The joys of gardening.

The same applies for those set out back. These are Schreiner's border bearded Mostest.

I can't wait for spring to see them come out, Neko.

Sure, Jane; but as you can see here there
isn't much to show right now. Late May is when we'll have
irises.



Now's a good time for pruning and trimming, but not for
long, however; because we're overdue for the season's
opening snowfall, and next week deepfreeze conditions
set in. I'll be doing those lilacs on the right.

There is so much to do in the cold climate zones. We're more fortunate:
we stick things in the ground, water it and it grows profusely.

I bet you can grow marvelous roses, Cal. what do you
have, really?


The lilac bushes needed only the removal of
a few dead stubs left from last year's trimming.
But I did cut back on overhead growth from the
flowering crab's lower limbs to allow them more
sunlight.



It's been years since these bushes bloomed, and they give white flowers; so I'm
leaving their flowering branches alone this year.

I cut them back really hard about five years ago - they were about ten feet tall
then- and kept them low until the violet ones, which were only rooted suckers, caught up.





I'll maintain all those lilacs, white and violet, as an even hedge at six feet in height.

This about sums up this year's gardening. To
be continued after the spring thaw.



Happy gardening, all.

The season's opener arrived at breakfast time.

Oh you've got snow already, I shouldn't complain then when we're in the low 60s. Makes me pull up a blanket.
No, neko, we don't have roses here. For some reason they don't do too well
on the coast, plus our dog gets into everything, I wouldn't want her to get hurt.
We have more native plants: bougainvillea, bird or paradise, olive trees, and succulents.

Thanks for the great garden-logue, neko. I always checking in to see what's going on back in my hometown.


(given your last post, I'm glad to know hamburger had his snow tires installed the other week)

i confirmed that the fellow with the snowblower is on standby ... ...
he jokingly said that there might not be any snow this winter ... while he prays for lots of snow , i bet .

The only thing white here are the plants. We decorated a bit for Christmas
outside...

This is the time of the year to top up the
rainbarrels; I was down to a little less than
one full barrel.




Looking outside I could see there was loads of
snow available - good heavy wet stuff,better than
that light fluffy kind.




There was plenty conveniently located only a couple of steps
from the garage door.





It took only a few minutes time to replenish my supply of
water for potted plants and the cats, who avoid tap water as
much as they can.




We're good for another year with two full barrels:

My 2010 garden season has now begun with
the receipt of some seeds through the mail.



they're kept in an unheated garage while I set up a starter
tray.

I love this fresh-water method of yours, Neko!

So do I! Here we'd collect mosquitos if we had two open containers of water
for such a long time. Neko, are the water containers outside?

A Ferrero-Rocher box is adequate for small-scale
seed starting - been doing this for years.



I'm doing only fifteen Polyantha primulas this time. I hope
to get a good red for the east border where those yellow irises
were set out.


With a dampened pencil point I place them in
three rows on the surface. Then I press them into the dampened vermiculite
for positive contact.





This window gets about three hours of morning sunlight.



The seedlings will be placed in Jiffy-trays. With luck, they
should be in place sometime in May.


Cal:
Good point about mosquitos.

Those rain barrels are kept in the garage and covered.

Today was was a good time to do the lilac- cold and overcast:




Having already decided where to prune, the cutting took
less than five minutes.




I'll leave it alone for a year or two before shearing
back the new growth.

Very nice, however you don't have to stop there. You can also continue with indoor gardening!

Today's status of those primula seeds.

Three have sprouted so far. Click photo for an upclose look - they're
marked for easy finding. A second click gives full screen size.




That's the extent of my indoor gardening, foodie - and welcome to the discussion.

This year's crocus show.


click photo to enlarge


I believe there are some still yet to appear through that thick layer
of shredded pine needles and maple leaves I placed under the crabapple tree.