Gardening
wanting so much to rush spring...
Spring is not here. Not yet. But in Portland, Oregon, we always have blooms of some sort by February 15th. For me this year, the only blooms that day were snowdrops (Galanthus elwesii). I planted them the first fall when we moved here in 2021. Squirrels ate most of the bulbs, but I have a few coming up every year.
Do you value the work that goes into writing this weekly letter? Please consider a paid subscription today. Your support makes this work possible and is deeply appreciated.
A walk around the garden today showed an Indian plum tree starting to blossom. This is its first year to bloom. I planted another one last fall, but I'm not sure it even survived the winter.
Hyacinths, iris, and tulips are coming up. All six lilac bushes have buds. The roses seem to have survived. The ceanothus bush looks terrible. Every leaf died in the ice storm, but I feel confident the bush itself is alive. We'll see.
The artichoke plant survived because when the deep freeze was predicted I covered it with a heavy recycling box. It had to sit in that box covered with snow, then ice, with freezing temperatures and high winds for almost two weeks. And it lived.
I walked around the garden today, taking pictures of the plants. Plant Snap app misidentified all of them. It did list the correct name as the fourth or fifth guess on the Indian Plum (Osoberry is its other name), after identifying it as forsythia. Which is cruel, because I WISH I had forsythia in my yard. It was the first thing I wanted to plant, and I still don't have any.
There are a couple of things growing vigorously in my veggie garden. I don't know what they are, but I know what they are not: boxwood or sedum. (Those were the app's guesses.) I'll wait a bit to see whether to enjoy the mystery plants or to rip them out.
I have some flower seeds to plant, but those will also have to wait a few weeks. The ground is too cold and too wet right now.
What does your garden look like right now?
I love when the garden is in full bloom. I'm eager to see the climbing roses in bloom again. I think I'm going to have to try planting bulbs again next fall. Maybe I'll find a way to keep the squirrels out. I know they're simply hunting for whatever they planted, but I wish they'd leave my flowers alone.
What are you most looking forward to in your or any garden this year?
A little ahead of our garden here in middle England, but our 87 year old neighbour has been out there already; it already has a fine show of snowdrops and small daffodils, with large buds on our magnolia trees. Our Forsythia will fill one border with yellow, but it is the wild meadow I started four years ago that I am looking forward to seeing develop. My only contribution has been cutting back every September. My great innovation a couple of years ago was hanging troughs on one outside wall and a fence. A hanging vegetable patch which seemed to keep slugs at bay and reduce the number of snails. Best of all the frogs are out and about staking claims in our five ponds of varying sizes. I hope all goes well in your garden this year.
Finally, a question. When did you start thinking of yourself as 80? I will do a post later today, ‘80 days to 80 years’, which will explain the question. ❤️🐰
Isn't it a nice feeling when you see something that you planted last year rise from the ground again as spring begins! I too covered a few things with overturned boxes filled with shredded leaves during that particularly icy period. My yard looked like a snowy ransacked box factory. Some years ago, I used some used cat litter in some mole holes to chase them away. It worked and it seems to have also discouraged the squirrels from digging in those areas. Forsythia is fairly easy to start from a cutting. I have a big bush that is just starting to show color. Perfect for forcing! I also have a healthy bergenia with two pretty bright pink spikes! Some years it is just a healthy clump of fleshy leaves. Maybe it likes a blast of extra cold!?! We are getting more cold blasts from up north this week, along with quite gusty weather, so I will be spreading some seeds of a few things the like/need a shot of cold. Looks like March will be coming in like a lion, I hope it goes out like a lamb!