Consistent?

We've got some warm weather coming this weekend -- highs in the mid-50's F (11ºC or so) -- although it's quite cold right now (15ºF/-9ºC). That prompted me to look back at this date over the past few years to see how this winter is comparing to those recently endured.

In 2011 I was taking photos of condensation indoors because it was "quite cold" outside. I didn't mention the temperature but it was below 20ºF/-7ºC. I'm going to say that it was also around 15ºF on this date in 2011.

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They get big

On my recent trip to Chicago, to my childhood home, I was in awe of the trees. This happens every time I visit this place, where the trees that grew up with me have become towering giants.

It was too cold on this day (single digits F) to venture out with my camera, so I was limited to what I could see from the windows. But that was enough to impress me.

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Questions

As is usual during the winter for me, I spend a lot of time looking at the plants under the lights in the basement. Once in a while I notice something that has me puzzled.

Today I share three discoveries with you, two of which have left me with questions. The first are these tiny spheres on my Cissus quadrangularis.

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A waste of good moss

You know I love moss, right? I post about it a few times every year -- so soft, green, lush. Probably the main reason that I like it so much is you really have to look at it closely in order to appreciate it...

...and I'm a big fan of getting up close to everything in the garden. This moss is not in the garden though, and it isn't long for this world.

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Winter plant bargains: think small

I did a little spur-of-the-moment plant shopping the other day while picking up building supplies at Home Depot. I certainly was not intending to even look at plants while there, as the houseplant selection is usually pretty uninteresting to me. The succulents though, they sometimes surprise.

Euphorbia tirucalli 'fire sticks' is a plant that I've grown and overwintered indoors for several years -- in the past, as my plant died last winter when I neglected it a bit too much. So I've been on the lookout for a replacement, and I found one.

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Whooo is cold?

As I walked around the yard late yesterday afternoon, covering a few plants for the cold air that would be arriving sometime during the night (it was 22ºF when I was out there taking photos, but only 10ºF as I write this today at 10AM), a movement in the trees startled me.

An owl! A barred owl to be precise, probably the same one that we've seen three times in the last couple of weeks. The thought that an owl is getting comfortable in my garden is really exciting to me! This bird was getting verbally harassed by the smaller birds, but was half-heartedly hunting for ground prey and didn't seem to mind me walking around with the camera.

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St. Louis to Chicago

On Christmas Day I made the drive, for approximately the 30th or 40th time, from St. Louis to Chicago. Since many of you who read what I write may not be familiar with the geography in this part of the country, I thought I'd document it for you.

I've only written about a road trip one other time (on 2013's summer RV vacation) and that trip was unique in every way for me. This trip is not. It is well known to my eyes, to the extent that it almost feels like a commute.

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Look back: Summer 2010

I've got several interesting posts planned for this week, but since I've got a bit of a cold and a headache, I'm taking the easy approach today: a look back at summer 2010.

That was the year I started this blog, and this post shows what the garden was like in July of that year. One of the best things about documenting the garden's progress is looking back every once in a while, and I find it especially enjoyable on cold winter days to see some summer greenery.

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year -- I hope 2014 was a good year for you, and that 2015 holds exciting prospects! At least I hope your prospects are better than this fellow's:

Hopefully you've remembered that photos of desiccated mantises mean that I've fired up my wood stove for the first time. For some reason, mantises are attracted to the stovepipe at the top of my chimney, traveling down the dark tube, ending up in the firebox.

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