We haven't done any work in the garden this winter. It's been abnormally cold and windy here. We did most of the planting, digging up, rearranging in the fall. I do keep adding to my list of things that need to be done in the garden in spring.

I've spent the winter trying to complete the Master Gardeners course. It's very time consuming but I've learned so much about soil, weeds, insects, IPM, plants, even lawns....I still have a month to go until I am finished but it is all information that will be of use to me in my garden.

I'm planning an herb garden so I've been reading and choosing what herbs I want to grow. There will be a Meyer Lemon and a Bay Laurel coming to my garden, even though I know I will have to drag them into the garage for the winter.

Reading, reading and reading about roses, herbs, weeds, companion plants, shrubs and trees. Redoing some of my plant tags that faded or met an unfortunate end with the weed wacker.

Oh, and of course, during these cold, gray, dreary days, I've ordered more roses, clematis, and other plants that I have no particular space for. I get crazy like that in the winter then wonder what I was thinking when they start arriving in the spring.

Not related to gardening but I've been baking bread, and other "comfort" foods to the point that I fear I won't be able to get out of the door by spring :-)

Carol

i have to admit to a bit of selfish pleasure if the cold weather keeps you typing at your computer Melissa; i enjoy hearing your gardener's voice.

Tomorrow marks the end of my stolen week in the garden and it has been bittersweet. The back fenceline has been cleared, most of the Alahe'e are at 2' by now with a few stragglers and a few more to be replaced. Not bad considering the lack of irrigation from pipe or sky. The potting area beneath the Christmas Berry has been reclaimed and homes found for most of the surplus starts that have mysteriously gathered there this past year. Bands have been potted up and over a dozen roses have gone into the ground, now waiting to be tucked in with a thick blanket of mulch. A terrible and persistent infestation of mites has resulted in the removal of half a dozen hibiscus which have been replaced with some smallish heliconias. The first gardenia bloomed last week, prompting me to plant a few more outside of the kitchen window and a ribbon of agapanthus~lt. blue and white and purple and navy~now borders the kitchen entrance.

The economy, and the potential isolation that comes with living on a small island in the middle of the sea, has prompted me to reembrace vegetable gardening. The raised beds are sweet and productive but i want to try kabocha, soybeans, corn and sweet potatoes, all of which require room. So a trial 12 x 12 area has been dug. i should have time to put in a cover crop before the first planting. Before tonight i hope to have a row dug for asparagus.

And all of this is bittersweet because today i feel at least 100 years old, LOL. My back aches, my hips groan and my calves scream everytime i hobble up from the chair. Which would be OK if i were done but no, i still have half a dozen fruit trees to plant, a yard+ of mulch to unload from the back of the pick-up and a huge tea bed to design, dig and plant. And Life Outside the Garden starts again on Monday, Grrrr!

It's so difficult to call it winter when it's 70 degrees and over and I'm outside squashing aphids. We've been having a long spell of warm weather and even my two rugosas have new leaves coming out. It's a good thing I'm not planning on pruning this year since so much new growth would be lost. I'm enjoying the first bloom on my new band of Pink Gruss an Aachen, which is a really lovely rose. I don't envy you the snow but some lovely rain would be most welcome. Melissa, I must say that you and your husband seem to be incredibly hard workers. I always feel a bout of fatigue coming on after I've read about your gardening exploits!

Ingrid

I prune from the end of November to the first week in February. We live on a hill too so the clean up has to come up the hill in the wheel barrow. I am so thankful that now I am getting older that Michael helps me with this task. He is also finishing the fence for our rambler garden project. Soon we will be planting the many 5 gallon roses. It really takes us all winter to clean up this huge garden for spring. On the other hand because we don't have to water this is the time for getting away and we take advantage of that.

I am building new beds for the many new rose bands I have ordered [like Carol, and have no particular place for at the moment!] I raise horses so have lots of rich compost. I am trying something new......killing the grass with roundup, then laying feed sacks [of which I also have a surplus] on the grass then covering it with the compost. Next I will put on mulched leaves my yardman chops up the last time he mows in fall. After that, I will put mushroom compost and bagged soil, then start the layers again, while keeping them well watered. I am doing a circular bed around a swan birdbath with nothing but Buck roses in shades of pink, interspersed with daylilies, and annuals, when actual spring comes. Two more beds are planned around birdbaths [that were purchased from estate sales of dear friends who have passed on]. I am thinking multicolored Knockout roses with all the shades - pink, blush, original KO, double, rainbow and the new Sunny. Then am working on a large bed behind my barn for teas, noisettes, OGRs that I have had fits with regarding weeds and white crepe myrtles that wont die. Have already used roundup and think I will use the feed sacks and compost on it, then leaves, then mushroom compost in several layers. Lay out the roses in pots where I want them and hope I can get the best of the weeds before I plant them. Then there is a little patio behind the barn I need to tidy up......never an end to fun projects to work on!
Judith

I felt as though I was getting "burned out" from my garden, so I decided NOT to do any projects in it for about 6 weeks. I was always creating some new garden or vignette as I see them. So, I'm taking some time to do some inside activities...creating a web site for my local rose society, working on National Board Teacher Certification, clean out closets, workout at the gym. I do have about 8 flats of rose seedlings sprouting in my sunroom, and I am still taking care of a couple hundred little rooted cuttings in my little greenhouse, but these are neither labor nor time intensive, relatively speaking. It's been colder here than in recent years. I think it is more "normal" than the recent mild winters. I'm ready for a few unexpected snow days. I'm not ready for spring yet. I want to miss my garden a bit more, so that when spring does come, the thrill will be more intense. Although I have put together several wishlists for roses, I've not made one order for the spring. I did plant 7 camellias yesterday. We had a warm day, and I felt I needed some camellias.

All in all...things are just kind of on hold for awhile.

Robert

The power company vegetation management team had been trimming trees in my area including removing a maple tree and a pine tree from my yard. I "allowed" them to dump three truck loads of wood chips in my front yard. My neighbor came over and ground the stumps out and spread the wood chips with his tractor until they are about 8 inches thick. I have a pot ghetto of hostas and hydrangeas which are still quite small. I will sink the pots into the wood chips in the spring when I take them out of the hibernation cave (the hostas) and the greenhouse (the hydrangeas). Yeah much less grass to mow!

Same neighbor with the tractor also has a dump body truck. Last Sunday we went and got about 10 yards of horse manure. The people I get my horse manure from take exceptional care of their horses. They put fresh sawdust down in the stalls and feed the horses alfalfa hay. The pastures are kept relatively weed free. The owners regularly turn the heap so that it composts efficiently.

My sister and BIL own a few homes in a wooded community. A couple of their tenants grind and bag the leaves in their yard. My BIL collects them and brings them to my house.

Last fall I sprayed roundup in a couple of areas where I wanted flower beds. I then put some of my pot ghetto plants directly in the ground. I have been top dressing these plants with the horse manure, spreading the shredded leaves in between the plants, and then putting the wood chips I got from the power company LAST year on top.

Yesterday the people I get my llama manure called to tell me they had a good supply and they had purchased a new tractor and bucket so they will be able to load it onto my truck for me. I am head over there today. My roses love llama manure.

I have been whiling away the dark hours of winter perusing plant vendors online and have purchased many plants to arrive in spring.

Yes it has been very cold here in Virginia this winter making it a bit more challenging to get outside and get things done. I feel like I am on track for the arrival of spring. I still have lots to get done, but there is still plenty of winter left to get it done.

Kathy