We've run our various seasonal threads, and it's time again for those of us on the Northern side of the planet to stir ourselves to do a few tasks in the garden even though everything is bare and it's most likely cold outside.

Today is a rare exception in Fort Worth, Texas. It's an incredibly bright and clear day, and will warm into the 60s they say. We had our first hard freeze last week, so while some trees lost their leaves when the days got short, many of them didn't have a clue it was time till the cold last week. We have this interesting mix of totally bare trees mixed with very colorful trees just now going through "The Change." Made it difficult to put out some holiday lights when there were still leaves where you usually expect to find only the boney structure of the plant.

I have to go cut out the dead canna and lantana, and do some transplanting. I'll rake some of the neighbors' leaves that have landed in my yard, and I'll haul a bucket of water from the kitchen over to the bird bath since the hoses are all put away for the season and the faucets are capped.

Out in the veggie garden the peppers, eggplant, and few straggling tomatoes are all dead on their feet and will soon head back to the compost heap. We have this perennial broccoli that I've left out there just because I enjoy watching what it's up to. I don't know if it will produce any florets this year, but last spring it came up with a head the size of a basketball. We ate that broccoli for a lot of meals! Since it isn't in the way, I've just let the plant keep growing. Garlic is popping up, and onions in rows need to be thinned and transplanted. There's always something going on out there. I looked out a few minutes ago and a large blue heron was winging his way out of the creek over to the woods across the road.

I've put lights in a couple of small evergreen trees, and might put some lights in the pine out back. It can be seen from the road across the creek, but it has a rather surreal look from over there (it is all by itself with a backdrop of the neighbors' wooded yards).

What are some of the rest of you gardeners up to?

SRS