Finally.....

After a long, cold winter it's finally looking like spring. We've had two weekends in a row without snowfall! And today it got up to around 70!

Ahhhhhhh.

[OK, so that's a bit of a cheat. I bought the Pericallis above at a Big Box Store. What can I say? I'm feeling desperate for color.]

So yesterday was the Ceremony of the Moving the Snow Shovel into the Basement and the Putting the Parkas away till next winter. Today was the first day of the Spring Races.

I'm racing to cut back last year's dead vegetation before this  year's new green grows up and make the job that much harder.

I won with the chives.

But the catmint, Nepeta Walker's Low, might have gotten ahead of me. I have my "short" day tomorrow so I'll scootch out after giving lecture and rush home to try to finish the spring clean up.

And I will make a note that I need even more crocus for next year.

Did I mention I was desperate for flowers? So are the bees.

They were all over my crocus today.

Hmmm... At least the Dwarf Iris were able to grow through the dead perennial. Now how am I going to trim back the dead.... 

Today was....

Today was warm (near 60) and sunny [need to work on my Teva tan!]. 

Today was the first day of the year that I saw a bee [hooray for crocuses - what else would the poor bees have to eat this time of year?].

Today was the first time I got to use my new Felco Pruners [this is what happens when you take a day off work to stay home sick and have internet access and a credit card].

Today was the first day of the year for me to get my knees so muddy [but the veggie garden is completely weed free now!].

Today was a good day.




WANT MORE.

FINALLY!!!!

After a long, hard snowy winter and weeks of below normal temperatures the weather pattern finally changed and I was able to get out in the garden yesterday.

A ladies' hands proclaim her habits.  I have a habit of working in the garden without gloves.

One of my neighbors worries about my tendency to wear sandals or, worse, go about in bare feet!  Yesterday she told The Husband that he needs to buy me some socks.  I explained to him that "socks" is New England code for pansies.  Got a shopping trip scheduled for today.

The Husband is like Royalty in that he has many titles.  One of his titles is Major Spoilsport of Plant Buying.  Every time I talk about buying a plant he asks "where is that going to go?"  So I check the tag and mention that the conditions are just like those needed by the vaguely-Latin-sounding-name-that-I-just-made-up and there is a gap in the garden there.  If he's on the ball he persists in wanting to know where that vaguely-Latin-sounding-etc  plant is - he doesn't remember which one it is.  Spoilsport.  The point of this story is that I have ordered plants from Bluestone Perennial and he wants to know where they are going.  So here they are.

All of those plant labels are where the plants will go.  This was my big weekend project - remove the grass, add compost, be ready for their arrival.  That will put a pin in his Spoilsport bubble.

Just don't tell him about the OTHER plants I've ordered that aren't going here.    Shhhh!

Gratuitous photo of Crocus and First Bee of the Season!

Warning: Disease Striking Northern Gardnerers

Many gardeners in northern America have begun displaying symptoms of DSS - Delayed Spring Syndrome.

Symptoms include:  obsessing over seed and plant catalogs, parking at the local garden center and staring at the emptiness, writing snarky comments on blogs that talk about the blooms, growth and work being done in warmer gardens, and inappropriate use of dirty words like hoe, compost and bulb.

Treatment options are few and they will only temporarily alleviate symptoms.  These treatment options include repotting all of the houseplants of everyone in the neighborhood, ordering more plants and traveling to warmer climate to visit public gardens. 

All of these treatments are short lived and symptoms will return after treatment.

The only known cure is spring.

Never go shopping when...

Last week was Spring Break at the college where I teach.  I had hoped to get out in the garden, do a good spring cleaning, and start preparing the area where I'm going to put the new plants I ordered (that will arrive in April).

So what happened?  Snow and high temperatures in the 30s.  Brrr...  Not exactly my kind of gardening weather.

After a week of gardening frustration I went back to work today.  And found that someone has placed air "fresheners" in the bathrooms that release a burst of perfume (ie air "freshener") when someone walks in.  I find that the best freshener for air is open windows.  Perfumes just make the air smell.  And these air "fresheners" trigger a nice allergic reaction in me.  My nose closes, my eyes itch and I get a pounding headache.  Great.  So I can go further away from my office and use a different bathroom or I can get an allergic reaction.  I posted a polite note asking people to not use this stuff.  If the automatic things don't disappear in a day or so I will make them disappear.  I have no shame.

[What does all this have to do with gardening?  Well, here it comes.]

I stop by the grocery store on my way home and right there, at the front door...  temptation...  teasing promises of spring....  

TULIPS!  [no, the dog didn't come with them]

I couldn't resist.  I love tulips.  Mine have pushed up some leaves but the cold weather caused all that new growth to stop.  I'm anxious that they'll survive this extended cold snap and bloom for me.  I really want warmer weather.  I want spring!

Could.  not.  resist.  tulips.

To make maters worse I walked by the "florist" area and spotted this.

An "orange star."  

I don't have a clue what it really is - I have some internet surfing to do.  I hope it'll last as a houseplant.  I can always use more blooming houseplants.  If not, well, I can enjoy it longer than I will the tulips.

