I have only spent a total of three days in the garden so far this Spring because of unseasonable
temps and wind.
The past three days have been beautiful.
My list just keeps getting longer it seems, rather
than getting shorter.
Usually by now, I have the beds edged, weeded and mulched,
but
I haven't even taken down the Christmas lights from the pasture fence...
Or from the gazebos.
Every year I try to find enough lights with white strings, but I haven't been able to yet get enough
for the gazebo. I always seem to start looking too late, and they are gone before
I get around to it.
Next year I will shop for them early before they are all bought up.
The gazebo is so beautiful lit up in the snow in Winter.
It is one of those little things that make the season special for me.
I have so many comments from the town's people on how much they enjoy
seeing it glow in the snow.
From the house it looks magical.
But for now they had to go back into the box and back into the storage shed.
One thing off the list.
Check!
Then,
plants had to be moved, divided, shared or replanted elsewhere in the garden.
Check!
Check!
Yesterday I was able to weed two large beds and transplant several things.
Today was spent weeding and cleaning some more beds and getting them ready for the mulch.
I also took a few pictures today of some of the green showing up the past few days.
It always is a surprise to me how a little sunshine just makes things spring to life.
Even though it has been cold and windy, we have had some sun
and so the plants have been making their appearances.
The Canada red chokecherry trees are budding now
and soon will fill the air with a lovely scent that accompanies
it's bloom.
The peonies are up!
And the Annabelle hydrangea is peeking through a bit.
I love grape hyacinths.
It's a good thing too, because they are multiplying faster than I can move them.
I have purple and white in the garden.
They are everywhere!
I have been reminded again why I need to plant things that are zoned for my area.
The past few Winters here have been milder in temperatures than Winters in previous years,
so I relaxed a little and would plant some zone 5 plants here in my zone 3/4 garden.
I can easily remember 30 below zero temperatures in Winters past,
but we hadn't reached those lows in over ten years.
This year was extremely cold here and windy.
The snowfall was late and the cold came before the snow cover and that
means trouble for the garden.
I lost many plants this Winter and I'm still mourning their loss.
Mostly the money I spent on them! lol
I lost all the little foxglove 4" cups that I planted last Fall,
and many plants that have resided in the garden for four or more years.
I lucked out with the lavender though.
Lavender is typically a zone 5 plant and last Fall I planted 25
new plants. I have a lot of lavender in this garden, but wanted more
to harvest because I make a lot of sachets for gifts and never have all that I need.
They all survived and I am so pleased.
It almost makes up for the plants I lost.
(almost)
The Camperdown elm tree is budding.
I LOVE this tree.
It is a favorite with the grandchildren too.
They call it the 'faerie tree' because when the girls were younger they were sure that
the faeries lived under it's branches.
I let the branches grow clear to the ground and it makes a little 'room' under the leafy branches.
Perfect for little grandchildren to play under.
One year I discovered 2 children's chairs and a little iron child's table and dolls
and all the things needed to play house properly under there
after the kids all went home.
Some people prune the branched up high and thus the nickname of
Umbrella tree.
Some of the daffodils are blooming now, so I took the time to take a few pictures today.
It's so funny how I come out here and get to working and just lose track of time.
I spent three hours straight just weeding before even going in the house this morning.
I love that!
Dale started building a large vine trellis for me today.
I wanted it out of 'barky' poles. I wanted it to looked rustic and rugged.
I saw the idea in a gardening magazine a few years ago and had torn the page out and
saved it. I came across it again this Winter and a few days ago
shared it with Dale and he actually said he would build it for me.
No complaining or anything, just went and bought the poles and started it.
I'm a happy girl!!!
It should be completed soon and then I will be planting some vines to cover it.
I think I'll put some climbing roses on it as well for color.
It won't look great this Summer, but in a year or two, it will be amazing.
Tomorrow promises to be another beautiful day
so that means several more hours in the beds weeding.
I probably have about three more days of weeding
and then I start edging the beds. Tedious work because I do it all with a shovel.
I love a freshly edged bed though, so it is worth the work...
and it's great for my waistline!
