The winters are not the problem! At least for me. I love a boreal/Canadian
winter. But, as so often happens here, winter can break off nice and early,
and not necessarily leave us with spring. The between-times mean mud season,
maritime air, and an almost total absence of spring as most people know it.
April is seldom good here, (again, not complaining about late snows) it is
the seemingly endless G-weather (grim gray, grot, and many other g-words)
The hard freeze this weekend past was not too welcome, but the brief snow
squalls were of little bother to me. At least we got sun between squalls!
Whatever it takes.

Lamoine it is. We have mostly finished with snowdrops, and the early crocus.
Now early forms of Narcissus. No tulips yet. I see swollen buds on lilacs
and even the Philadelphus, and the not terribly numerous oaks here. Most of
the native maples are trying to bloom. The non-native Norway maple, as we
call it (Acer platanoides) doesn't bloom till nearer leaf time. I do see
stirrings of wooly croziers of interrupted ferns (Osmunda claytoniana) and
it does seem a little early for them, for whatever reason. I'd have thought
it cool enough to hold them back a little. Even in a nice year we don't
expect tree leaves until well into May.

Hastening to finish this winter's renewal pruning on apple trees, shrubs.
Really getting late for that sort of thing now. The moment we get some
strong sun, it will definitely be too late.
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Personal site with eastern Maine and Yellowstone 2000 photos; new Lamoine
web cam: http://www.lamoine.dns2go.com/
Albums of Winter 2004 ice, winter work, and Yellowstone 2002:
http://community.webshots.com/user/plantplanman