Benjamin Vogt's Blog, page 36

Why I Hate Spring

Not just why I hate this spring, mind you, but every spring. Of course, this year it's just plain worse. Worse I says.



1) There was no winter. There was no break. There was no respite. It was dry and warm. Which means fewer seeds will germinate. It's 80 here. I got mild heat stroke.



2) I'm not rested. There is hardly a blip in my mind and heart from October to March. I swear it was a week ago I was marveling at the bright red of ninebark and the copper of bald cypress. I need my seasons, an...

The Sadness of Scissors

Iris reticulata began blooming yesterday, weeks early. The crocus began on 2/2, weeks early. In the garden is a sense that winter never came--the leaves are still fluffy and crisp between stalks of aster and coneflower, and many seeds still adorn stems like ornate finials.



So spring is here early, and I've begun the annual cut down not in keeping with my lazy, late March schedule. If I can let in sunlight to the bare soil now, perhaps more plants will sprout. Today I saw two silver-spotted s...

Go Go Gadget Grow Lights

My wife helped me reorganize the closet under the stairs so I could fit in a grow station. It's my first ever. I've two shelves, with one to expand on, two T5 lights at 6400K, heat pads, timer, and fan. Even soil-less potting soil. Hopefully, in a few weeks I'll some native perennial seedlings to hand out at Lincoln's Earth Day, where my garden coaching business will be (coneflowers, aster, goldenrod, liatris, milkweed). Also may start some veg--I'm virginal with that, too.





So, grade me on...

Crocodile Crocus Crosses Circus

I like alliteration. So much so that many nachos were sacrificed for my lunch time crocus sandwich. (eh) The crocus have been blooming since 2/22, a full three weeks earlier than normal. I even trimmed tree branches and began cleaning up in prep for my vegetable experiment (a new bed, and I don't believe you people who say growing veg is easy. Ornamentals are easy.).



I ate some of the flowers, so here are what's left:











 

You're thinking: "Wow, so that's what crocus look like! I had no i...

Prairie Dog Executions--LB473

"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset." Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior, 1890



Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma


Today the Nebraska state senate is, most likely, passing a bill--LB473--that will allow the government to go on to private land and poison prairie dogs, which are being classified as noxious weeds (don't ask, you know how...

Someone Else's Life--On (My) Memoir

I've spent the last two days frantically looking for a photo I set aside months ago (note to self, when you find something, put it back where you found it--especially since I have a photographic memory). After 2-3 hrs of searching I found the photo that will start the book. Of course, along the way I rediscovered other photos and letters to / from my grandmother, notes, news clippings, gifts, a record in low german. Things I would have yawned over like some giant yak not even a decade...

Certain Uncertainty

Over the last six months I've been feeling an overwhelming pressure on my bones, muscle, and blood. I think I've felt this before--in periods of my life of stagnation and fear. I've let it go too far this time and it's hell getting back. Usually, the way to overcome such invisible weight is to do something, but I feel like I don't know what to do. But I also feel like I do, and that's what scares me the most. The older we get, the higher the stakes it seems, the more we have to risk, the more...

Nebraska Blooms

Did I miss GBBD? Well, here ya go.







Is that the first hummingbird?


Actually, it's quite lovely outside. Low 40s and sunny. Our 12" of snow is now about 2-4", and will be gone this weekend. I no longer order plants--growing my old, from wild seedlings to cuttings to divisions to closet propagation. Still, shouldn't plant catalogs have seeds embedded in their pages?

Sketch the Shadows

My family has grown up on the prairie, in the Midwest, on land that, according to author Kathleen Norris, rubs off on us to make us feel that we don't need to connect. Norris, who grew up and lives in North Dakota, frequently stays at upper Midwest monasteries for reflection and to continue her monastic-influenced spiritual education. These monasteries, according to Norris, often "follow silence at certain hours, but I had never before immersed myself in the kind of silence that sinks into...

What 12" of Snow Looks Like

Biggest snow in 3 years. Heavy and wet, equal to 1.25" of rain. It's absolutely gorgeous outside--warm ski weather.





Have a seat




This is not a weeper--it's an althea in dire straits






Garden entrance






Not much "interest" left, let alone bird cover








Cool elm trunk




Snow took down a feeder




Click and expand




Rotate upside down to see through






Off the rain chain