After I finish the work I brought home because I got such a nasty headache from the perfume at work...

If only it was warm enough to open the windows or work in the garden.

Then I really wouldn't get my day's work done.

Oh, and here's a bonus cute picture of The Husband asleep on the couch.  With Cats.

March Madness

It's March and in my family that means the season of March Madness!

No, I'm not talking Basketball.  The OTHER March Madness.

It's AAALLLMMMOOOOSSSTTT gardening season!
But not quite.

March Madness rears it's ugly head when the weather report says chance of snow and THIS is the only snow you have left on your property after a long, snowy winter.

March Madness can result from a survey of damage done to shrubs by the heavy snowfall (poor Pieris)

March Madness occurs when things start popping up - is that a weed or is it a plant I want?  That will drive you mad!

And what happened to my metal signs?  This didn't happen last year.  I guess the road salt got on them.  Good thing I kept a map of what I put where, right?  Right?  Oh, I didn't?  Shit.

I think I will go Mad with anticipation that Garden Season will begin really, really soon.

Just not soon enough.

First Garden Work Day of 2011!!!!

I was able to get out in the garden today for the first work day of the year.

The snow is mostly gone.

Bulbs are starting to pop up.

I always leave my perennials and grasses over the winter.  Today is one of the reasons why I do this.  After a long, snowy winter I want to get in the garden and work but here in New England we start Spring with Mud Season.  The ground is saturated from the melting snow.  So I can scratch that gardening itch by cutting back the dead plant matter.

Like grasses

And Aster October Skies

See the new Aster October Skies peeking up?  

Good thing I removed last year's growth before this got too big!

But I still have a ways to go. 

Three days till Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  Will I have any outside blooms?

These overwintered pansies don't look ready to go yet.

Maybe this Hellebore

Most likely these crocus.

Hurray for crocus!

Spring Thaw 2011

We finally got down to less than a foot of snow on the ground this past week and with a warm weekend (it's nearly 60 today!)  and a seasonal week with highs above freezing I'm expecting the remaining snow pack to disappear soon.  Yipee!

You can see ground where I've been walking

With the snow in retreat I have a few important questions.
Will I have outside blooms for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day?

Daffodils under the Mexican Feather Grass

Crocus in the Hell Strip

Iris reticulata (I think) near the house

How much damage did my shrubs get from the heavy snowfall?

Pieris japonica got weighed down by the heavy snow

I don't usually prune my Buddleia back quite so harshly but I'm pretty sure this will come back strong

When will I start to see green?

Perovskia (Russian sage) showing swelling buds

Heuchera kept its leaves under the snow all winter

Stay tuned!

Miscellaneous Monday

I took my Houseplant Bloggers Bloom Day Pictures on the 14th last week.  On the morning of the 15th, as I was rushing out the door, I noticed that my Meyer's Lemon buds had finally opened.  Right on time but a bit too late for me to post.  So here it is.

[I'm never very happy when I have to use my flash]

I don't think I'll let it go to fruit.  The plant is less than one year old (in my house and I bought it in a 3 inch pot so it really is quite young) and needs to do a bit of growing.  I'd rather it put it's energy there.  Plus I don't think the stem could support one (or more) full sized lemons.  If it sets fruit I'll just prune them off.  Maybe after a summer outside it will be ready.

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The Husband is developing Late Winter Fever.  It's been a long hard winter and he is anxious for the snow to melt.  So he's been shoveling patches down to the ground.  His idea is that sunlight hitting the dark surface of mulch or grass will cause the surrounding area of snow to melt faster.  I'm trying to convince him to remove snow from the corner of the driveway where I can't see when I'm backing out. 

I haven't told him that I'm planning to pile snow up on top of my Mexican feather grass to provide better insulation this week.  It's only borderline hardy here and the winter has been really harsh so I'm expecting to loose it.  But I'll try keeping it covered for a bit longer.

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I'm suffering from Late Winter Blues (it doesn't help that The Queen Bee has had temperatures in the 60s and 70s - she lives just up the road a piece from where I used to live).  Like The Husband I am sick of snow and cold and being stuck indoors.  So I pulled out my catalogs and ordered some plants from Bluestone Perennials.  The first bed to go in this year will be on the Mad Side of the house where I'm planning to put in a shade bed.  So I ordered some Wood Fern and several types of Astilbe.  I have a few heuchera in the area as well, to go under the office window.  Once we get the snow pack down some more I'll have to walk around and look and see if I really do have enough space for everything I ordered (or more space that I'll be able to fill!).  I'm going on memory and at this time of the year that's just not reliable.  

I thought I had taken notes (and photos) of every part of the garden I'd need to look at when it came time for ordering but I guess not.  Oh well, if it's too much I'll have to put some around back when I want to put in some Hostas.  Large, blue leaved Hostas.  I'm hoping to find them at an LGC this year.

Tomorrow I hope to take photos of our New England Crop Circle.  Stay tuned!

SPRING!

