Imagine my surprise when the snow melted and I discovered a large clump of parsley still alive!! That has never happened before. I'm not sure how it survived our winter but I'm happy it did. Has anyone else in zone 4 had pleasant surprises like this?
Another nice surprise today was finding my butterfly bushes leafing out. They normally don't leaf out until late May/early June. They are way ahead of schedule this year.
Of course, it helps that we've had some 80 degree days - only 30 degrees higher than normal!
I'll be adding all these odd happenings to my garden journal so I can look back on this wonderful spring in some future year when we're having a snowstorm in April.
My neighbor has had luck with parsley wintering over - but we are in a zone4-5. A lot of zone5 plants do well here because of our microclimate.
ReplyDeleteParsley wintering over AND eighty degree days?! As my kids say: no fair!
ReplyDeleteChristine in Alaska
Hello Bonnie,
ReplyDeleteNice to meet a fellow upstate Newyorker :) Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Yes, that stretch of summery weather was wonderful!
I remember finding parsley still alive in our veggie garden in the spring last year but I don't think it survived the mud season. The garden is in quite a wet spot and with last year being so rainy we didn't have a very successful veggie crop. I'll be interested to see how well your parsley does.
I just pruned my butterfly bushes the other day and didn't notice any leaves. Will have to check them today.
Let's hope that hard frosts don't ruin all this early new growth! I've seen it happen too often in our fickle spring weather.
I keep thinking about my parsley and it came to me that last fall I never received a hard frost at my house. I think that might be why my parsley is still alive. Hopefully, I won't get a spring frost that will kill it. I'll have to make sure to cover it if the forecast is for a frost. Today, the forecast is for 79 degrees again. Gotta love it!!
ReplyDeleteLook at that! Exciting that your Parsley overwintered! My garden seems way ahead of last year as well, gotta love this warm weather!
ReplyDeleteI am happy you are having an early spring but I hope that Mother Nature does not play a mean trick on you by having a freezing night! You are ahead of schedule for the year while we are behind with our prolonged cold temps this spring. We are now enjoying the normal temps once again though. Hopefully, everything will stay normal from here out. What is normal anyway??? :-)
ReplyDeleteI so agree this has been a wonderful spring. Keeping track of it on your blog is a great way to pass those snowy days as well as looking back in journals. I do hope your parsley sets lots of seeds and comes back for you year after year. That will mean lots of swallowtails and easy work for you!
ReplyDeleteIt must be great to finally have spring after such a hard winter. You have reminded me to go out check up on my butterfly bushes.
ReplyDeleteBonnie girl my goodness !!!
ReplyDeleteI want to try and over winter my parsley too now this year because I absolutely LOVE it .. I have pots on the deck during the summer so I can snip as much as I want .. that was quite a feat to have it survive ! Well done you !
My sages and oregano survive along of course with thyme etc .. a lot of herbs will set seed and come up next year too such as fennel : )
I was talking to someone today about our gardens and she said her father always had parsley growing outdoors, all winter. He put a cold frame over it and when he wanted parsley, he went out and brushed the snow away to get to it. I never thought of doing that but it sure is worth a try.
ReplyDeleteI think that you have a beautiful orchard, I have a similar one in my house with a lot of cilantro and many other vegetables, I think that it is wonderful, I am a farmer!!22dd
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