Almost Spring... clean-up

We've had a warm week and it has melted all of the snow... I thought it would take forever. I went about trimming all of the ornamental grasses. The pampas, fountain and oat grasses... i'm looking forward to watching them grow where i've divided and transplanted them. I'm especially looking forward to the fountain grass near the patio. I think it will make a nice wall. I'm also contemplating adding more ornamental grass between us and the neighbors basketball court. We are on the downside of the basketball and one of my beds is in the line of fire... it could use a barrier. In that bed is two crab apple trees... i trimmed back the smaller of the two trees to force it to fill in rather than get tall. I also found a small pine seedling near the house that i put in a pot... we'll see if i can get this little pine tree to grow. I also have a holly growing nearing the house that i might transplant tomorrow.

One shot of yellow

One shot of yellow
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

It has been a very long cold winter. On December 9th we dipped below the 50f (10c) mark and stayed below that mark for three months. February was brutal with a lot of snow ...(bringing the total accumulated snowfall up to 73 inches ( 1.8542 m) and my garden remained buried until last week. Surprisingly Spring is on its way and my garden is telling me so. The earliest bulbs are starting to bloom. the aconite and crocus a couple weeks later than last year but the mini daffodils are a week early. So i guess it will all balance out. I'm hoping that my emotional state will balance out with it as well. I'm winter weary and, it's been a long one.

There is plant life under all the snow...

Today the temperature heated up to 52 degrees... the first time since December 9th... three months of cold or frigid weather. We've had a total of a little over 70 inches of snow this season (Dec.-Feb.)... 30 inches over the norm. This winter has been extreme.

But today the breezes felt almost spring like and the glaciers are melting. When I got home from work, Joseph was anxious to point out buds on our winter aconite! Yes, there will be flowers. And even tho' i was dressed in a suit, i proceeded to start cleaning up the garden. Trimmed off some plants that had died, trimmed a russian sage, rose and a coreopsis. It felt so good to be doing something outside in the garden. I also pulled out a few pieces of chicken wire to protect some of my plants that the deer tend to like. I've not noticed any deer in the area, but i still wanted to protect some of my plants.

Last garden shot of 2009...

Last garden shot of 2009
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Garden is tucked in for the winter. Seed catalogs are arriving... let the planning begin.

Anemone Snow

Anemone Snow
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Even with my garden going into sleep for winter mode, i get these little gifts. This anemone keeps on giving.

Lingering colors

Lingering colors
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Gardening on a warm November day

It seems that we had a very cool October but today's warm temperatures allowed me to get some of the gardening done that i had been wanting to do. I started by planting the dianthus that had been growing in various pots and hanging planters. I made sure to protect them with chicken wire since it seems that dianthus is a favorite of the rabbits. It was a glorious time to garden... early on sunday morning, temperatures weren't too warm or too cold. And no one else was out. It was sublime.

I dug out a lot of liriope, woodruff and lily-of-the-valley that was taking over a section of the main garden. I still have a ways to go with digging it out. In the process I moved the monks hood that hasn't been real happy in that spot. It is now in the center of the garden.

I finally did something that i have been thinking about for some time. I wanted a taller plant near the patio edge between us and the neighbor. I had a healthy fountain grass that I felt would be nice in that role. i dug up the fountain grass and split it into four pieces. three of the pieces were planted near the patio... the fourth was placed in the main garden... it adds some nice height.

So now i have a hole where the fountain grass was and i'm thinking of planting the huge mum that Richelle gave me in that spot. I ran out of sunlight today... but maybe it will happen on Wednesday when i am off.