New snow and bright sunshine!

Well today we woke to a thin layer of very white fresh snow. When I went to let our dogs out into their pen it was just mine and a lonely deer track across the yard. When they did it I am not sure but when I went to town there were deer tracks all up and down our driveway and through the shrubs, Since the dogs are put inside for the night we get no warning they are there. I do not see much damage but they sure visited many places in the flower beds. Not the best thing for the fruit shrubs as they often take off the growth which will produce fruit!
I need to a longer walk but not today. And work tomorrow so it will be Friday am before I can see what all went on.
It was a nice afternoon to do some seeding however and I seeded the Edible Blue Honeysuckle which were stratifying in the refrigerator the past 30 days. I found some plastic shoe boxes at Home Depot this past week so am planting in them using Sunshine #4 mix (not a seedling mix) but has very good drainage.

There are 4 with the stratified seed and one with some cleanup seeds which were not stratified. It will be interesting to see if there is life left in these guys as most of the seed is from 2010. One selection is seed shared by Bernis over at Northwoods Garden News which she got from another garden friend. So many helpful people when it comes to gardening. I am not looking for big germinations but will take whatever comes. We are supposed to be slowing down and thinking of moving but the "seed bug" is hard to shake!

What is also happening under the lights is lily seedlings and small plants from bulbils. They look very nice and one is always impressed when the true leaf pushes up from the little bulbs that start to grow under the soil.

The true leaves are the broader types which you can see standing beside what looks like a blade of grass. Check out the details here on the North American Lily Society page. I tend to kill my seedlings by getting the surface too wet and I do not like to use fungicides. We will see how they do.

Another thing we are enjoying throughout winter are the Phalaenopsis orchids which we have collected over the years and of which my wife is the boss! She does a very good job. Although I brought one home which may have Scale so I will have to be diligent to kill the pests. A nice break in the winter.