March is kind of like Thursday, isn't it? Still have to go to work the next day, but ... it's ALMOST OVER!

I've already got a few plants that need to go out soon, but I'm afraid to dig because the soil is so wet. What do others do about this? Is it just our vegetable gardens that need to be left in peace until the soil dries out a bit? Somehow I can't believe that what damages the soil there won't cause harm in a mixed border.

I was hoping to play hooky tomorrow and work in the garden, but I'm too swamped to pull it off. Then relatives are coming for the weekend - non-gardeners, too. Sigh.

Katy,
quick hijack: did you receive an email I sent to your on-line address several days ago?
idabean/marie

Well the jeannie is out of the bottle...I have shared with you all that I try not to do too much on line ordering because I am very happy with local nurseries but at this time of year when I am spending time in the yard taking note of all the deer and rabbit damage it's hard to hold off and wait for the nurseries to be stocked. Last weekend I was very proud of myself when I placed my first on line order for a tree that Joe wanted I had the incredible restraint to not add any of the thousands of plants Forest Farm tempts me with all winter long. But then......Forest Farm calls me up to say for the same shipping rate I could add two more plants...so much for restaint, and I suppose it goes without saying that I ordered many more than two plants. Last night I went on a clematis buying binge and woke up this morning feeling both anticipation and regret. Here is what I bought with the intention of companioning with woody shrubs. From Chalk Hill three of each;
'Prince Charles'
'Mrs. Robert Brydon'
'Princess Diana'
'Madame Julia Corrévon'
Petit Faucon (Evisix)
Solina
x diversifolia 'Blue Boy'
From Joy Creek three of each;
Clematis 'Piilu' TM (Uno Kvistik)
Clematis 'Perle d'Azur' (Morel, 1885)
Clematis 'Freda' (Deacon)
Clematis 'Rooguchi' (Ozawa)
I would love to hear your experiences or thoughts on any of the above and any success or failures you've had growing clematis through wooody shrubs.
Ohhh did I forget to mention my geranium order? kt aka gardener out of control.

Marie, I did not get your e-mail and you may have my old e-mail address. My new email is katyguerin@comcast.net

dtd, Family/blood may be thicker than water but is it thicker than gardening?

LOL, kt, those darn shipping charges will get you every time! I don't know how many times I've done the same thing - bought more stuff just to either justify the shipping charges, or because I could still get more items and not have the shipping charge increase. And then, of course, as you look over your wish-list, you think, well, it will only be a few more dollars shipping to get two more things. I really should get them now instead of placing another order later, when the shipping will be more for a whole new order... yikes, it never ends!

Good luck with your clematis. I am trying clematis this year for the first time. I inherited a Roguchi from a friend who moved, so I am excited about having this beauty in my garden. Of course, being from a friend's garden, the pressure is really on not to kill it...

:)
Dee
P.S. For some reason, I never saw your above post regarding soil testing. Just saw it this morning. This is something I've really got to do. I just don't know how to go about it. Do I dig up the native soil, which I never plant directly in anyway, and get that tested? Or do I send in a sample from my raised beds and lasagna beds, which are created and not "natural"? And if I do the raised/lasagna beds, do I still do a mix of soils as recommmended? Sheesh...

Dee,
I have bumped Claires soil testing thread for you. The below link should quickly answer your questions about where and how to test your soilit is all much less complicated than it appears. If you can put a Flowtron together this is a piece of cake, I was considering sending Mayalena a sympathy card. Kt

Joy, joy! I think my Flowtron is working! But that's beside the point. I saw my first peony...shoot...what is that little thing called...poking up thru the ground....

Dee, I'd send in the amended soil that's in the raised beds, because the material you've added to it will surely have changed the chemical properties, and because that's the soil you need to know about. Trying to figure out how the amendments would have effected the soil test results would be very complicated and unreliable.

Thanks for the soil testing info, guys! Maybe this will be the year I finally do something besides think about it!

Congrats, Mayalena! I'm suspicious, though... you don't sound overly p*ssed off about putting together that darn Flowtron, lol. Either your husband or someone else did it for you, or you did it yesterday and have calmed down sufficiently to post here and actually be happy about the machine!

Hey, I saw a bud half-opened on my pulmonaria Mrs. Moon just now - are they *supposed* to bloom this early? This was a donation from someone else's garden last year, so it's new to me. I swear it bloomed last year though, and I didn't get it till much later in the spring, if even summer. I'll have to do a bit of research. Not that I'm not happy to see a bloom... of anything, at this point, lol!

:)
Dee

kt, wow! that's quite a clematis order! 3 of each! nice insurance policy!

I have several of those. Have had mixed success through shrubs. Its a delicate balance to match vigorousness and maturity. The baby clematises will struggle next to a mature shrub to get water and nutrients. The Joy Creek ones will probably do best off the bat. IME they have excellent strong root systems. Chalk Hill is good too but I have seen better results with Joy Creek. It could have been the particular varieties I got though.

Roguchi is prone to powdery mildew. I am trying mine in a container. After it blooms, I just cut it back flush and let it regrow. I suppose that could be done in the ground too, but for some reasons I didn't.

