The Garden is Coming Back to Life!
It is exciting, to see fresh green shoots here and there throughout the garden. We've still got snow to go and ice as well, but most of the lawns and gardens are now revealed and the experience, year after year, never fails to amaze me. It's such a life-affirming, cheerful event, a metaphor for all of life.
We reached a high of 8-degrees celcius yesterday with sun peeking through the clouds now and again, so after our morning ravine walk we stayed out of doors for a while. Took the last of the winter wraps off the bottom portion of the Magnolia, which I wasn't able to do earlier, as it was frozen fast to the ground. It's got masses of plump fuzzy buds. Got most of the holly uncovered as well, along with the large rhododendron. And finally cut back the clematis growing up the red brick garage wall; realized while I was in the process that it had already begun budding green shoots, which arrested any further cutting back, as I tenderly curled live tendrils of the vine back through the wrought-iron support.
Too early yet to unmound the roses and tree peonies, although I've no doubt they're much relieved to have had their winter mantle removed. I carefully (ouch, thorns!) removed as many of last year's leaves on each of the roses as I could manage. Cut back the Penstemon, and what was left of last year's irises and lilies, although most of it had been done in the fall.
Alliums are beginning to shove up, as are the tulips, the miniature iris. The Adams Needles look pretty good this spring, and I can only hope they'll deign to give us some showy blooms in August. The primroses are nice and green and I can see flower buds faintly beginning to appear. Crocuses too; there is one bright yellow bud ready to spring forth into full bloom and the rest of the crocuses will follow brightly.
The shaggy green tips of the grape hyacinths limn the flower beds and although it will take another month before the purple grape-flowers appear at least they're letting me know they're on the job. The climbing roses, front and back gardens are pretty flush looking, stems already red and ready to go; the tea roses and floribundas will take their time. I can see some light green buds already appearing on the apple trees, despite the early season.
Even the weeping Mulberries are budding along the lengths of their waterfall branches, although nothing can yet be seen on the weeping Caragena, and the dwarf weeping willow (not even a pussy). The Japanese maple made it through another winter, but it's plain to see that it will look somewhat different this summer. The soil in the garden is dark with moisture, wet to the touch, and visibly enriched by the compost that we pile on year after year from our three working composters.
The newly-installed honeysuckle on the brick wall is waiting for more temperate weather
but the one in the back is already shooting out buds. The lavender is a nice dark green and even some of the blue flax is green, and I could swear I can make out incipient flower buds. The Columbine in the rock garden, and the one in the shade garden have begun to shoot out leaves, but all those in the back garden are taking their time.
All of the heucheras, the bright green, the red, the pale yellow, the dark green ones are sporting fresh-looking leaves; the winter weight of the snow they hosted hardly appears to have dented them at all.
In the basement, the zinnias, the Portuguese vines, the Dahlias, and the Begonias that I potted up are all thriving, anticipating their placement in the gardens in another month or so. They're ready, we're ready.
Um, all-day rain today, and as the day progressed and the temperature plunged, a little snow. Forecast for this evening is snow flurries. We've a way to go, yet.
posted by Pieface @ Friday, April 07, 2006
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