Furry Frenzy



Not much snow left...

 Today it was gloriously sunny and warm (40s)...yay!  Since the snow has started to recede I decided to take some snapshots of the yard to get an idea of its "backbone."  I tend to get so involved in how individual plants look I often overlook the overall view of a garden space.  I wasn't the only one scampering around the yard today either.  The critters I share the yard with seemed pretty pumped about the warm-up too.  Some mourning doves and robins showed up a few days ago and I've noticed all the birds, even those who stick around all winter, are noisier and more active now.  I startled both some gray squirrels and those dang cute red squirrels and I saw the chipmunks out and about for the first time since Fall. 

I'm a bit worried.  I just read a book about shrubs that mentioned that many yard trees die in Wisconsin not because of the cold but because of fluctuating temps in the Spring.   I noticed that although my back yard is wooded, the snow on a steep south-facing slope where I planted a japanese maple and some diervilla (bush honeysuckle) last year is completely snow-free.  I hope that it doesn't warm up there too quickly and damage those shrubs.

Our front yard spruces-a study in poor plant placement

Tomorrow we're taking down 2 mulberries (the invasive morus alba, not the native morus rubra) and a couple of snags near the house.  I'm worried; I noticed one of our larger trees looks like it's dead.  I'm not good with tree identification so I hope it's an elm not an oak.  I can live with dutch elm since most of the elms in our neighborhood have already died but I'd be devastated if the oaks go since those are the only big trees left on our property.