Here are some of my clematis you might enjoy perusing: {{gwi:1063695}}Clematis

Also, there was a thread somewherenot too long ago specifically about growing clematis through shrubs. There were some great shots and discussion. I'm not positive it was here on GW. can't remember.

Wendy

I discovered buds on my crocuses two days ago and yesterday they were wide open. I saw a hyacinth poking up a couple of inches, too.

My husband and I finally moved the enormous tree trunks from the three big trees we had cut down in January. This opened up a 90 ft by 75 ft space between two rock walls. This area will be my big project for the summer (besides painting the house). I want to create a yard in there with grass, flowers, and a reflecting pool. I'm thinking about planting all of my berry bushes and roses in there, too.
{{gwi:1063696}}
Our maple tree broke after a storm. The back half of it broke off and is seen as the jumble of leaves between the two big trees.
{{gwi:1063697}}
This shows where we removed the three big trees shown in the first pic. You don't see the coop in the first pic because it hadn't been built yet. The tree shown here is to the left of the two big trees shown in the first pic.


{{gwi:1063698}}
Trunks of the two big trees that we cut up and moved yesterday.
{{gwi:1063700}}
Tractor tracks left after making a zillion trips to move the trunks.

mayalena,
I saw my first peony...shoot...what is that little thing called...poking up thru the ground.... I call it spring!!

dee,
You are hysterical, but I must tell you I am not suspicious of Mayalena's talents at all, as a matter of fact I am now classifying her under to title of Garden Equipment Mechanical Genius. I would like to further propose to GW members that in the future all new purchased equipment should be shipped first to Mayalena for her to assemble. This of course would guarantee Mayalena a seat in the DIY hall of fame.

Wendy, Wendy, Wendy,
3 of each! nice insurance policy! Had me laughing to myself in the garden most of the day hence adding to the neighborhood title of crazy garden lady. But quite frankly people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones...your certainly not a casual gardener and seem to have amassed quite a large beautiful clematis collection. I love your photos and have now added a note to my next clematis wish list . Thanks for the mildew heads up about ' Roguchi'.

circa,
WoW...every time I see photos of your place I want to be you. I was thinking today that your incredibly beautiful stone walls reminded me of Martha Stewart's Ct garden. Now I know so of you might not be Martha fans but you have to admit the woman has style and understands New England Landscape...Well anyway what made me think of her was back 10 no maybe 15 or 20 years ago when she came out with her gardening book she had some beautiful perennial beds with a similar back ground as yours and in the spring in one bed she companion-ed peony and iris it was so beautiful I have carried it in my visual memory all these years. For the fun of it you may want to take her book out of the library and give it a perusal. kt

After transplanting 10 mature hydrangeas, pruning 8 buddleias( I am a big proponent of cutting back buddleias), and of course many minutes perhaps hours of standing and staring at the garden with a million thoughts racing through my head...,I am such a good gardener that although this plant won't grow under these conditions anywhere else on the planet it will certainly thrive for me...this will be the year this rare plant finally does something... god how many shrubs does it take to screen out my loud mean neighbors...why oh why can't I figure out how to prune most plants effectively I have come to the conclusion that I am at my most happy digging from dawn to dusk. kt

Hi all. I hope everyone had a cozy winter. I am making what looks to be my annual Spring migration from the Decorating forum back here to NE Gardening.

I was out today for most of the day doing the cleanup I never got to in the fall. My neighbor announced she was going out to buy pansies and I couldn't resist joining her. So I've got the whiskey barrel and several other pots full. It's so nice to see flowers again, even though I still have a couple of patches of snow remaining.

The last storm blew snow in huge drifts against the front of my house by the patio where I just planted 2 Chamaecyparis pisifera 'snowball' last year. Ironically, one 'snowball' was crushed by the huge snowdrift. Could it have had something to do with the fact that DS thought it would be great fun to use it as a sled run until I noticed? Perhaps. I now have to think of something new and sturdy to replace it with.

Circa, your project looks very exciting. What a canvas you are starting with. I agree with KT, your stone walls are beautiful.

I am also losing a tree this year. My big front yard tree, which I think is a Norway Maple, has definitely officially died. DS is sad because he liked to climb it. I'm not as sad because now my front yard will all be full sun and really, I didn't like the tree. The lilac by the sidewalk has also gone way past it's prime, so that is going as well. These are the two most prominent specimens in my front yard by far, so I have to decide whether to replace them or just plant more perennials. Maybe just a spruce or something to hang Christmas lights on. Then I get thinking about big lovely trees like Sugar Maples. But that brings shade to the beds . . . etc.

My neighbors also told me they are cutting down the mulberry tree someone stupidly planted on the edge of their property, overhanging my driveway. I'm thrilled - - no more pink mullberry stains on my floors!

It was so nice to be back outside and neglecting my housecleaning.

kt says "circa, WoW...every time I see photos of your place I want to be you...." I've got to agree with that one. Every time I see your photos I think how you are living in the house and yard I wanted to live in!!

kt, do you know if Martha's gardens are open to the public? I live about 20 miles from her (lol, I'm making it sound like I know her and we're neighbors, huh?!) but I have never heard or read anything about her gardens being open. Actually, I don't think her neighbors like her too much - or maybe not her personally, but they don't like living next to her. I could think of worse neighbors.

