Beautiful morning

Spring! I love this season! I love to wake up in the morning when birds are singing and twitting! Today we had a very beautiful morning. It was very sunny... and quite cold. I noticed just +1 C (33,8 F) at 06.30. But the temperature raised quickly and at 10.00 it was +14 C (57,2 F). Not that bad as for March here in central Poland. 

Birds and squirells enjoy spring do much! Plants feel very comfortable in such kind of circumstances. I love my garden and it makes me more patient, stronger and wiser. Let's have a look at my evergreen garden in Polad at early morning spring sunshine!

Lawn is quite green but most of huge trees do not still have fresh leaves. Oaks will get greener a litle bit later than other tres like maples or birches.

Some of evergreen broadleaf shrubs have just started to bloom. Look at this pieris japonica Debutante. Isn't it beautiful?

Vinca minor Variegata started to bloom few days ago!

I cleaned my pond. I also used special liquid which makes the water more transparent and which also helps to combat algaes (or fight with algaes - I do not know which word is proper for that).

I am still waiting for the first barbecue in the garden this year!

I think that I wil have to cut the grass very soon. It started to grow quote fast after some rainfoall that appeared two days ago. 

Please visit my blog systematicly. I will present here condition of my garden and different plant which grow here.

Plants started to grow and bloom

Last Friday and Saturday were very nice, warm and sunny. It was +24 C on Friday and +22 C on Saturday. Unfortunately Sunday was not that nice. It was cloudy with 14 C. Last night it started to rain. But hunid weather is very good for all plants, trees, flowers, shrubs which have just started to grow and to bloom.

I love spring, even whent it's raining and it's a little bit cold. I love to observe new leaves that appear on all trees and shrubs. I love all spring flowers. They are very colourfull and pretty. Let's look at my evergreen garden. I wil show you how the nature starts its new life after winter.

Mahonia aquifolium has just started to bloom.

Euonymus fortunei has got new fresh leaves.

Pansies are bloming! I planted them 18 days ago.

Prunus laurocerasus Herbergii will strat to bloom very soon. It's very beautiful evergreen broadleaf shrub which can withstand quite low temperature.

Clematis has a lot of nice frsh and light green leaves. Spring is here!

Fritillaria imperialis which we call Ceaser's crownis quite big as for the second half of March. We are waiting for beautiful and big red flowers.

Tulips will also start to bloom very soon.

Hyaciths are very close...

Some of them has just started to bloom!

Spring came quite early this year to Poland. It was snowing and freezing at the same time last year. I do prefer the weather that we have this year. 

I will present here on my blog how my garden changes during spring time!

Spring!

Fabruary did not bring a real winter. It was thaw here and snow that had come in January disapeared during first 10 days of February. Until now March has been really nice with some sun and quite high temeprature. Today it's been the warmest day this year. Temperature rised to +15 C (in shadow) and to +28 C in sunny places! That was really nice. Sunday was also the first day this year whe I ran my bike! Great. I was dreaming about it all throuhg the winter time.

When I came back home I took my camera and I went to the garden to look for some signs of spring. I also checked a condition of evergreen broadleaf shrubs.

I can say that all of plants withstood winter without any damages caused by the snow or frost. 

Hedera aarborescens looks quite good.

Aucuba japonica is going to grow new leaves.

Prunus laurocerasus Herbergii is in a very good condition.

The whole garden looks really nice.

Few days ago I planted some pansies. Some of them grow in flowerpots which I put on the stairs. 

I do hope that winter is not going to come back. Within few days I will inform you if the weather is still good and I will also show you condition of my plants.

Skimmia japonica

Skimmia japonica is an evergreen broadleaf shrub which came to Europe from Far East. It is native to Japan, China and Korean Peninsula.      

In can be grown in moderate climate in USDA zones 6B - 7A and higher. It tolerates full or semi shade. In its natural habitat it grows to 6-7 meters high. The height in Europe is astimated on the level of 1,5 - 2 m  (and the same spread). Do notplant it in full sun. Skimmia doesn't like it at all!

Well drained and acidic soil would be the best for skimmia. It also needs regular watering.

Leaves are oblong-eliptic, dark green and glossy above, little bit yellow and green beneath, 10 cm long.

Flowers appear in early spring or at the end of winter. They are white and fragrant! Fruits come in autumn, but only on female plants. Male flowers are bigger and more fragrant!

This shrub is really beautiful and can be lanted even in small gardens.

Young species should be protected from severe frost (temperatures lower than -15 C).

Thaw

The second half of January brought here some real winter. We had quite cold nights with temperature dropping to -17 C (1,4 F). A lot of snow came at the end of the month. February sometimes is the coldest month in Poland. But this year winter is really fickle. December was quite warm First part of January looked like early spring and February seems to be also warmer than long term average. Snow started to diappear in the first week of this month. It's quite goog for broadleaf evergreen shrubs growing in my garden. 

Look at Prunus laurocerasus Herbergii!

Or at Skimmia japonica!

Thay look quite fresh and do not have any signs of winter or frost damages.

Mahonia aquifolium is very frost hardy. It can withstand quite severe frost. So Polish winters are not so dangerous for it.

