon melted, but we have not had much more than that since December. The cyclamen continues to bloom in the greenhouse window all winter.
Last weekend was a good weekend for pruning dormant trees and shrubs, as it was warm during the day, but freezing at night. We completely removed one of our two American plum trees. You can see the little stump in the forefront. The foliage had just gotten too thick and we wanted a little more space and sunlight. Besides we only had plums on the tree that we left standing.
We just put all the branches and twigs on the patio. I am not sure how soon the village will send around the truck to mulch branches in the spring.
If I had more time and energy I would do some winter gardening. I have the fittings in place in the ground, so I would just need to put back the plastic tubing and the clear plastic cover over it to get the earth warmed up and get some lettuce planted. Maybe when I retire….
I went out at lunch yesterday to enjoy the sun and noticed the garlic turning green. There were a few green bottle flies that flew by. Then I heard bird calls and looked up.
There were about 50 sandhill cranes circling above me and then they flew off to the northwest. An hour later I saw 20 more and today I saw another 40 flying northwest over Palos Hills.
Last Sunday morning I sat in our living room and watched a Cooper’s hawk sitting at the top of the oak tree across the street from us. I wonder what it found for Sunday brunch.
This morning we took a walk around Lake Katherine and were pleased to see two mute swans.
Most of the time the swans looked like this while they worked on breakfast.
I hope we will see some little swans before long.
Steph stopped to sit on a warm bench on a warm winter day.
A downy woodpecker perched near the lake path.
An unidentified sparrow seemed to be eating buds off the branches.
A female mallard posed for a portrait. A little water glistened on her feathers.
A flap of her strong wings shook the water off…
The male mallard was busy working on a meal.
This afternoon the warm weather drew us outside again for a walk on the north side of the canal where we saw a lot of deer and coyote tracks. It was great with no bugs!
Dan is always looking for some ridge to climb. I waited below near some sunny rocks.
Where the rocks were warm small plants were emerging. I heard the song of first red-winged blackbird I have heard this year.
Global warming: I think this is record-breaking weather today. Even though we really enjoyed the warm weather there was something strange about it, too. We may have more snow storms before spring comes, though we have had mostly rain the past two months.
Little Backyard World 