Yes, I agree that Mayalena should be the official assembler of all things garden-tool-related. Now I can breathe easier knowing that if my Flowtron breaks, Mayalena will be happy to assemble my new one, lol!

Paige, good to see you back. Sounds like you've got some nice new spaces/situations to work with. But I don't understand this "neglecting the housework" being referred to as a seasonal thing. Doesn't everyone do that all year round, like I do?

:)
Dee

I spent about 80 minutes mowing the hayfield this morning. I hardly ever mow it. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. I didn't even mow the whole thing, just the part that I didn't think I'd end up somersaulting my tractor on. It's a frightening ordeal and I always save the most sloped part for last... well, the most sloped part of the part that I actually have the nerve to mow. When I got off the tractor, I almost collapsed... shaky leg syndrome!

About three days ago, I saw a flock of Canada Geese flying south and wondered if that meant something. Yesterday, we saw three mallards fly overhead while we were moving the trees. I thought it was sort of interesting since my husband had just mentioned the day before that he hadn't seen the mallards on either of our neighbors' ponds. Then this evening when I went out to tuck in the chickens, a flock of 46 Canada Geese went flying north. They were so pretty with their little bodies reflecting the pink of the setting sun. Maybe it was the same flock and they had decided to return after yet another heated debate about global warming.

kt & diggerdee - I had to laugh when I read "every time I see photos of your place I want to be you", because every time I look around this place, I wish I were someone else. HAHAHA!!! It's such an embarrassment! My husband and I always say that if this place had been taken care of, we wouldn't have been able to afford it. I spend a lot of time thinking about getting it fixed up enough so that I can sell it and move someplace nice, but then I remember that if I get it to the point where I wouldn't be embarassed to sell it, then there wouldn't be any point in moving. HAHAHA!!!

kt & paigect - The rock walls... oh, the rock walls... I've been considering moving the rock wall shown in the foreground in those photos. Moving a rock wall... that has to be one of the 7 deadly sins. Either that or there are 8 deadly sins here in New England. I would like to see the chickens from across the yard or from the house without standing on my tiptoes, and I'd also like to be able to see my son when he's on one side of the wall and I'm on the other. I know he'll get taller eventually, but I won't and neither will the chickens. I'd also just like to feel like I have a bigger yard.

paigect - "What a canvas you are starting with." It's a case of too much of a good thing. What would you do with it? Think about it and see if you still think the same thing three days from now. Or even tomorrow, for that matter. Because I never do. Aargh!! HAHAHA!!! I am so sorry about your dead tree and your lilac. I know what it's like to lose trees or have them outlive their days of splendor. I felt awful cutting down the Norway (Norwegian?) Spruce (Fir?). The son of the previous owner said a buck used to hang out under it. I never saw a buck there, but I had always hoped I would. As it was, the poor tree, like many others around here, was just in the wrong place and hadn't been given the proper care to turn into a decent specimen. The maple breaking in half was just the excuse I needed to finally get rid of the Norway. Made me want to cry, but like you, I think about how much sun I have now. But your neighbor is cutting down the mulberry tree? NO, anything but that!! Maybe that is what I will get to replace those trees....

Hallelujah! I am finally going to be able to get out to the garden today! (as soon as it gets out of the 30's!) I finished up my "winter" painting project last night at 10, so I could focus today on the garden for the first time this season! Can't wait to start cutting down some of the group 3's! Still snow cover on about 1/3 of the place, but that leaves me more than enough for today!

kt, I took a look at my clematis album and realized that I hadn't uploaded any from last year. (yes, OCCD is me). I added some more and included some notes about some of them that are growing on shrubs.

the clematis link above is not broken, just the thumbnail picture is gone. (picasa or me screwed up in adding the new set of pics... it created 2 clematis albums and I had to merge them together so things got a little screwy)

the rock wall is gorgeous!

I have a short rock wall that was poorly built and keeps getting knocked about by the dog scurring for critters. What a pain.

Wendy, thanks so much for sharing those great Clematis shots. You obviously have the knack for growing them. I have to admit to being horticulturally challenged when it comes to growing Clematis (or vines in general). However, that hasn't stopped me from planting them all over the place. Part of my problem is lack of sun and crappy soil in the sunnier areas. Right now I'm in the process of moving many of them to what has to be better spots so this should be the year, right? lol

Circa, when I see your pictures besides envying the stone walls and fantastic setting I think how wonderful it must be to have property. My entire lot is only 75' x 150'. Luckily I'm at the end of a dead end street next to an overgrown field and have small easements and buffer zones around me. So far I've encroached on all those spaces when planting.

Katy, hours of standing and staring at the garden with a million thoughts in my head is why I never seem to get anything done. I have no problem deciding which plants I want to move but all my grandiose plans fall apart when I have to decide where to move them to. Usually the perfect spot is already occupied by some other plant but in order to move that one I have to move something else and so the vicious circle begins. Of course nothing ever works in the spots I have open. Why is that?

