Snow, snow and more snow!

This is my first blog entry ever.  I don't know why it took me so long to get this going because I always wanted to document the changes in my gardening projects.  I guess I owe some thanks to Alan and his blog "It's Not Work, It's Gardening" because it is exactly what I always wanted to create.  That being said, I could never match his photography, quality of documentation and dedication to his blog.  Congrats.

Anyway, this has been a classic east coast Canadian winter, cold and white.

Compare the first photo with the photo of my blog's title.  If you can't get the right perspective, have a look at the second photo keeping in mind that the fence posts in my yard are 6 feet tall.  Oh well, for the plant's sake it's better than no snow and cold temperatures.

Even under all this snow, I am still constantly dreaming up plans for the spring.  I know spring is still a few months away but my potted bamboos are pushing up new shoots and that keeps me interested.  These next pictures are of Phyllostachys aurea.  I have it sitting in my kitchen in front of the window.  It spent last summer on my deck and I moved it inside sometime in November.  I am surprised it started shooting so early because of the relatively low amount of daylight.  Hopefully the shoots will survive and leaf out.

This picture was taken on Jan. 31 and the culm is approaching 7 inches.

Summer time on the deck.

Winter time position in front of patio door.

Close up of largest shoot.  It did not upsize at all.  This is the only shoot that appears to be close to the culm diamater of the previous largest culms.





The same culm is reaching 33 inches on Feb 6.  I love watching these things shoot.  It almost makes you forget you have a 2000 square foot driveway to shovel, almost.

I also have a Pseudosasa japonica shooting in my grow room and the Fargesia (Borinda? ) angustissima just finished leafing out.  I still manage to find a little "green" in my day.

Pseudosasa japonica shooting