Four Years In

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of keeping track of these gardens on this garden blog. Time has flown! Although I’m somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead to clean up the gardens for spring and summer, I’m encouraged by reflecting back on the progress each season brings of its own accord. Somehow, miraculously, the work is accomplished, and the next season approaches whether I am ready for it or not. Why stress?

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Today I ambled around snapping photos of signs of growth. The snow is gone except for a couple tiny patches, and the earth is too saturated, so I can’t truly begin working it yet. Peonies, lilacs, hyacinths, and daylilies all prepare for spring. Even stepping on the soil to take these photos isn’t smart since compaction is the enemy of healthy soil and healthy plants, so I will wait until things dry out some.

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Growing things and playing with soil in the shed and greenhouse will have to keep me satisfied for now.

 

Outdoors, pots of tulips recently moved from the garage to the deck show promise. I’m learning that squirrels seem to lose interest in the bulbs once they break the soil surface, so it was safe to move them outdoors a few weeks ago. My excitement builds to view their spring display which I anticipated here.

 

These girls of our current flock of 10 are happiest about the wet soil since moisture means WORMS.

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11 thoughts on “Four Years In”

  1. March, your garden looks wonderful after that recent inclement weather. Your peonies are already showing red shoots, mine are still hiding underground (I check every day for the tiniest spot of red). Some of my daffodils have opened, and my snowdrops and crocuses are now past their prime. This afternoon I did a bit of weeding, but your comment about staying off the soil is spot on – i knelt on the lawn and had to stretch my arms to the limit.

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    1. Hi up there! Your daffs and crocuses are definitely ahead of ours — that’s kind of odd, but so nice for you. It all depends so much on weather, doesn’t it? Most likely snow on our mountain has delayed bulbs in particular. I can picture you stretching to get those weeds — shotweed in particular! It is rapidly springing up everywhere here. About half of my dozen peonies are showing eyes or shoots, especially the oldest ones with visible crowns. Recently at a garden lecture, a peony expert brought in an enormous peony tuber system from one plant, and it was just three years old! We worked on dividing it, and he sent divisions home with a couple lucky raffle winners. Anyway, I was so surprised at its size, which made me wonder just how large my peony tubers are since some are well over a decade old. It would be so difficult to dig them up. Good thing peonies never really require dividing. 🙂

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  4. Happy blogaversary! Every spring seems a bit overwhelming. We must try to relax and enjoy the season. As you say it will all get done, plus we will have many other projects and plans that we will want to do. 🙂 Your hens are gorgeous. What fun seeing them dash about in the sun. Do they eat the snails and slugs?

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    1. Yes, the hens are decent slug catchers, although slugs haven’t shown above ground yet this year. Any day now! 😉 We are pretty attached to our flock and thank the girls daily for their beautiful eggs.

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  5. You really are on a different schedule there. Not many of our daffodils still show color. Are you near Little Oklahoma? My Pa is in Silverdale. He grows bonsai stock in Poulsbo.

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    1. Yep, you’re so far ahead of us you can barely see us in the rearview. It’s difficult to be patient awaiting blooms, but then again, my late summer/fall flowers are fresh and glorious when CA’s are usually tired or nearly dead. We’re a few miles west of L.O, and Silverdale and Poulsbo are regular stops for us. Bonsai are fascinating! I recently met Dan of Elandan in Bremerton. What a collection!

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