Sue

Sue, the album looks a lot better than the reality. The concentrated approach works well in digital! You'll notice not many full, tall, mature vine shots, mostly individual flowers or small groups. The attrition rate is too high and it seems I am always thinking "maybe next year it will look better".

Sue, I drool at your garden pictures all the time! I have downloaded some into my "inspiration" folder.

Ah yes, staring and thinking through the musical chair problem.... I know the feeling well.

Less Is More
I hope I can remind my self of this the next time I feel compelled to drive off to the nursery and fill up the back of the pick up. Today I worked in one of those garden areas that as much as you would like to turn your back on and ignore just by proximity to the path most traveled I am forced to deal daily with this monster. After having removed two very large and very focal buddleia I was able for the first time in a very long time "to see the forest though the tree's". I realized immediately that sometimes it is as important to remove a plant from a garden as it is to add one.
Ohhh note for future book re transplanting...2+ year old Joe Pye is almost as difficult to move as Baptisia, the Joe Pye has an extremely dense mat of roots where the baptisia has one killer of a tap root. Neither do I recommend transplanting.
The back bed that had blueberries I now plan to plant little blue stem grass. I have the seed I am just not confident about what success rate I should expect.

Today was my first walk through the gardensâ¦not a pretty sight. I have some junk black locus trees and they are very brittle, dropping branches all winter. A huge clean up is in order (some day these trees will be gone, however right now they anchor my expanding shade gardens). The yard looked so good last fallâ¦

On a positive note, there was little to no sign of voles in any of the hosta gardens. I have only lost two hosta to voles, however a few others were damaged in prior years, setting back their growth rate. I was very careful to remove all the dead debris last fall and it looks like it paid off this year.

Today, I was out measuring for a potential garden room in the back corner of my yard. Putting measurements on graph paper made me realize that this project is larger than I thought it was and will need to be built in phases.

I have been working to introduce more structure and bones to my landscape. I was very disappointed to see my new Rhodys were fried. I sprayed them with an anti-desiccationâ¦now I wish I had wrapped them too. The variety, Rhododendron âCunningham Whiteâ was planted two years ago and one was replaced last year. They were watered very well all season â» yes I know this was an unusual winter ⦠warm and then frigid. However, before I replace again, has anyone had difficulty with Cunningham White in a borderline zone 6. My Kalmia Latifoli âOlympic Weddingâ looks dried out too. This was sprayed and wrapped. My holly look much worse than usualâ¦all brown leaves. Hopefully most of these will be replaced by new growth.

I see some leaves budding out on a Maple Tree â» a sure sign of spring!

My new Viburnum 'Dawn' has a half dozen blooms getting ready to open. After I bought this shrub, marked as a Zone 5, I discovered it is more likely a Zone 6 and I would probably not see flowers.

So I was totally shocked and pleased yesterday when I saw several splotches of bright pink shining through the early spring dullness. yeah!

Hi Everyone:

I haven't posted much on this forum lately, but thought I would try to rejoin the group..............we still had a bunch of snow cover until just a week ago - and what a difference a week makes! My gravel path running from the house down to the river was covered by a foot of ice an snow - when it finally melted, I discovered the erosion underneath..............yet again, most of the path has washed down into the pond (yet again)...........this has been a problem since I did some earthmoving a couple of years ago and failed to take a good look at how my property just funnels down from the road to the river............now I have to dig a 50 ft long curtain drain, as I have already spent so much $$ redoing these paths every year, and I am determined this will be the last!! I really had no idea how treacherous water outflow can be, especially on a hill.....this has been a real learning experience!

Other than that, my hellebores which I put in about 3 years ago look terrible (always have - I keep waiting!) and everything else is just starting to recover from winter......besides being covered by the film of deerspray with which everything must be sprayed in the fall.

I have finally finished my house renovation (it only took 6 years) and next week will be the first time I am without a dumpster in all that time...............so, time to re-grade the driveway and hopefully say goodbye to all the heavy machinery which has been making my life extremely muddy for quite a while!

I am working on a 4-acre property which was once a garden in the 20s and 30s but left to benign neglect for about 50 years. My challenge has been to restore the gardens, but try to keep the place manageable.............so, forget annuals and perennials, but concentrate on trees, shrubs, ferns, and letting the beauty of the landscape and terrain come through............

So, happy gardening, and thank god it's SPRING!!

Melanie

The giddy anticipation of the approaching gardening season is palpable in every ones threads and has me inspired. Now I don't want to be a "Negative Nancy" but I was thinking today about my three ilex 'Nellie Stevens' that have from the start have struggled in my region. When I queried the nursery I bought them from their honest response was they had reached a point of admitting this tree doesn't do well here and would no longer be selling them. My immediate response was fair enough gardening isn't an exact science (which is one of the main reasons I love it) so I would rather have a nurseryman willing to try and take a risk than have a limited pallet to choose from. But at the same time I moaned thinking that I had purchased not one not two but three of these tree's, why is it when I intellectually know better can't I stop at just one...I suppose plants are like potato chips.
Wendy,
Thanks for the added notes and additional clematis photo's. Honestly you have amassed a huge collection it may not be a fair question but I wonder what your top five are?
vtskier,
I always feel so awkward when I have been caught doing the standing and staring thing. The days of great anxiety over a lost plant have been diminished because I am always looking at that open space as an opportunity to shop.
dee,
As much as Martha and I have sooooooo much in common I forgot to ask her if her gardens are open tothe public.
hostabuff,
This is my third winter of 'Cunningham White' each winter I have sprayed with Wilt Pruf, it has been on irrigation and I have fed with hollytone. I have been happy with it's re-blooming and like the plants small leaf and tight nature but...each year it takes a hit that it doesnt rebound enough for me to suggest to you to replace it for a second time.
garden girl,
It was nice to read your post and i hope you keep us up dated with your tree and shrub selections. kt

