The last bits of snow from last winter
The garden is finally snow-free. The snowbirds (snow buntings, but everyone here calls them snowbirds) & other small birds have been snacking on the seeds in the pods as they emerged through the snow. We feed the birds commercial seed, but it seems like they should be able to eat their normal diet. They seem to have finished what there was to eat, so it was time for clean-up. I spent a while this afternoon trimming dead stalks from Artemisias, Potentillas and Ranunculi, and things look much better. I put one of the pinwheels out again, too.
I also picked up the new plant markers project where I left it last fall. I’d written on markers with a Sharpie, and was then using a label maker to make tapes to put on that would be easier to read. The new markers are aluminum, and the ones that were out over the winter already had signs of corrosion from the salt air here. I had to use steel wool to smooth them before putting the labels on. We will have to see how long they last.
