If you're talking about things growing in the ground, I'd wait a few more weeks to see what has really died.... You (hopefully) will be surprised that more things than you expect may have survived the winter - although early bloomers might lose their spring bloom and other things may have a slow start by needing to coming back from the base. Wait and see/keep your fingers crossed....

I know the feeling of being overwhelmed -- I can definitely commiserate. I have to remind myself not to bite off more than I can chew, and if things do get out of hand I just try to do a little bit at a time until I plow my way through things -- I can't do marathon gardening sessions anymore, mostly because of my hands but also because while I'm fairly energetic I don't have the stamina I used to. So I'm limited to only a couple hours at a time now. More than that, the dread of having to plow through the work of whatever it is I need to plow through makes me just not want to do anything -- it's that feeling of being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start that sometimes prevents me from doing anything at all. This is simply mind over matter -- just do it, put one foot in front of the other, as they say...

O Exactly so, mkk3. I did make myself chuck a few cosmnos and salvia coccinea in pots though...and promise to go through the tomato seeds.

Yep, I will be waiting a bit longer, Woody.

Getting old is a pain,

Getting old is a pain

Yup. Literally and figuratively. But...consider the alternative.

if you cant take care of everything you have.. then maybe you have too much to take care of.. dont you think..

and if so.. then isnt this a blessing in disguise ..

if the batturds cant take a little joke from ma nature.. who needs them anyway ..

good riddance ...

ken

ps: and NEVER forget.. the death of what is in the pot.. is ALWAYS an opportunity to get a new plant.. without having to buy a new pot .. presuming you cant help yourself.. and cant stop buying and planting ... i mean really.. whats going to die next year.. if you dont buy 50 more plants .. lol...

Maybe try doing some deep breathing yoga techniques? Exhale out all that negative procrastinating energy.🤣

negative, procrastinating energy.

Ah yes, Ken...I have also had a whole heap of pots returned by youngest cos of a house move so I am eyeing up the seed trays of lewisias, talinums and other teeny alpine sorta things and realising I don't need to scrabble about looking for spaces at the chaotic allotment (I can stick all the umbellifers there). I gave them a heap of lilies also...but now they have a cat, they have also been returned too.

Before I attempt any potwork, I have to hop into the raised bed and dig out the unreliable paeony and fill the gap with temporary larkspurs and a Black and Blue salvia. Stare hard and long enough and some sort of order does become clear, because right now is my only chance to deal with this bed before every inch of retaining wall is filled with pots and I can no longer get to the back wall.

Middle daughter has also moved house and has an enormous empty garden so I can hive off a heap of stuff in her direction. I am not even much of a collector but the nature of gardening involves multiplication (self seedings, offsets, rhizomes and such) - the auriculas alone increase by at least 400% annually).

The sun is shining, after what feels like weeks of grey dreariness(I am a seasonal beast) so find myself looking forward to getting on with things...and as the next allotment task is an open act of anarchy against the townhall bureacrats (burning the arisings), I am getting a definite risque sense of naughty rebellion...which always gives me a wee lift.

Dunno about yogic breathing Jay, but I will say that cannabis is the ideal retirement aid. A fat one in the greenhouse definitely aids tranquility.

Until a coupla years ago, I was a pro-landscaper and was fearless about facing filthy, unpromising jungles and outdoor kips. It is entirely true that even tiny steps keep moving forwards so yep, one thing at a time and what doesn't get done can be classed as a wildlife garden.

You have no idea how encouraging it is, to hear from others who are also looking at the long spring task-list. Thank you for the supportive posts - makes me feel like I am in company with other like-minded people. The internet can be a horrible place when everyone appears to be living 'their best life'. Note to self - avoid glossy mags and stay well away from social media boasty puff pieces on Insta and the like.

I know I have more than I can keep up with...lol. So, every year, I try to hire someone to help in the garden to 'catch me up'. Most years I don't find anyone and over the past 10 years, it's become very expensive. This year I got lucky and I found someone and I really need the help too. They are starting this morning.

It is expensive, so I'm planning on using his time for only the jobs that we really can't do ourselves. Or shouldn't at any rate. I posted on a few Facebook gardening groups that are local to my area, which I have done before and not received any responses. This year I posted to a different group than usual and I got a response from someone who actually has experience. So, hopefully I can get the gardening season off to a good start.

Maybe that could be something that would help you?

