Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to bring you our latest news. You may remember me from such posts as “Another New Toy”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
The weather has been pretty nice, though very dry. The guy I live with said we got some rain last night, which was nice. That must have been the first time it rained this month.
And then they say this weekend the temperatures will be well below freezing, with snow. The guy I live with is kind of excited about the snow. It’s supposed to be warmer next week, so the snow will melt into the ground. The moisture will be a relief, for sure.
Plants like the Salvia greggii will be done for, the flowers anyway, but the guy I live with is fine with that.
The crocus flowers will freeze, but there will be more later. These are Crocus speciosus, and the white form.
You may wonder why I wrote that the guy I live with said we got some rain. That’s because I was away.
Remember that the guy I live with got a jury summons? Without going into all the details, he had to go, so I spent the night in a kennel. Happily, I should add.
He was allowed to go home after a few hours, so he came to get me, while I was having a very good time playing with dogs, which I’m, as you know.
None of this was as awful as the guy I live with imagined it might be. He was even able to get up at five in the morning.
Now back to a bit of gardening.
I watched the guy I live with do some work.
You’ll be able to see how elegantly I tie this in to the catastrophizing that the guy I live with tends to do, at times.
It occurred to him that some of the autumn-flowering snowdrops hadn’t made an appearance above ground, like they should have already. Remember how I said we hadn’t gotten any rain this month, except for last night, so he wondered if that was why the snowdrops weren’t up.
These snowdrops were growing in a pot plunged into the ground, so he dug around in the pot soil (it’s soil, not potting soil) for a while, didn’t see anything green, and so began to tip the soil out of the pot, and I heard all this moaning and groaning. He thought all the bulbs had rotted. But then I heard a cry of triumph; the bulbs were growing right at the base of the pot, and had multiplied.
So he repotted all the bulbs into two pots.
Galanthus peshmenii
Obviously, bulbs planted this deep take longer to emerge. (The bulbs are planted deeply to protect them from freezing in the pot; the top of the pot is close to the surface of the soil. The reason for growing them in pots is so he can find them without slicing through them with a trowel, and share them with the botanic gardens.)
He re-plunged the pots into a new little bed he made. I watched. And stared at the ground, too.
The little bed is up against the fence, on my right, shaded in summer, but the warmest spot in the garden in winter; a good place for early snowdrops. It’s made of pea gravel, leaves dug into the gravel, some compost added, and so forth.
It’s otherwise empty here because it was a place for visitors to gather, after coming through the open gate.
(Note: I had to update this post because the guy I live with changed his mind about the snowdrops. He put one pot back where it was, and planted the other pot of snowdrops into the garden, and watered them.)
So that’s our news.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
The bulbs were divided now that they are growing? Gee, I would have been hesitant to do that. They must have multiplied so much that they were so crowded that dividing them was less stressful than it would have been to leave them crowded. I would have been inclined to merely put them into a wider pot, and let them expand outward for the ir next season. But of course, I am unfamiliar with them.
It is gratifying to read that you enjoyed your stay at the kennel, even if it was stressful for the guy you live with to leave you there.
Well actually there were just a bunch of bulbs at the bottom of the pot. They weren’t attached to each other. Some were pretty tiny.
The guy I live with was super stressed out when he saw how timid I was, for the first few interviews, but I warmed up to the place on the third, three-hour-long interview, and started playing with my new friends.
What?! THIRD THREE hour long interview? First FEW interviews? Were the others also three hours long?! It sounds like you spent more time getting acquainted with the kennel than staying there!
My first two interviews lasted for half an hour. The third interview was seeing how well I played with other dogs (very well), and whether or not I could be in a crate. They called it a “cave”, but I have three forts at my house, so I’m used to things like that. So that’s why it was three hours.
Did the guy you live with also get to play with other dogs and try a ‘cave’? That does sort of sound like fun.
The “cave” was for sleeping at night; then there was playtime during the day. It was fun.
Oh, the scratching at the surface compost on bulb pots can be an irresistible at times of concern!
The guy I live with said that’s so true. He wondered why none of the autumn-flowering snowdrops weren’t up, but then he realized they were planted so deeply in the pots that they needed a lot more time to reach the surface. And for water to get to them. The snowdrop bulbs had some roots, and some top growth, but not much.
Like Galanthus bursanus, which is planted in the garden at a “normal” depth, has been up for a while.
Next year all the snowdrops in pots are going to be transplanted into the garden.
Glad to learn you and the man you live with survived the jury incident. Your crocuses are quite lovely-they’re such a nice spot of color in the garden this time of year. My mom has been taking pics of roses profusely blooming around the neighborhood since they clearly haven’t heeded nature’s memo on preparing for the snow set to arrive in a couple of days. Have a safe and lovely Hunter’s Moon this weekend.
Thanks. The guy I live with has a tendency to catastrophize, especially since his wife died. I understand that’s not something he’s going to get over, even with my delightful companionship.
The crocuses take an abnormal amount of work compared to what usually goes on here.
The guy I live with said he saw a rose in full flower today, when he went to the store.
Mee-yow Mani wee so-o happy you enjoyed yore time at Poochie Camp!!!! HURRAH!!!
An if you wuud like sum REEL rain wee can send you ourss…..iss rainin Kittiess an Poochiess today!!!!!
Well dun Guy in THE flowerss…yore crowcussess are so purrty! an you sirvived Jury Duty!!!!
An grate snoopurrvizin there Mani!!!
***nose bopss*** BellaDharma an 🙂 BellaSita Mum
Thanks; I really liked the camp.
We’re supposed to get some snow on Sunday. The guy I live with is kind of excited, believe it or not.
SNOW??? Wee herd same thing heer……iss two soon Mani an Guy!!!can wee have more Autumm pleese?
Yep, snow. Starting tonight.
EEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!! Wee hope it meltss nice an wetss yore grass an flower an treess well…….
This coming week will be pretty warm, so I think most of the snow will melt. It will be above freezing at night, too.
Whew!! That iss guud THE snow will melt an hydrate THE ground! An above freezin iss fury guud Mani an Guy 😉
Mee-yow that iss guud snow will melt an hydrate THE ground! An above Freezin iss allwayss nice Mani an Guy!
We certainly hope so.