Cilla: Siberian Squill

Our cilla is blooming all over the yard again. The crocuses and snowballs are all in full force too. The irises and tulips have begun to poke up out of the ground.

Today we're supposed to get up to 6" of snow...

I was able to work outside quite a bit yesterday. I have put up a new section of fence in the garden to accommodate more heirloom peas this summer. I kicked around some dirt and hope to plant potatoes and peas next Friday if all goes well.

Other recent yard work has included spreading a little over a ton (1500 lb load two weeks ago, 800 lbs last week) of wood chip mulch in the flower beds. The far back yard and near back yard are covered. We still need to do both sides of the house and the flower beds in front and on the hill. The first load was easiest. My brother and I took his dump truck out to the Iowa City landfill and they load you up FREE. Having the dump box meant we unloaded in about two minutes at home onto a tarp in the driveway. Last week I got more free wood chips from the landfill in Pete's pickup truck. That I have to shovel out of the bed and it takes quite a bit longer. In total we have dumped 75 wheelbarrow loads.

I got a load for myself and then went back to fill Pete's truck again to bring a load to him in exchange for the use of the truck. I put his cover on the back and left it at his place. His daughter, not knowing the back was full, took the truck back to college. I talked to Pete yesterday and he said his well travelled mulch came back home Friday night and he had unloaded it yesterday.

So in case we do get all that snow, I'll just look at this blog instead of my own yard. (His pictures and descriptions are way better anyway)


An Iowa Garden