Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, Mani the purebred border collie, filling in for the guy I live with, and here today to show you crocuses, snowdrops, and willows. You may remember me from such posts as “Forty Degrees”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
I think you can see that it snowed again. And now it’s supposed to be about 55 degrees (F) every day for a while, which is typical for December.
We only get a “white Christmas” about once every three years, and this probably won’t be one of those years.
Anyway, there’s some action in the pots of crocuses upstairs. This is Crocus laevigatus ‘Fontenayi’.
These came from Brent and Becky’s, and this crocus is another species which has overwintering leaves, so the guy I live with decided to give them a “boost” with their leaf-growing in their first winter. He dug up the pond basket they’re growing in and repotted it upstairs. There are some other Crocus laevigatus in the garden, as well.
The rest of the crocuses upstairs are doing well.
And there are snowdrops, too. Here’s ‘Potter’s Prelude’ again. It’s been moved around a lot, but this seems like a good place for it.
The guy I live with just noticed today that Galanthus cilicicus is up:
This is kind of a weak grower here.
So that’s the gardening news, such as it is.
On one of my evening walks, the guy I live with took a picture of Jupiter, practically over our house, and also said that star on the left is Sirius, “the dog star”.
I thought it was very nice to have a star named for dogs. He said it was very far away.
The only other thing I have is more pictures of the willow at the end of our walk.
These were taken over the last few evenings.
Pretty cool, huh? The willow used to have this long branch hanging over the path, but it was broken by snow a few years ago.
In the last picture you can see where we used to cross the creek, to our side, because it’s so shallow there. But we rarely do that now; there are dogs that jump the fence and that’s kind of scary. So we stay on the west side of the creek.
That’s all I have for today. I’ll leave you with a picture of me near another willow.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
Wonderful shot of the nighttime sky. The blue in the penultimate willow photo is sublime.
The guy I live with says thanks. This is a good time of year for capturing blueness.
Rhody says that it would be even nicer if more stars were named for dogs. Siriusly, a pure bred border collie star would be nice. So would a terrier mutt star.
What fun to see bulbs growing and blooming at this time of year. Do you appreciate them as much as the guy you live with? Our temperatures are fluctuating up and down regularly so I am not sure if the ground has even frozen solid yet. No outdoor bulbs for us for quite a while so will have to be satisfied with the blooming Hippeastrum. Hope you get lots of goodies in your stockings.
Thanks. I’m kind of indifferent to snowdrops and such but they make the guy I live with happy, which is important to me.
If the soil freezes where the snowdrops are they just wait; they’re amazingly tough plants.
That’s some dedication to bring the crocus in. Interesting to see the different wavelengths that become more predominant as the level of light decreases.
According to the guy I live with it was important to get the leaves growing so the corms will for “daughter corms” to be planted out next year.
The lights for the crocuses are LED lights, because fluorescent weren’t working at all. Literally, in both senses. They didn’t give off enough night, and then they started flickering and buzzing.
I think, as far as the willow pictures are concerned, having a brighter backdrop, like clouds or whatnot, makes for very different light.
Mee-yow youss’ DID get some snow Mani an Guy! Wee had 3 feet of it. Alot has melted an wee have maybe 8 inchess let. OMC! That iss planet Jupiter? BellaSita thott it was Saturn….mew mew mew…..And shee wundered what STAR this iss….So kewl it iss a DOG STAR!!!! Poochiess deeserve their own *STAR* for sure! Mistur Guy you Snowdropss are so purrty. An THE Willow fotoss are amazin!!! Can youss’ beeleeve only 10 dayss til Catmass??
***nose bopss*** BellaDharma an ((hugss)) BellaSita Mum
We got a little bit of snow. We might get some at the end of the month, too. December usually isn’t all that snowy here, though we can sometimes get a whole bunch.
The guy I live with really likes the willow pictures too, thanks.
You can look at Jupiter through binoculars, and if you can find a way to steady the binoculars, you can see some moons.
Likewise with the rings of Saturn, which is in the southwest, in the constellation Aquarius.
It’s hard to believe how quickly this year has passed, but at the same time, slowly.
Mee-yow Mani an Guy thanx fore THE viwin tipss! An ee agree 2024 zoomed bye….Let’ss hope 2025 iss a slower gentler yeer fore all of us!
You’re welcome. It’s hard to hold binoculars still enough to see moons and rings.
This iss so true…BellaSita can’t find her byenocularss…so shee just looks up with her eyess. Mew mew mew……
That would make moons hard to see. But with binoculars the guy I live with says you can see several tiny moons, all lined up.
It’s very cool.
Mee-yow Mani seein Moonss line dup wuud be so so kewl!!!!! Mee gotta find them Byenoculurss fore BellaSita Mum!
It is very cool to see. You may be able to see the rings of Saturn, too.
Mee-yow that wuud allso bee kewl….haven’t found them yet Mani…. **sighss**
The guy I live with says they must have grown legs. That happens.
Mew mew mew Mani tell Guy mee thinkss hee iss rite!! 😉
Better get a net.