The earliest daffodils are beginning to fade, but later blooming varieties are taking their place. It is amazing how quickly we go from bare ground that looks dead to an amazing show of color. I often wish I could stop time briefly when plants are at their prime, as it seems that there isn't enough time to enjoy them and then they are gone for another year. The daffodils have been especially lovely this year. There is also Bloodroot and Pulmonaria in bloom and the Bleeding Heart is just starting to bloom.

As I start working in the garden I find that one of my favorite garden tools is an old butcher knife that I got at a second hand store for 50¢. It works much better than the forked weed diggers for getting the weeds out root and all, and I also use it to loosen the soil when I am planting something not too large. With its long thin blade I just plunge it into the soil, give it a twist and the weeds come right out, or I use the same motion to loosen up the soil in a planting hole. If a large planting hole is needed I still rely on my shovel, but the knife is great for smaller jobs.

Last week we had to relocate a snake that was having its lunch at the edge of a small plastic pond we have near our deck. It seems the snakes find this a fine place to pick up a frog dinner. I don't mind having snakes around, but once they discover the pond I toss them into a pillow case and take them some distance away to release them. We have drained the pond, cleaned it and refilled it, so we are ready for the season. There are at least two frogs living in it right now. One year we had a population explosion of small frogs, and at one point I counted 27 in and around the pond. It reminded me of a Biblical plague, though they were well behaved and caused no problems. I wonder how many of them became a meal for a snake. 

It will soon be time to treat the plants that are deer favorites with Repellex. More about that next time.

Well, the snow and ice are gone (mostly), the daffodils would like one good shower and are about ready to spring into action, and we are back from the land of sunshine. As I look at the garden I realize how nice the areas look where I cleaned up in the fall. I know that it is recommended that we leave some of this dead foliage in place to provide insulation during the winter, but I must admit that it seems that the snow did a fine job of insulating, and it is great to look out now and see those areas looking so neat. I did do some trimming of dead leaves from my Lamb's Ear and a bit of pruning, but one large section of the garden looks really neat. The rest, by comparison, seems to be screaming for attention. I think I have my work cut out for me. 

Today will be a good day to plant the pansies in baskets and put them on our entry stairs. I have never understood why they call people who are wishy washy pansies. If there was ever a hardy plant that can withstand harsh weather it is the pansy. Their faces are smiling come rain, snow or cold weather. 

I also have many geraniums to pot up. Last winter when I trimmed my mature plants I used the trimmings to start new plants. They are looking great now and are ready to be put into individual pots. My geraniums seem to thrive on neglect and do much better when I keep them fairly dry. My problem, when I go away, is plant sitters seem to want to water them too much and they get pretty droopy. I sometimes forget to water them for a couple of weeks at a time and they do fine. Of course summer is their favorite season, as you can see from the photo.

I was in the café at Barnes & Noble the other day and saw a lady reading a garden magazine. I said, "Are you a gardener?" and it was as if a dam broke. She spent the next five minutes telling me about her gardens. Her enthusiasm was fantastic and makes me even more excited about the start of another season of growing and tending my garden.

Olga, the pink cloud in the garden 

Well, it is pretty hard to get into the garden frame of mind when the snow keeps piling up and the temperature goes down to -16˚ at night, but I will have to admit that visions of spring do dance through my head. On the positive side, all of this snow has covered most of my rhododendrons, so they will be spared the winter burn that the icy winds inflict upon them in snowless winters.

Rhododendron leaves actually tell you a lot in the winter. On cold days they let me know, without going out or looking at the thermometer, just how cold it is. those curled up droopy leaves say it all. As soon as it warms up they react and their leaves tell me it is fine to venture out.

Over the years I have had good luck rooting rhodie stems, separating them from the parent plant and transplanting them to a new spot. I learned this trick by accident when several branches got buried in damp leaves for a year or two. When I saw the roots that had formed on these stems it occurred to me that this was a good way to get some new plants. It has worked like a charm. Sometimes the new plant doesn't take, but just as often it does, and it is such a feeling of success to see more and more rhodies through the woods. Some years I have flowers and some years I don't, but I love the plants so much that I am happy to have them for the foliage. One that I can count on to bloom every year is Olga Mezitt. In spring it is so covered with lovely pink blossoms that it looks like a pink cloud. Right now there are lots of buds covering my Olgas, so if the deer don't nip them off (they did one year) they should be a beautiful June.

