That Wascally Wabbit...er Squirrel

We had another cold snap. A very brief one but still I was concerned about my rosebushes especially The Fairy. That one had been putting out leaves like it was spring. When I got home from work this morning, I checked on it. Sure enough, the leaves were gone. Upon closer examination, I realized everything was gone. A squirrel or squirrels had chewed most of the branches off. The squirrels are not hibernating this winter because it has been so warm. I have been feeding them but I guess they wanted a little variety in their diet.

Needless to say, I am horrified. I lost a Zephirine Drouhin to voracious squirrels last year. Losing The Fairy would be heartbreaking. It was the only one of my new roses to bloom last year. I had high hopes that it would survive the winter and do even better this year. In fact, I was planning on moving it to become the centerpiece of a new cottage-style garden I am planning for the front yard, my opening move in eliminating my front lawn.

The seeds that I ordered have been arriving daily. I've been working the past four nights so I've just been tossing them into the fridge without opening the packages. The nights that I work, I just work and sleep. If you were up all night, you would sleep all day too! I did make a mental note that the my order from Select Seeds was most likely a partial delivery. It was my largest order. There was no way they could have fit that many seed packets into such a small envelope. Imagine my surprise when I opened it tonight and discovered they had indeed somehow crammed 25 seed packets into a tiny 6" x 9" padded mailer. I'm very concerned about that company. They are obviously trying to save on postage. Their packets are very poor quality. The printing on them is atrocious. Could they be flirting with bankruptcy? I hope not. I love that company. They are a fantastic source for all kinds of heirloom and other rare seeds and plants. Maybe I should start a movement. Encourage gardeners all over the country to order from them to increase their revenues!

All of those seeds in my fridge are tantalizing, especially with all the warm weather we have been having. It's supposed to continue the rest of this week. Again. This month has to be setting some kind of records for warm temperatures. But it's still too early to do any gardening.