Japaneese little corner is green all around the year. There are some quite hardy shrubs growing there like Rhododendrons or Pieris japonica. There are also some less hardy like Hedera Canariensis or Skimmia japonica.

Hedera arborescens is another frost hardy plant. It's small at the moment but it shoul grow 2-2,5 meters within 10 years.

Last few days were quite warm and sunny with temepratures around +10 C (50 F) durng the day. Almost all snow disappeared but there are still some white spots in shady places. 

Lawn looks quite nice. it;s very green and was not destroyed by frost and snow.

What's going to happen within next few days? Is winter coming back? Or spring 's waiting just round the corner? We wil see. I will inform you about that on my blog!

Pond in the 2nd half of January

The beggining of second half of January brought here some snow an temperatures a little bit below 0 C (32F). As I mentioned in the last post from January 16, my garden turned fromm green to white. Next few days were quite windy, litlle bit cold, with a mixture of rain and snow. Beggining of last week welcomed us with the frozen rain that covered everything: vehicles, trees, stairs... But let's go back to January 16. My pond was not frozen that time.

Just after January 20, huge amount of cold air came here from Scandinavia. So we experienced -15 C (5F) by night and -8 C (17.6F) by the day. But we also experienced nice sunny weather!

As it was cold the water in my pond froze and a tiny ice surface appeared. Day by day it was thicker and thicker.

Last few nights and days were not that cold. But it was cloudy and huge amount of snow appeared ewerywhere in my area. Today it's around -7 C (19.40F) but it's very windy. 

We are looking for some warming that is forecasted to come here next week. But even during upcoming weekend it shall be around -3 C (26.6F) which is much better then now. 

There are some fishes living in my pond. They can withstand winter there without any problems. My pond is around 130 cm deep in the deepest point. So they have a kind of a shelter there. I installed a special device which we can call an artificial ice-hole. There is a kind of heating element there and a special pipe to trasport some fresh air (or oxygene) to the pond.

So you can see on a picture above how much snow we have here in the central part of Poland!

I hope that the nxt post will be much more optimistic as the weather is concerned.

Winter has just come

Yesterday it started to snow in the area where I live. But just 2 days ago sunny weather brought some nice and quite warm (as for January) air.

Wednesday morning I recorded +3 C (37,4 F). It was very cloudy and it started to snow around 09.00 AM. Temperature was still above 0 C so the snow disappeared quite quickly.

But in the afternoon temperature dropped below 0 C (32 F). It was snowing the whole day so in the eveningmy garden was totally white.

  

Today in the morning I took my camera to make some pictures of my garden. It looks really nice. It is not that cold, just around 0 C (32 F). Weather forecast say that such kind of weather will last until the end of january. We will see if they are right.

Still waiting for winter

Last few weeks brought here in the central part of Poland some warm air from the south. But weather has just started to change and it's getting colder. It was -2 C (28,4 F) today early morning, just before sunrise. Then we had a very beautiful day with a lot of sunshine.

I always try to find different websites providing proffesional weather forecasts in the net. Most of them forecasted winter would come to Poland the next week. It is not very cold now, there is no snow outside but temperature has just dropped below 0 C (32 F). 

Yestarday I protected my frost hardy palm tree (Trachycarpus Wagnerianus) but I think it is still a little bit too warm to protect other not so hardy plants like aucuba japonica or skimmia japonica. They tolerate temperatures down to -15 or -17 C (5 F to 0 F).

Cold air froze my pond. I found tiny ice coverage there. And fishes swimming just below it.

Today in the afternoon I noticed huge cloud which looked like mountains. This front came from the west and quicly covered beautiful blue sky.

I think that winter with snow and frost will come sooner or later. Be sure that I will inform you about that here on my blog!

Evergreen garden in the beginning of January 2014

Christmas passed by and 2013 is finished. We've just started New Year. There is a winter picture with snow in my calendar but outside of the window it seems that spring is coming here to Poland. We were lucky during Christmas. It was sunny with +12 C (53,6 F). This is not so common for our climate. Every year all the children are waiting for white Christmas. Personally I don't like winter and I hate snow and frost in my area. it is only acceptable in the mountains. But... I live in the central part of Poland and snow and frost are something what we have to face every winter. But the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 has brought here nice, warm and sunny weather.

Lots of evergreen broadleaf plants are still growing or has just woken up to start new season. This is not good because winter will come sooner or later. If plants start to grow even a litle frost can destroy young parts.

Skimmia japonica is ready for blooming. This nice shrub blooms normally in winter but not in Poland! It blooms in Japan, the UK, Benelux or France, but not here! Normaly in my area flowers are destroyed by frost and in spring new stalks appear, now flowers at all!

Euonymus japonicus is still growing. New leaves appeared few days ago.

Mahonia aquifolium is going to bloom very soon.

Roses have new leaves. It's strange but the old ones are still on the shrubs. Normally roses leave their leaves in winter, but this year it hasn't happen.

Buxus sempervirens has also got young and light green leaves.

Even my frost hardy small palm tree is still growing. It is Trachycarpus Wagnerianus and I am not sure if it withstands winter here. We will see.

Weather forecasts say that winter will come here next week. Be sure that I will inform you about that on my blog!