We don't even have any bare ground! LOL

-33C last night

Yeah..nice but it's too early for Alberta..we're in a deep freeze again.

ubro..where about in SK?

Oh man..that looks heavenly.

We were about -27 on Sunday night. Located 1 hour south-east of Saskatoon. It is warming up though, supposed to be -6 this afternoon. And they are calling for + 6 on both Saturday and Sunday. That kind of weather makes me very nervous. I rely on snow cover rather than covering much, so if our snow melts and we get more cold weather...I have some plants that will be in trouble. The only thing I covered this winter were my Alba roses and the irises that were planted last fall.

just north of you weeper, I agree this weather is hard, I am worried about the fruit trees that may not like this warm/cold rollercoaster ride.

It's raining so bad here that I fear everything will be drowning. Flooding is a concern.

The buds have broken on my Gladiator crabapples and the Dropmore scarlet honeysuckles have leafed out. This is worrisome as it is so early and we could still get a good blast of winter anytime in the next few weeks. Oh yes, a robin showed up today as well!!!!

There is water on the on the creek below my house. Now THAT is a welcome sight . Probably freeze again but at least it's a bit of hope.

Saw and heard some geese honking as they arrived today!

weeper-no way!!! that means the geese will be our way soon, isn't this early? They won't find any open water here.

No problem..enough open puddles around with the melt.

Yes, this is early as far as the date goes, but if we have an early spring they are arriving on time-ish. There isn't any open water, but there are some puddles here and there (and more all the time). The geese usually end up sitting on the ice for awhile every spring around here, anyway. There is bare ground showing out in some of the fields, so I'm sure they can scrounge around. And once that bare ground is showing, things melt quickly!

First crocus flower today on a warm south bed!

Not sure if this is the right thing to do, but with everything so dry and exposed, I've started watering.

Wahoo!

Pics from the same south sheltered bed this morning. I think the sedum angelina likes cooler weather, even a bit of shade:

Beautiful daffs! (and everything else)

I took the straw off my fall planted irises today...it was thawing out underneath anyway and I'm a little worried about rot at that point. And there was a robin tweeting at me while I was doing it!

Sigh. It's all white here.... :(

I think I saw a similar type of iris as your photo serendipity, it was in a grocery store and was labelled iris reticulata. I wonder if they would be hardy to zone 3? It sure is a lovely sight for early on.

I thought it looked familiar - I had some of those for a few years. I think they're zone 4 and probably grew here through a couple of mild winters.

Prairie_northrose, isn't it great to see such early season color! I've also started planting daffodils nearby to the house to enjoy an early show while waiting upon the others out in the garden. I especially like that bluish green rosette shaped sedum, do you have a name for it?

'Angelina' sedum loves poor soil and will color up in bright yellow and fiery burnt colors under such conditions, it's a great plant!

Yes that's what the Iris is called reticulata j.s. dyt. It's just a little mini one and the poor things got a dumping of snow on them yesterday and all through the night. We have more snow now then we did in December!

I'm not sure the name of the blue sedum, it came with the house, and I can't find anything exactly like it online. It looks good when it has new growth like this, and gets rather sprawled out later on. I am very fond of 'Angelina,' I am going to do my best to keep layering it this year and hopefully get more. A slow spreader she is, but wonderful colour throughout the year, especially into the fall. One of my favourites for sure.

PN, 'Angelina' roots super easily from cuttings poked in the ground where you want them, even broken off pieces laying on the ground usually take root. I'm also gonna have to spread more of this plant around my yard!