Breathtaking shots of Clematis, Wendy. Would that those in my yard were half as bountiful.

Hi, Paige! don't shed any tears for Norway maple, dear. They're considered an invasive species in New England. The faster they're eliminated, the better. And while the "view" that's been opened up may feel overwhelming, think about the POSSIBILITIES! trees that are more interesting through the seasons and attain a more manageable size. Lucky you; confer with Martha and the cats for the perfect replacement.

I'm freaked out by the number of trees that will likely go "bye-bye" on our massive, 3 acre estate. I am wondering what we'll do with the inevitable accumulation of cordwood. I'm thinkin' we have some MAJOR splitting and stacking in our immediate futures. (we own a splitter).

Circa, what are you "mowing" in March? first stage woody incursion into a former hayfield? And you didn't go "in" over the axels? WOW!

I disentangled "Daniel Deronda" (got it wrong on the other forum) and have tied it onto the trellis to aid its vertical nature. I've tied the uppermost shoots of the Climbing Hydrangea up and over the barrel vault of its arbor, and have eliminated encroaching lower growth to hasten the vertical movement. The plant tends to grow slowly, so it's important to really work at the "training". I've hacked away at New Dawn and think she's relatively under control. I'm STILL fussing over the Nikko Blue and Tokyo Delights, but the die has been cast. They'll either flower or they won't, lol!

wendyb - My Dawn Viburnum was blooming away when the last cold snap hit - had been showing color for a week or so. I try to keep track of which winter bloomers rebound from that kind of weather pattern, so I'm making some notes to myself.

At one extreme, the witch hazels, snowdrops, heaths, and winter aconite all rebounded at worst, or ignored the deep freeze completely, at best, blooming right through it. At the other extreme, winter jasmine flowers all turned to mush, and no further color is to be seen on that plant this season. In the middle of the road, not literally though, the Dawn flowers that were open turned brown (sob!) and I thought the show was prematurely over, but it looks like there is to be a second act. Buds that had not opened seem fine, and there's quite a bit of pink showing now. Sadly, this delay means it will be competing with a spicebush (lindera) that's just about to bloom. I hope the combination isn't too jarring, I think the deep pink of the Dawn may be ok if the lindera blooms are as pale as I think they are... I'll know in a day or 2.

Melanie - your place sounds wonderful. I can't believe anyone ever declares s house renovation to be done; ours has been going on for about 15 years and has turned into a cycle - the rooms we fixed first are ready to be done over. I hope you'll share some photos! Living on 1/3 acre makes me think that 4 acres and a pond has got to be heavenly.

Chelone - now that you mention it, I can't believe I never thought of training a climbing hydrangea. I have a couple of them and have let them meander at will - I'll have to take a critical look at how they're behaving and think about pruning them - thanks for the tip.

Hi Chelone! No, I'm really not shedding tears for the Maple. Honestly, I'm not sure it's a Norway, but I can't figure out what else it might be. It isn't a bad looking tree as far as the trunk/shape is concerned, but the leaves are a horrible shade of reddish green that I just don't find attractive at all.

As for your hydrangeas, only time will tell. I think this was not a good winter for them. My Nikko is not looking so great, but I'm holding out hope.

I think I might have found a casualty in my garden. The Mohawk Viburnum I planted last spring is gray and pretty bare. I see what look like buds but they are small and gray. When will I know for sure? It should be getting ready to bloom by now, and have those pretty red buds I read about, right?

I'm also worried about my Japanese snowbell. Not much to look at so far.

So will one of you share the secrets of Wilt Proof? Could it have saved my Viburnum?

Remember the week of rain that we had around Mother's Day last year? I had dug up some tulip bulbs prior to that because they were getting overtaken by weeds. I put them in a couple of plastic window boxes with potting soil so that I could hold them and replant them when I was ready. At some point after the rain was over, I went out to move the window boxes to where I was going to replant the bulbs... and it was like an ocean of mud soup. The window boxes had drainage holes, but for some reason they had just not worked. I was so upset. All of the bulbs were mushy and smelled like rot. I almost gagged. I tossed the whole mess into a couple of empty spots in my flower beds. Later in the season, I planted dahlias in there. I never once saw a tulip bulb in there when I dug the dahlias up at the end of the year. Well, I just found FOUR of those tulips coming up. AMAZING!! I can't wait to see which ones they are... I hope they bloom. :-O

I have sprouts!! I winter sowed some things back in the middle of March and today I discovered that my Hyssop is up. This is my first time trying winter sowing, so that was a very exciting discovery for me. Almost makes up for it being too cold to actually garden.

