It’s February and around Colehaus, nothing much is happening outside. It’s been very cold overnight for the past week and there’s rain and snow mixed early in the mornings when Mom leaves for work. We’re putting extra food out in the feeding stations for late night visitors, knowing full well those visitors are probably the three roly poly raccoons Mom calls The Chubs.

When the sun’s briefly out, neighbor cat visitor P makes her rounds and we’re a favorite because we usually have something out in the feeders. Recently, we rounded up all the bags of catnip we’d collected from here and there over the years and we put a pinch or two out with a scoop of food almost every day.

And you can see Tippy has found that batch. We were regularly getting the dried chicken with catnip Pure Bites treats with our Chewy orders but the prices have gotten just a wee bit up there in cost so everyone’s taking a break from those. And since we had all that catnip, it’s a win-win.

Mom’s cyclamen bloomed wonderfully this winter. She is so proud of this little plant that made the transition from greenhouse/grocery store pretty girl to full-time garden queen.

To keep it that way as much as possible, Mom puts a lightweight popup cold cover over it throughout really cold spells, meaning snow days that are coming.

Elsewhere, the pink heather Mom didn’t dig out last year is blooming. It’s hard to dig something out you know will give a bit of color in the dead of winter. The only problem with this heather is that it wasn’t the mound type. It’s a scraggly spreader and only looks good at this time of year. The rest of the year, it collects twigs and dead leaves, dies out in patches, and looks very much like a half-dead weed. What would you do with it? Dig it out or leave it? Mom’s torn over it.

The Candytuft is another uncertainty. The difference here is that this perennial is over 10 years old and showing its age. It’s sparse and only blooms one month a year. It’s time to replace it but Mom hangs onto it and the replacement dollars. There are other things in the yard that need more attention at less cost. This Candytuft will probably stay.

Next month, bulbs, shoots, and seedlings ought to start popping up and Mom’s mad dash to start spring yard cleanup begins. She already has her two page, single-spaced list drawn up and only carried six items over from last year’s three and a half page list. She says most of the garden is in the refinement stage. Don’t all gardeners say things like that?

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A Colehaus Cats flashback:

2024 – No post
2023 – No post
2022 – No post
2021 – Words for Wednesday
2020 – MultiCat Monday
2019 – No post
2018 – No post
2017 – Friday Fun
2016 – One Word Wednesday
2015 – Ruby Tuesday
2014 – Olivia’s Winter Report
2013 – No post
2012 – Meet the Visitors – First Spring Robin