Cearbhail - You have adopted my strategy as well. Or did I adopt yours? [g] All I need is to get a start. That applies to any job, gardening or otherwise. I can always motivate myself to get up and do 10 mins of something and inevitably I end up spending a lot more without feeling unhappy about it. I like to work, once I get going. Sometimes though, when you have more to do than you think you can handle it just gets in your head and immobilizes you. That is when this strategy really works.

O PrairieMoon, I rely on the offspring for help - mostly because it's free but also, I have them under the maternal thumb so they do as they are told (mostly). My eldest is a pro-gardener and also a fearless pruner (you should see the roses after the Mother's Day session). Until recently, I was the paid help for other, older gardeners than myself - not quite ready to reverse the situation just yet. I still have a coupla long-standing customers, just to keep my hand in (and my bank in the red). I was attempting to deal with three separate 'gardens' - the allotments, my home garden and the woods, until I sacked off doing anything in the wood unless in deep winter. Now, it is mostly the care of seedlings which occupies my time (looks dubiously at overstuffed pots of cowslips, delphiniums and eritrichium). In fairness, it isn't the hard work so much as lack of space to do much (and yep, I know the answer to that one). Plus, the increasing care of dependents and partner. I should be outside right now, instead of waffling boringly on here!

Rosaprimula - Your are lucky to have offspring interested in gardening. All of mine will help out when pressed, but it's not their first choice and really, they all have their own responsibilities and I'm loath to interrrupt everything they all have going on. So you are lucky to have help that passes along the skills and enjoyment of growing to your kids.

I wish I had all the overstuffed pots of everything you have growing!!

I have no offspring to help and could never trust a hired person to know what is what- even my husband is prohibited from walking in my beds with his enormous man-feet.

In fact the only times I have EVER lost my temper with him over 32 years of being married is when he is doing something for me and steps backwards without looking where he puts his foot- it makes me livid. The dogs take to training around my plants better than he does- I simply could not deal with people here, it would expose the worst of me to the world. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it, lol.

Here in zone 6b (central Kentucky) my clumps of hardy agapanthus aren't yet showing new growth. But the potted specimens in cool storage (where temps got down to the mid-30s) which mostly died back completely are all showing new shoots. So it may be too soon to give up on agapanthus which looks dead this early in the season.

So hard to say, rusty. Mine were evergreen Africanus and praecox. After the tops died back, on the wide-leaved praecox, huge lumps of squishy stems were left behind - like palms or agaves which have rotted out. These were the old stout flowering stems - around a dozen or so. I have never known this plant to lose it's foliage so have no idea what to expect.The smaller, narrow-leaved Africanus ('Peter Pan') looks less obviously ruined - it is an old plant which has numerous flowering stems (17 or so last year). No sign of the A.campanulatus at the allotment but they often don't surface until May. They all have good drainage but this March, we had 3x our normal rainfall so I do fear winter wet has done for a few plants. The seedling agapanthus in the greenhouse have germinated and are poking above the soil: seedlings of the mature plants which were around 15 years old and very floriferous, so there is something to look forward to in a few years time.

I fear for my small leaved fuchsia, as well as the more usual garden varieties and am also looking sadly at my coronilla. All the shrubby salvias came through while it is still too early for Amistad, Black and Blue, involucrata and so on (but they have surprised me with new basal growth in previous seasons. Those which I did stash in the greenhouse are beginning to leaf out. None of the pelargoniums look anything other than dead but I seem to recall they are also a bit late in leaf (but this could be wishful thinking).

O yes, Cearbhaille - I totally agree - there are few things more enraging than seeing a tender green shoot squashed beneath the feet of some oblivious person.

I feel you! I say yes leave the maybe alives . And then let go of all the regrets and shoulda coulda wouldas, emoty those nasty pots into the compost bin amd focus on the seedlings. i can get caught for weeks in self recrimination and despondency. I get it **100%. But cut your losses and focus on going forward. Mind those seedlings. IBecause while you’re mourning whatever was lost you’re not caring for whats coming, whats now.

Keep moving forward. Clear the decks. It's spring! Mistakes were made. Plants were lost Maybe rare, or hard earned or $$. And its sad but you cant get them back by thinking. It's like the Buddhist idea of two arrows. The first was the mistake, and the second is the arrow you fire at yourself with useless rumination recrimination. Dont fire tue second arrow. Onward. 🌱