Congrats circa1825. This is my 4th year WS and wouldn't do it any other way. I'm northwest of Boston, short distance from NH border and I have no germination yet. Containers still under some snow and they say we may get more this week.

Usually by now I have at least 75-100 containers germinated.
going to be an interesting spring, at this rate.

All is not hopeless thought, there is life in my gardens.

The chives and garlic chives are up, sprouts of daylilies are coming up through the ground, daffodil and crocus leaves are showing though and the forsythia will pop open any day, if it ever warms up.

Best way to look at this snow stuff now is this. No matter how much falls it won't be around for long, I hope.

Fran

All right admittedly I am sick and tired of standing at my window looking out into the cold, grey, garden that seems to be at a stand still, and when I feel like this I often have the tendency to jump high upon my soap box. Today's rant is on the all to popular practice of installing very large, very white, very formal designed plastic fencing on informal rural and suburban home sites. The roadside visual landscape is suffering greatly having these big white monsters growing everywhere. And let's not forget to consider where will these massive lengths of plastic go to die 20 years from now when the trend has passed???? Ok I'm feeling much better now and I know for the sake of PC I should hit the delete button but when I look out the window it is still cold and grey.....kt

Today we built yet another burn pile and burned the brush and trees that weren't fit for the woodstove. Only three weeks left for burning now. So much brush, so little time!!!

Well, I finally got my hands in the dirt today. But I was in the garage!!! I put together a living wreath of pansies. It felt great. I didn't even wear gloves!!! (except when futzing with the spanish moss)

Boy is it cold out. I wanted to spray my crabapple with dormant-disease control, but it was kinda windy and the birds were very active today. It does help, but I'm running outta time.

At least this cold delay is giving me a chance to finish up indoor stuff screaming for attention.. well, at least a little bit of it.

I sat inside for half the day before I realized it had gotten so warm outside... 52°F! As soon as I noticed that, I went outside and direct sowed some Rose Campion and Red Hot Poker. I would have done that a lot sooner, but this particular order of seeds just arrived today. (And that is after I called the company last week to ask about it and they said they would put it in the mail sometime this week. Hmmmm... something seems a little fishy here.)

circa,
The wind howled here all day making it unbearable to spend time out doors. Rose Campion and Red Hot Poker what a great combo in NE,both plants love my sandy-easy-draining soil. I took a quick walk outside and the vast amount of winter burn was shocking. I will report asap re conifer burn on another post. Hmmm....something seems a little fishy here,/i> is very familiar to me as I have been dealing with Flowtron and their distributor for the last week or two and will report/cut and paste all correspondence once it is resolved. kt

Today I receive my soil test results back from UMass Extension and here is what I have to say Run Don't Walk to the Umass soil testing site and down load the soil testing instructions and form. (check previous threads for links to this site) I knew that living in a Sand-plain my PH would likely be off but oh my it is soooooooooooooooooooo far off in a number of my beds. I guess I will be humping limestone for many months to come. The testing was also thankfully very helpful in terms of fertilizing and told be specific needs and quantities of each bed in a way that my pea brain could understand and break down into exact measurements. If you have been using soil testing kits or haven't tested in a while I would say it's the cheapest investment into your landscape that you could make.
Is it just me or do you feel as though your garden has been in a holding pattern for the last week or so? My bulbs haven't even budged an inch. Speaking of bulbs thanks to a post from Asarum and another from Ego I planted my fritillaria bulbs on their side and I am happy to report they are all up and waiting patiently for spring to arrive.
during a landscape design thread over at the other place I spend my time it came upon me that the google mapping feature offers me a totally different perspective of my property it was interesting to look at my landscape from above and I would suggest if you haven't done this give it a try.
I have been busy printing out labels from my journal directly to my label maker for new plants as my memory so bad I need all the help I can get.
I saw a "Gardeners Diary" hgtv re-run that highlighted a gardener who focused on 'Mondo Grass' and oh my leading up to my moss garden wouldn't a bed of this be breathtaking? kt

My cranberry plants arrived in the mail today. I am not ready for them!! I made up 256 pots of seeds this morning and then I went outside to harrow my field. I had the finish mower on the tractor and it had been so long since I had switched between implements that I almost couldn't remember how to get the thing off. I was ready to panic! I finally figured it out and spent a couple of hours harrowing. The field looks pretty nice, but it's still not ready for cranberries. I know things are bad around here when I start thinking that bare dirt looks a whole lot better than what was there before.

kt It was about 54 degrees here today. I hope that this time you had a nice day without the wind!

circa,
What is harrowing? I am pretty impressed I can barely deal with my little Mantis tiller! Are you creating a bog for those cranberries? kt

kt

Harrowing is just a method of breaking up the soil for planting. I use a disk harrow. The disks rotate as I drag the harrow around the field with my tractor. The disks are sort of toothed and can be set at different angles and heights to break up the soil to different depths. I usually harrow a couple of different times. The first time uproots weeds that have grown since the last season and the second time uproots any weed seeds that germinate after that. Then I use the cultivator once to break the dirt clods up a bit more before planting. I had lots of health issues last year and didn't get to prepare my fields in the fall like I wanted to, so they are pretty bad this spring.