Tree Toad and Grasshopper At Home In the Daylily

I have been thinking about the mission statement that Helen Yoest suggested on her site http://gardensgardens.wordpress.com/ . I have decided that my mission in 2009 is to "Emphasize plants that will attract winged creatures to the garden and to take time to pause and enjoy watching them". The birds and bees are always there, but often I am so busy doing things that they are just in the background, and I don't really see them. Once in a great while I sit in the Adirondack chair and really look at what is happening in the garden. Those are the treasured moments, and I want to experience more of them in 2009. The picture above is an example of what you might see if you take the time to really observe your garden. the little tree toad moved to a new daylily blossom each day. Perhaps the flower was attracting insects for the toad to eat. Catching the toad sharing the flower with a grasshopper was a bonus.

I am being selective in saying that I want winged creatures as this omits many of the visitors to the garden, but I will have to admit that it is hard to enjoy the beauty of animals like deer when I see them munching one of my prize hostas. I was aghast a year or two ago when a rabbit chewed off my clematis about two inches above the ground. It didn't eat any of it, but the clematis was done for. That rabbit also chewed off my amsonia and left the stems lying on the ground. For the most part the critters with wings don't destroy anything, so I welcome them. Oh yes, I don't hope for any Japanese Beetles to visit my garden, but they seem to prefer my neighbor's garden as she is growing plants more to their liking.

With the temperature at 3˚ the Adirondack chair is currently empty, but it will be waiting to be occupied next summer. I can hardly wait. 

After reading Kathy Purdy's idea of a mission statement for your garden I began to think about some of the high points in my own gardening. I recalled one morning when I was potting up some plants in the driveway. I was on my knees overlooking the garden and bird bath pictured above when I saw a humming bird fly up to the spray from the fountain. After dancing around it for a few seconds he flew into the spray several times and then alit on the edge of the bird bath and dipped his breast into the water several times. I was in awe as I watched this wee creature taking his bath. Since then I have had them fly up when I am watering the garden. I quickly change the nozzle so that it sprays a fine mist and they seem to delight in flying into this mist and then sit on branch and preen. They seem to know that I am doing this for them... at least that is what I like to think, and for a few moments we seem to be communicating. It is breathtaking to say the least.

So, with snow outside and thoughts of summer in my head I wish you all a very wonderful 2009. The days are already getting longer, summer will be here in no time. Happy gardening.

This is one of my favorite astilbes. I think this one is Vision in Pink. It increases in size very rapidly and frequent division gives you new plants to locate in your garden or give to friends.  Astilbes are so trouble-free and the deer don't like them (most of the time), so they are ideal for our Adirondack environment. I have read that they are one of the few plants that should be fertilized in fall as well as spring. I need to divide them this spring. I usually do that in the late summer, but didn't get to it last summer. 

It is a warm and balmy day here in Pennsylvania where we are visiting family for the Holidays, but up in our Adirondack garden snow still covers everything. It is at this time of the year that I love to look through my garden photos, remember last season and lay plans for next summer. I will soon be making my list of "must have" plants for 2009. Armed with this I will visit perennial vendors from Pennsylvania to Maine (having kids living in both places). I am getting eager just thinking about it. Hope everyone enjoyed the Holidays.

July Blooms

Not much is happening in the garden, but the birds are enjoying it. The snow was a bit deeper than I had hoped before I spread the fertilizer, but now it is out there and covered with a couple of feet of new snow, so the plants should get off to a good start in May. May, what a wonderful month. That is when it all begins. Each spring things pop up that I had forgotten about, so it is a bit like Christmas with surprises all season long. For now we are enjoying the snow on the hemlocks and waiting for Santa's visit. Merry Christmas to all!