Our snowdrops have come up, including two bulbs that were dug out of the main cluster by squirrels and carried a few inches away. Durable little things! I'll put them back in the ground at some point.
We also have a first daffodil. And see those yellow leaves behind the main cluster of daffodils? I had a flower pot sitting there, and one poor bulb was trying to come up underneath it. Apparently if you deprive daffodil leaves of sunlight they're bright yellow. Who knew? Anyway, it should be fine now that I've moved the pot.
I spent several hours in the garden yesterday, trimming back two more buddleias and clearing out all the dead and dying blackberry canes from past seasons. I pruned the fig tree and one of our beautyberry bushes, too. I find that it's much easier for me to prune in the winter when there are no leaves -- I don't suffer the guilt I feel when I cut living, green growth in summer.
I tried to take some pictures of all my work, but it doesn't look like much:
Those are the blackberry vines, after the dead ones were removed. I think I'm going to pull those living ones in front toward the fence with some twine. It will make the berries harder to reach, but it will allow sunlight to get to all those plants in the flower bed (the brown area below). There are daylilies there that haven't seen sunlight (or bloomed) in years.
The built-in brick barbecue grill (which obviously we never use) is completely covered in ivy, and there's a jasmine vine above it that still has a bunch of dead growth tangled up in it. I'm thinking of clearing all that out too, the better to manage the blackberries and get sun to the daylilies.
And here's the corner to the immediate left of the grill. It includes, right to left, an ornamental plum tree, another buddleia and the fig. (Remember when I found that fig tree, eight years ago? It has certainly bounced back!) Behind them is the "wilderness area," which the tree trimmers are coming to clear on the 19th. I'm still stressing about that.
Anyway, I filled five yard waste bags with thorny trimmings and there's still much more to be done. We really have to prune the roses. Maybe today!
Well done with all that cutting back. I can't do much at a time now but yesterday I sat and cleared the patch around my snowdrops . The odd purple crocus is in bloom and I found a purple violet. so Spring is on it's way in Suffolk.Val
ReplyDeleteIt's that time of year. I wonder why councils stop green waste collection in winter!!
ReplyDeleteThere’s always so much work but it's such a beautiful space. I always loved the time of year in Connecticut when the daffodils began to appear. We had thousands of them on our property and the grounds glowed yellow.
ReplyDeleteI hope you wore gardening gloves when dealing with the brambles* - otherwise the delicate skin on your librarian hands will have been scratched red raw - this might be seen as evidence of self-harming.
ReplyDelete* not blackberries!!!
Let the trimmers do their worst. All will recover.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is a bit of an wilderness. I like it. Do the Russians?
This is the best time for pruning a lot of things. You seem to have plenty of opportunity.
ReplyDeleteWow, it's time for snowdrops and daffodils already. It seems to have arrived so quickly. They are beautiful. You did a lot of work on the garden. Tending all those plants is a big job.
ReplyDeleteNo blooms here yet. We have one small pile of snow still melting in the front yard!
ReplyDeleteYes. You and I definitely did have similar days! Feels good, doesn't it? Beware the roses. My arms got a bit shredded.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I read or see snowdrops in the English gardens I am so sorry that there are none here. There is something so beautiful in both their name and appearance.
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed every year when you have daffodils before I do. mine are up though just no buds yet.
ReplyDeleteAre those daffodils or are they jonquils? To me, they look to be jonquils since they usually show up first and are smaller then the daffodils!
ReplyDeleteHard to tell if there is a grill in that area or not!
Have a wonderful Sunday!
Your snowdrops and your daffodils made my heart happy today. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI love those snowdrops. I just looked them up and apparently they'll grow in Alberta. Perhaps I'll plant some this fall, if I remember:)
ReplyDeleteGardens are so much work and I love them still. It's much harder when you live in a mild climate and don't get the garden time off that we do, in the north.
That reminds me that I really should hack down the dead wildflower stems in the front yard. I like to leave them for critters, but they need to get gone before it's time for new growth. Yesterday would have been a perfect day. Oops.
ReplyDeleteI would never have known there was a brick grill under there! I think you should bring it back to life and start cooking out. Mrs Kravitz and the Russians might be tempted by the aroma and ask to join you!
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed at how much you cram into a very small area. I guess you don't have to go so far to look after all the plants.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful snowdrops! I love blackberries, but not the vines. They're so invasive...and dangerous to arms.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor has planted blackberries, and for the life of me I don't understand why. The last time, they overwhelmed his planting bed, so those were removed. Now they're closer to my yard. Any time they encroach, I cut them back a fair amount. They're a scourge in the North West.
ReplyDeleteYou've done lots of clearing. Cutting back overgrowth makes the garden healthier and everything looks neat and tidy. Your tree guy will hopefully clear out more and this will allow greater light in to the garden. Your Spring flowers are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit envious of all this garden work on your blog. We still have a few piles of snow and below freezing temperatures every night though comparatively speaking, it gets to be really warm every afternoon for this time of year.
ReplyDeleteYikes! You've been super busy. And that's great. I'm getting daff shoots,which is a little dangerous in Michigan February. When it gets a little warmer, I have a lot of cleaning up to do. Wish I could hire you and it would be done right!
ReplyDeletePoppy: Isn't it wonderful?! I have a couple of budding crocuses too but the squirrels ate the flowers off. :/
ReplyDeleteGZ: Ours goes all winter, but we pay for that privilege.
Mitchell: It's always great to see the daffodils again!
YP: Yes, I wore gloves to avoid injury from the BLACKBERRIES.
Boud: Well, we let everything go the rest of the year, so this is clean-up time! LOL
Sharon: It is indeed time! And it's pretty normal for them to be out at this time of year, too. Not super-early.
Ellen D: We've had no snow at all to speak of, but it could still happen!
Ms Moon: Yeah, despite my gloves I have some nicks and scratches.
Yael: It's nice to have anything blooming that early in the year. Such a relief from the otherwise gloomy landscape!
Ellen: This is even a little later than usual. I've had them show up in January before!
Marcia: Aren't jonquils smaller? I don't really know the difference, but I think these are daffodils.
Debby: You're welcome! They did the same for me.
Pixie: Yeah, even in the winter there's always stuff to do. We planted some snowdrop bulbs a few years ago but they never grew. Maybe the bulbs were old. This clump was here before we moved in.
Bug: I always struggle with that decision. When to cut things that we leave for overwintering bugs?
Kelly: I should clear the ivy off it. I doubt we'd use it but it is picturesque and having it covered over like that is a little ridiculous.
Red: By London standards it's actually quite a big garden!
Margaret: The vines look especially terrible at this time of year. I just wish I could confine and train them a bit. They get out of hand quickly!
Allison: I'm surprised he could plant them. Aren't they considered an invasive species there? At least ours grew up naturally. (As far as I know!)
Susan: Yeah, that's my hope -- that even if he cuts back a lot of the overgrowth in back, it will allow fresh new growth to come through.
Ed: Well, that's a sign that soon enough you'll be out there doing garden stuff!
Jeanie: Do daffodil shoots ever get damaged by cold? They usually seem so hardy, but granted, I don't know how they'd handle a Michigan winter!