As for the cranberries, I'm not going to make a bog. They should be okay without one. They're just going to grow up here by the house with my other crops. I have a favorite spot further back on my property that has huge old pine trees, ferns, and moss-covered rocks poking up out of a seasonal pool of water. It looks like fairy land, which is why I call it "Legend", after that old Tom Cruise movie. I might eventually take some cranberry cuttings and see if they'd like to live there. I know I would like to live there... I'd like to build a little stone cottage back there, overlooking "Legend".

There was little change in the garden this week it was almost like everything was frozen in time. Walking past some bulbs I thought if they could talk they would probably express the same sense of frustration I have been feeling. I did remove sod and prepare the area for my moss garden, ordered 60 sq. yards from Moss Acres and will be collecting in my back woods as well. The ph in the moss garden location is 4.4 ..... yikes...now that's acidic. Moss has a shorter dormancy period so I am thinking this is a good time of year to be creating this garden as I am itching to get out and get my hands dirty, and I don't have to worry about hunters while out collecting.
I mentioned before that a garden design forum elsewhere the topic evolved to discussing finding your home on Google earth (free download) which offers you a satellite view of your property at a surprisingly close distance and has a few more options than Google mapping. Now someone has shared that they printed out the view of their property brought it to a printer to have it enlarged and uses tracing paper over it to plan her landscape design. My guess is in no time someone will come out with software that uses Google earth to make this all very simple.
circa,
Thanks for describing what harrowing is as I am living vicariously through you on your wonderful farm so I need to learn farming techniques and lingo. Please keep sharing the farming experience. Legend sounds like a special place created by Mother Nature which is what I continue try to design into my landscape but I must admit nothing I have ever created has ever come close to what she has done. kt

The neighbors' Forsythias finally are showing a little color in the flower buds!

I received my order of Ostrich Ferns and Lily-of-the-Valley last Friday morning. That evening I spent a couple of hours planting most of that and putting my cranberries in a temporary growing trench. I have more than twice as much L-o-t-V as I remember ordering, so I only planted half of that. I have no idea where to put the rest of it, so that's a project for another day.

At least a week after I received them, I finally put my heirloom dahlia tubers in a tray indoors under lights. One had tiny sprouts on it, so at least one of them survived the holding time.

I bought more potting supplies yesterday, which allowed me to get caught up on my indoor sowing this morning. I had 4 wilted sweet pepper plants when I woke up, but they seem to be recovering. I guess our heater ran a lot last night and dried everyone out. After this Nor'easter is over, I'm going to do quite a bit of direct sowing that I have fallen behind on.

As a sidenote to seed starting, I just happened to be mindlessly staring out of the window a few days ago and noticed that the plastic covering four of my winter sown trays had blown off... and of course it was raining! Naturally, those four trays don't have drainage holes and I had just given them a little drink the day before, so the last thing they needed was rain. I brought them inside and wondered how in the world I was going to dry everything out before the seeds rotted and without causing any of it to sprout indoors. I had a brainstorm... and this tells you just how frazzled I am that it took me so long to think of this... I turned a FAN on and let it blow back and forth across the trays. Duh!! It dried them out perfectly, nothing sprouted in the meantime, and I gave them a little drink and put them back outside.

I saw some pretty little purple and purple-blue flowers coming up in my memory garden yesterday. I'm not familiar with any of the bulbs in that particular spot and the blossoms aren't fully open yet, so I still can't tell what they are.

I have found some Greater Celandine lurking around, just as I suspected I would, and some wild geraniums in my lawn. After the weather clears up, I will relocate all of those two things that I can find and put them where I can keep an eye on them.

I couldn't help myself and picked up two seedless grapevines yesterday when I bought potting supplies. Now I have to figure out where those will go. My husband asked me where I planned to plant them and I offhandedly suggested the rock wall next to our garage. However, he thinks they should grow on a nice arbor. In the end, they will probably either grow on the rock wall like I said or **I** will build a nice arbor for them. HAHA!!

kt The first time I saw my patch of woods called "Legend", I gave up thinking I'd ever be able to imitate Mother Nature. It is the most surreal piece of land I have ever seen in my life, maybe because it's right on my own property and I'd never expect a human to actually own anything like that. I have an oddly shaped piece of property and I have always wondered if Legend is on my property or if maybe it is just over the boundary on my neighbor's side. Now that I have a GPS, I guess I'll have to check it out. I'll probably faint no matter whose side it's on because it's either mine (and I'll faint because it IS mine) or it's theirs (and I'll faint because it's NOT mine). Haha!

Two days ago I was standing around looking at my flower beds, wondering what in the world had happened to them. The fall leaves were raked back from just about every plant that was tall enough to stand above them and several of my iris fans were shredded. It looked like a huge mole had tunneled under the leaves. Then I remembered... I had just caught all of the chickens over at the fire pit and put them back in their pen. They had really done a number on my beds! So that was my inspiration for spending yesterday raking out my flower beds.