Today was the first really great weekend day of SPRING and The Husband and I spent all day out in the garden.  We built a raised veggie bed (more soon), tidied some stuff up, brought out the patio furniture, dusted off the bikes and started to get them ready for riding...  Whew.  I'm tired just typing about it.  So instead of trying to think up my typical pithy, thought-provoking comments I thought I'd just present some photos taking in the garden today.

Mexican Feather Grass (Stipa tenuissima) - it survived!  It's not supposed to be hardy in this zone but I put it in a "warm" microclimate and it has come back nicely.  I need to get a few more.

 Curly Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) This is the second year for my parsley.  They are a biennial plant so this year they will get leggy and bloom and if I let them go to seed next year I might get some volunteer plants.

Labrador Violet (Viola labradorica)

 Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis)

 Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate' and grass weed (that grass is no longer there)

 Denver Gold Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha)

Garden Glow Dogwood (Cornus hesseyii)

Can you tell I was messing with my camera today?  I even pulled out the macro lens adapter and the tripod.  I'm sure the neighbors think I'm crazy for laying down on the sidewalk to get just the right angle in the photograph.  Then again I have turned half of my front yard into a garden rather then a lawn so I'm sure those sorts of thoughts are nothing new.  Gotta go now.  The outdoors beckons.

On the Edge of Spring

This has been a wonderful week here on The Edge.  The weather was great.  We were lucky that we didn't get as much rain as some parts of Massachusetts and our house only got minor water intrusion.    And the weather was great.  I got to spend a lot of time this week out in the yard and garden, watching everything wake up from the long winter sleep.

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra previoushomeownerii)

I found flats of pansies at the local Big Box retailer and bought a few to put in.  This is my Annual Corner.  I only plant annuals there because this is where the snow from out driveway gets piled and there's always a chance the plow will disturb the soil.  I had to be careful because I also have a buttload of Darwin type tulips.  My soil is amazingly loose so I was able to use the Right Hand Tool to carefully create holes around the tulips.  It helps to use the Right Hand Tool because I can feel the tulip bulbs when I dig my fingers in.  Yes, my soil really is that loose.  Aren't you jealous?

I'm sorry the pictures are bad.  I went out in the afternoon so that I could photograph some of the other residents and visitors here at The Edge.  But despite having seen a bee land on the pansies within 10 minutes of planting them and the cluster of crocus below covered with bees yesterday afternoon I couldn't find a single insect this afternoon.

This week I have seen my First of the Year (FOY) bees, wasp, grasshopper, earthworm and Mourning Cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa).  Just not while I've been outside with the camera.  You'll have to settle for a picture of this cute little Iris reticulata that popped up among the crocus.  I only have a couple and I didn't see any last spring but I like them so much that they're going on my Brent and Becky's Wish List (did you know that they are already accepting orders for fall shipments of bulbs?  If you see something you like or a gap in your landscape you don't have to remember till it's time to order you can order now.  THAT is clever marketing!).

I'm pretty good about labeling plants and it's this time of year that really makes me glad.  That way I know that these are chives and not some sort of grass showing up in my flower bed.  Oh, yeah, there's some sort of grass near my chives.  I'll have to figure out how to remove that without hurting the chives.

I've had lots of birds singing in the 'hood and even seen some carrying nesting materials.  The early breeders are already at it.  So watch for bird nests when you're out doing your early gardening.  I checked my old Christmas Tree carefully before tossing it in the back of the lot.  I want to pull all the needles off for the compost pile and cut it up for the brush pile but today I just wanted to make sure the sparrows didn't build a nest in it where it was leaning.  I'd left it up to provide winter protection for birds coming to the feeder and heated water bath but in a month I'm planning on planting something there.  You'll have to wait and see what.  Meanwhile the clover is starting to come up.  Why is that relevant to this paragraph on old Christmas trees and nesting birds?  Because there are some tree needles in this photo and I didn't take a photo of birds with nesting material or the old tree.

I like to push Zones here on The Edge.  With a garden name like The Edge you have to try to be on the cutting edge of gardening.  It's in the rule book.  Last year I planted some Mexican Feather Grass (Stipa tenuissima).  It's good to zone 7 and I'm in zone 6.  I planted it by the garage in an area that gets afternoon sun and waited to see if it survived.  It looked so good all summer, fall and winter that I decided I would replant it if it didn't come back.  If you push the Zone you better be willing to take the Loss.  Well look here.  Looks like it might be coming back (see the green?).  Woo-hoo! 

OK.  So I'm so excited about spring that this is just a disjointed rambling about what I noticed going on outside this week.  I promise I'll get over this rush of spring excitement and get more on track, with a cohesive topic and something important to say.  Really I will.  No, really.  In the meantime I did want to warn ya'll that I will not be posting for a week.  I have some other things going on that will be taking up my time.  It's only a week.  You can handle it.  I know you can.  I'll leave you with this one last image to get your through this coming week.  It's almost time for the Forsythia I got on sale last spring to bloom.  I bought them at a Big Box after they were done blooming and I wasn't sure they'd survive but here they are!  Ok.  They will be.  Soon.  Just like the rest of Spring.  I can hardly wait!