Hello, and welcome to my blog! I was thinking this week about the ebb and flow of the garden – how the garden takes a time of rest in the winter, and well, is busy producing abundant beauty for most of the rest of the year. And yet, I don’t allow the same rest for myself! As I was struggling this week to get things done in the garden, I thought about my need to take it easy and not go full steam all of the time. So to help me during this ‘down’ time, I have created a list of the jobs I want to get done. I work through it at my slower pace. This helps me to manage the stress of having ‘things to do’ in my head. It also keeps me focused on my jobs in the garden. 🙂

So what jobs have I managed to work on that are on the list? Well, I finally started my seed sowing. But I don’t have everything sown just yet. I’m planning that I’ll get the rest of the seeds planted this coming week. Trimming the box hedge is on the list – we made a great start to that today, I’m happy to say. There’s still a tiny bit more to do, but thankfully the majority of that job is done. All of the flowering summer plants need to get fed and have some extra compost placed around their base. I’ve started this in the order of blooming, beginning with the lilac shrubs. Still lots more to do there. I’ve also started to do a clean up of the garden, getting rid of the spent flowers that were left for the winter and weeding the beds as I do so. This is a pretty big job, and I’m not sure it ever gets completely crossed off of the list! But it is one of the most satisfying jobs in the garden.

I’ve put together a collection of pictures from the past week in the garden as part of The Propagator’s meme Six on Saturday. I hope you will enjoy a walk through the late winter garden.

Take care and be safe!

In Peace,
Dana

1, 2, & 3 – Ornamental grass, daffodils & cats. I decided to give the ornamental grass a severe trim. I actually had my husband do it as it was a very big job. Even he had a hard time with the electric cutters on it. I like how it has opened up the space, at least for now! Although the cubed shape is unusual for grass, I quite like it. I planted a bunch of primroses in the bed as they just seemed to fit in perfectly.

There are two cats in the bottom right picture. I own the white one. You know her by now, she’s Kitty. The black one comes frequently to visit Kitty. He is quite vocal, and super friendly. I call him Frank. I know better than to feed him, but I do give him attention, which he surprisingly likes.

It’s daffodil season! I am so happy to have filled two large containers with daffodil bulbs this past fall. Very few of my ‘in the ground’ daffodils are up, yet the containers are providing an abundance of cheerful color.

4 – Magnolia Stellata. This was a gift for our 25th wedding anniversary last summer. I have it in with my chickens, so we placed a fence around it so the girls wouldn’t destroy it before it had a chance to get settled in. There are so many buds on it! The pretty white flowers have started to bloom, and it is just so lovely.

5 – Hellebore Anna’s red. O.K., I’ve had this in quite a few of my blog posts of late. And that’s because it is an absolute star! Today I was thinking that if I had to pick a ‘plant of the year’, I think this one would be it. The coloring really stands out, the flowers are very pretty (and don’t fully face the ground), and it settled into the garden really quickly. A definite keeper.

6 – A frosty garden. This one is just a reminder that the weather is 100% unpredictable! And look at that blue sky – I LOVE seeing the blue sky! 🙂

This one is a bonus – Sunset over the front garden.

As always, thank you kindly for stopping by. It’s nice to know that others smile at my garden, too! 🙂