Garden goal roll, 2013

In eager anticipation of the upcoming season of shovels, pruners, clippers, rakes, and trowels, I'm preparing my annual garden goal roll: what needs to be done, when it should be done, and where it's all happening. 

March

Place plant orders. 
 *  From White Flower Farm, 3 bleeding heart (Dicentra "Gold Heart") and 3 beebalm (Monarda "Pink Lace") Done in March.
  * From Swan Island or other dahlia nursery: some small yellow dahlias, like "Baby Yellow," for old side bed? Five "Baby Yellow" tubers ordered from Lobaugh's Nursery April 1.

Pot up those refrigerated amaryllis bulbs!

April

Prune and clean up shrubs damaged by winter snows.

Shape "New Dawn" rose canes.

Order new rose arbor for back door.

Top-dress daffodils with 5-10-10 when the leaf-tips emerge. As they flower, top-dress with 0-10-10 or 0-0-50. High-nitrogen fertilizer should be avoided. Jump-started with BulbTone (3-5-3) on March 31.

Start renovation of back property line bed Started April 28
 *  Remove some lilies of the valley.  Is containment possible with aluminum lawn edging?
 *  Plant bleeding heart (Dicentra "Gold Heart") Planted April 28, but not looking happy.
 *  Consider what else would improve this space. Something low and chartreuse?  Or grassy?
 *  Move Japanese painted fern to more visible location.  Again, clear out lilies of the valley?

Did any perennials in the dry bed along the northeast side of the house survive the combination of rabbits and winter? If so, is more room needed?  Maybe cut this bed a bit bigger?
 *  Plant beebalm (Monarda "Pink Lace") along the front.  Due to lack of space in northeast side bed, planted at back of house on April 28.
 *  Move the sedum "Autumn Joy" from behind the compost pile into this bed. Four divisions planted in northeast side bed on April 28.

Feed evergreens along front of house with Holly-Tone.Done May 5


Dose "New Dawn" rose with 1/2 cup of Epsom salts in 2 cups water. Done April 28

Trim "Major Wheeler" honeysuckle back. Done April 28

May

That stuff that you didn't get to last month?  Do it now.

Review spring bulb performance.  What needs to be replaced or amplified? Maybe add to the Pheasant Eye daffodils (Narcissus poeticus) to the dry bed along the northeast side of the house? Yes!  Also late blooming daffodils along bed at back of house.

June

Move potted amaryllis bulbs outdoors and feed regularly with liquid fertilizer.

Edge garden beds.

Prune into shape front foundation plantings and yews along side property line.

Scratch 1 1/4 cups of RoseTone around the roots of "New Dawn" climbing rose now monthly through the summer; be sure to stop feeding by August 15 in order to prevent developing new growth that will not have time to harden off before fall temperatures drop.

After flowering, shear Amsonia hubrichtii by 1/3 of its height to promote better form.

When it is 3 feet tall, cut Joe pye weed "Gateway" back to half its height to encourage dense growth. Done June 8

Stake dahlias when the tubers are planted and again and again as they grow. Stop dahlias by pinching stem back to four pairs of leaves.

Pinch back shasta daisies to 6".

And stake, stake, stake!

July

After flowering, prune the "New Dawn" climbing rose. 

Prune back 50-80% of "Major Wheeler" honeysuckle after bloom is over.

Late August/Early September

Separate Siberian irises to left of kitchen door (Eric the Red).

Time to order spring bulbs!  Order 12 or more hyacinth bulbs (white, deep pink, coral), at least 25 paperwhite narcissus bulbs, and 2 amaryllis bulbs for indoor forcing.

Columbus Day

Plant spring bulbs.

Dig in bone meal around peonies.

Lightly feed evergreens along front of house with Holly-Tone.

Move potted amaryllis bulbs indoors and chill in refrigerator.

Veterans Day

While daytime temperatures are still above 40 degrees, spray an anti-transpirant, like Wilt-Pruf or Wilt Stop, on "Sky Needle" hollies to prevent winter kill.

Top-dress beds with composted cow manure.

Thanksgiving

Winter-sow seeds.

Late December

Start planning plant purchases for 2014.

Springs: emotional, botanical, mammalian, religious, meterological, temporal, and astronomical

When does spring actually arrive in New England?  After a winter's worth of waiting, it might seem that the rather despairing answer is "Not soon enough" or, sigh, "Never."  And that would feel correct, emotionally speaking.  Meantime, we are bombarded with a range of different dates for the beginning of spring.  Take your choice! There's the meteorological start, defined by average temperatures, on March 1. Then, we spring forward into Daylight Saving Time on March 10. Our local groundhog's shadowless day forecast the start of this year's spring on March 16.  Want to hold out longer?  Go for the vernal equinox on March 20.  Or wait to celebrate with Easter on March 31. With March snowstorms rolling through, it's kind of a moving target.

To jack the seasons along, I've been cutting forsythia for indoor forcing. At last, the "Lynwood Gold" has produced so many branches that an armful can be cut without fear of leaving a plant with the appearance of a child's self inflicted haircut.

A little additional clipping of stems under warm water, a little sunshine, a little time, and behold--spring arrives on my schedule!

And that's why they call them . . .

. . . snowdrops. Just peeking out from the icy package delivered by this week's snow storm are little green clumps of leaves and stems topped with tiny white buds.  However, a few more hours of driving, spitting, spraying snow, and they will be buried.

But in the meantime, this ice-dusted flower--released but not yet open--holds the promise of milder days ahead . . .

. . . as does this scruffy salad of snowdrop greenery. How great to see this chilly foliage poking up on the snow-covered hillside behind the house, particularly on a day when six more inches of snow is forecast: a gentle reminder that spring is on its way. Eventually.

Color chips

This year, I was determined to prepare enough hyacinth bulbs to combat those dead of winter doldrums.  With the frothy, festive show of dozen or so bulbs of "Gypsy Queen," "L'Innocence," and "Lady Derby", we're almost there. 

To prepare the hyacinths for indoor blooming, I cool the bulbs in the refrigerator crisper drawer for about nine weeks. Then, each bulb is set in a glass forcing vase. There are lovely vintage vases to be found out there in shades of blue, green, purple, and amber.

 

 

Just add water up to the base of the bulb, and a few weeks later roots appear . . .  

 

. . . followed by flower heads a week or so later. The blooms bring fragrance, life, and beauty to a grey winter day and yes, as the poet says, feed one's soul.

 

Winter white

Another weekend, another snowstorm, another white bloomer.  Here, amaryllis "Picotee" comes shining through our current blizzard.

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We're still recovering from over two feet of snow that dropped this weekend.  Inside, sweet-smelling paperwhite narcissi "Ziva" capture the white light reflected from outdoors.

They almost look like bright exploding snowballs. 

And another set of white blooms, amaryllis "Picotee," is just about ready to launch. There may be too much white outside but is there too much indoors? Never!