This morning I went around and pruned all of the dead flower and plant stalks from last year. It looks barren out there, but it is a huge improvement and is much easier on my eyes. Then I attended to the chore of filling bird feeders. The nyjer bag was close to empty, so this time I decided to hold the seed cup between my knees and actually lift the nyjer bag and pour it directly into the cup instead of dipping the cup into the bag. So there I am, merrily pouring away, when a mouse pours out onto my leg. Eeeeeek!!!!!!!

My new moss garden is well on its way to be completed. I think the designing and installation will be the easiest part of this garden as I suspect I have a minimum of three years of perpetual weeding. Triciae in July of 2006 helped to inspire me with a description of her own moss garden but when she mentioned using tweezers to weed alarm bells should have gone off. That said I am still very excited as this garden of moss is by far the most elegant garden I have ever installed. Joe and I were laughing yesterday saying it is by far too formal and beautiful for our rag tag property. The Moss arrived from Moss Acres in excellent condition two varieties arrived dried and could have remained that way for a number of months. I may try making slurry with some of the cushion moss later this week but from everything I have read I don't have high hopes. I did by a booklet on Moss from Brenner and have found it very valuable as I have a heck of a time with George Schenk's writing style. kt

My husband and I moved a pile of logs to the burn pile on Saturday. I wanted to move the big old pine tree logs out of view and put them with my stump/root collection, but the ground by the stumps was mushy and the tractor sank at least six inches in the muck. I saw a barn swallow that evening.

Sunday morning, I watched two more barn swallows catch bugs while my husband pulled multiflora rose, wild raspberries, Japanese barberry, and other noxious plants up from behind the rock wall to the east of our new yard. He threw it all on the burn pile for what I think may actually have been our last burn of the season. WHEW!!! After the fire went out, I harrowed the space in my new yard and just in front of the chicken coop. I cannot wait to cut down the stumps in the new yard and rent a grinder! Another harrowing and some dragging and it'll be ready for hay and flowers. I'm going to use hay for the lawn.

This morning I harrowed the south field again, which is where I grow my crops. I managed to hook one of the garden posts in between the two rows of disks on the harrow, so I'll have to straighten that before I can hang the wire fence on it for my tomato trellis. I'm hoping to make enough compost this year to go to no-till in the garden from now on. At least then I wouldn't snag the posts again.

I am so glad that NH school break is this week. So unfortunate that at this time last week all of the ME and MA teachers were home under water..........
Finally rescued my daylillies from their temporary(4 year) home in a 4x4 raised bed. i divided them with a pitchfork trying to avoid too much damage. they are now back in their original and now weed free home. funny how things get away from you. while i was out getting mulch i picked up some great looking strawberry plants at lowes! amended the previously mentioned raised bed and voila, a new strawberry patch for the kids to enjoy. also tried to cut back stuff that i didn't get to last fall and gather leaves and such. i am surprised at the things that are coming up. also contemplating the vegetable garden. was neglected last summer d/t the birth of my second child and now i have no idea how to reclaim it. it's overcome with spearmint (@#%&@!) and packed and dry. what's my easiest option? any advice? i'd post a picture but i am really embarrased.

Over the last three days, I marked out all of the holes for my combination heirloom berry / heirloom perennial vegetable patch. I dug the asparagus bed and some of the strawberry patch, but my husband dug everything else. What an ordeal; rocks, rocks, and more rocks and something like 84 holes. So far, the blueberries, cranberries, and strawberries are in place. I think the rest of the fruits and perennial veggies will arrive either this week or next. At least I will be ready for them, I think. I still have to find a place for my two grapes and my clematis. I just received the clematis on Saturday, but the grapes have been around for about a week now. I have four roses coming soon, too, and no idea where I want to put them. Maybe I should just plant them around my garden, like I originally intended to do. This is the problem with planning over the winter and then having a lot of time in early spring with nothing to do but sit and wait for planting time. Everything gets second-guessed.

Aside from that, I have been scrutinizing every little thing as it comes up, wondering if it is friend or weed, and pulling maple tree seedlings. Who needs a Duck Pluck when you have maple tree seedlings?

Circuit,
Your heirloom berry / heirloom perennial vegetable patch sounds yummy. What varieties of blueberries are you growing?

KT

I only chose Rubel blueberries. They are self-pollinating, and I know I'd probably get more berries from them if I planted more than one type, but this year I just wanted to get started on the berry bonanza. I've been wanting to do this ever since we moved here. I figure I can always add more/other blueberries next year.

I am going to plant gooseberries, red currants, blackberries, raspberries, and rhubarb this year, along with the blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, and asparagus. Mmmmm.

This was an interesting thread that I never got around to reading when it was current. Since I was enjoying it now, I thought I would put it on the front page again in case anyone else missed it.

:-)

Hmm...prairiemoon 76 posts and you never noticed it until you took it upon yourself to bump a specific thread? kt

Kt...sorry, but not really understanding your question? 'took it upon yourself' ?? Or the reason for your post, are you trying to revive this particular thread? I noticed you had bumped a few threads...?

pm2