It is still February in Tennessee and one of my trees is already covered with lush pink blossoms.  It worries me because if we have a heavy snow or frost, they will die without the bees having the opportunity to feed on them.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Man updates us on his own stroll through his spring-like yard,

That’s why I decided to do something I’ve never done in January.  I took my March stroll, the walk around  the yard when I look for bits of green, tiny buds, and any hints of  the coming spring.  As I pushed fallen oak leaves aside, I felt like a kid searching the house for hidden Christmas presents — which, Mom and Dad, I never, ever did.

I took photos earlier today of jonquils already in full bloom. Where is winter?

Russian scientists have grown a beautiful flower from seeds hidden for 30,000 years in a squirrel’s nest.

Using a pioneering experiment, the Sylene stenophylla has become the oldest plant ever to be regrown and it is fertile, producing white flowers and viable seeds.

The seeds date back 30,000 to 32,000 years and raise hopes that iconic Ice Age mammals like the woolly mammoth could also eventually be resurrected.

This is truly an interesting and wonderful feat. Congratulations to the great work by the Russian Academy of Sciences and Svetlana Yashina for leading the regeneration of the seed into the gorgeous flower.

If you don’t have a patch of dirt of your own, here’s another idea for planting.

If you are a new gardener just waiting for the weather to warm up to sink your hands in the cool moist earth, you don’t have to just sit back right now and imagine the vegetables that will fill your table this summer.  Right now you can get busy planning the layout of your garden.  Backyard Landscape Ideas offers some great tips in The Essentials in Planning a Vegetable Garden Layout, including:

Sketch out your plan on a piece of paper to see what will go into your garden. If you have a big garden lot, you can always do row cropping wherein you set wide rows in between as walking paths. This is beneficial if you plan to use mechanical weeding tools to remove weeds in your garden. But if your garden is a small one, you can always plant vegetables close to each other. You won’t be able to use any mechanical equipment to remove weeds, but you’ll get more out of the space by planting more vegetables.

Other things to consider are soil type, space available, and sunlight.  Read more on this helpful website!

This is exactly why we call professionals when we have to have a big tree removed!

Happy weekend!

There are a multitude of items that can be composting – many of which people forget. By composting, you keep trash out of landfills so take a look-see some of these ideas from HGTV,

23. Old jelly, jam, or preserves 24. Stale beer and wine 25. Paper egg cartons 26. Toothpicks 27. Bamboo skewers 28. Paper cupcake or muffin cups 29. Used facial tissues 30. Hair from your hairbrush 31. Toilet paper rolls 32. Old loofahs 33. Nail clippings

The list is incredible, although some I would NEVER do!

Photo by Bryan Alexander.

From Pinterest.