We had a burst of sunshine and warmer temperatures for about a week. The temps are dropping a little with a bit of rain on and off for the next week or so. I spent some time getting started on garden clean up. Lots of pine needles got raked up, rose bushes trimmed, and other general Spring garden maintenance.
Along the way I snapped some pictures of the bulbs and garlic that were planted last fall. See the posts on the Spring bulbs and garlic. They are all coming up nicely. I can’t wait to see these flowers in bloom. It won’t be too long now.
Here are some pretty yellow Crocus that have bloomed. These were planted a number of years ago. The ones I planted last Fall have not surfaced yet. Not sure what’s going on with them but hopefully they’ll show up soon.
A wind storm early in the season took down my arbor. A homemade arbor made from downed trees in a nearby creek has been standing for many years in this spot. It has had several repairs over the years and was pretty much on its last leg so having it blown over in the storm wasn’t too surprising. But it was so cute.
Rather than trying to re-erect it and repair it again, I decided to just get it out of there and get a new one.
I finally had cooperating weather and a chance to remove it and trim up the rose bush. It looks so empty. Now to find a replacement arbor and get the roses tied back up before they start blooming.
The roses are just 2 red climbing roses. I couldn’t begin to tell you what kind. I probably picked them up at Walmart years ago. As you can see in one of the above pictures, they put on quite a show when in bloom. I trimmed them up pretty good so hopefully they’ll still bloom wildly this year.
The garlic is looking really nice. Even all of the cloves bought from the grocery store look to have sprouted up. We’ll see whether they put on some good bulbs.
Some other items that are still lingering in the garden: Kale that got left out and which I will probably continue to let grow. I had picked most of the decent size leaves off of these plants and froze them. (I like to use them in smoothies). They obviously had no problem continuing to grow through our cold snowy Winter. They do look kind of funky because all their bottom leaves are gone, but I think they are doing fine and no sense in tearing out good produce if it’s still thriving. I may plant more as well.
Here are some cabbage heads that never got picked. They are still quite firm. I believe a Spring coleslaw is in order for these.
And Brussels Sprouts. Lots of Brussels Sprouts which I am glad I left in the garden. They have also grown over the Winter allowing the sprouts to bulk up a bit. These will make a delicious side dish. I’ll have to find a good recipe for them.
Back to some more raking and burning and clean up. Having a yard full of pine trees always means a large Spring clean up of needles and pine cones. And weeds. They sure can go through winter quite well can’t they.
What does your Spring clean up look like? Now’s the time to get a bit done in between those Spring storms.