Garden Dreams

 

I requested some gardening books from the library, and one of them came in this week. The author, Christie Purifoy, has written a series of books with lovely photos from her home and garden in Pennsylvania. The books, published by Harvest House, contain her sweet essays on the Creator and His creation, the gardening process, and the love of flowers. I started reading it yesterday, and I'm already halfway through.

While I was there, I remembered to check out the seed library that our local branch offers.

Open the drawers, and you can peruse from hundreds of seed packets that have been donated by local gardeners. Patrons are encouraged to take up to five packs...for free!

It was hard to decide! I chose something called Strawberry Spinach (intriguing!), along with dill (always hard to find in the garden centers), basil, arugula, and Amish snap peas.

It will be a few weeks before any of these get planted, but it's not too soon to make plans for the garden.

Generally, it is too soon to do any garden clean up. We are encouraged to leave the old growth for as long as possible to help any insects, butterflies, and bees who are overwintering in the stems and dried foliage.

But some things can really use a sprucing up when the timing is important.

Take, for instance, hydrangeas. You have to know if your hydrangea blooms only on old growth (don't prune now!), or old and new growth. My Annabelle hydrangeas bloom on both, and they can take a hard pruning. I typically prune them gently this time of year, removing dead heads and cutting back the stems just up to the new bud, as you can see here.

I had quite a pile of dried blossoms when I was done!

For now, I'm keeping clippings in yard waste bags, loosely bundled. I'm storing them in the back by my potting table. We won't have curbside pickup for a few weeks, and this way any wintering guests can still be safe.

If you enjoy listening to podcasts, author Christie Purifoy has one that she does with her friend and fellow author Lisa Jo Baker called Out of the Ordinary. I've been enjoying listening to them on morning walks as I look for signs of spring.

The sun is shining on this crisp morning. I think I will take one of those walks soon.

Enjoy the sun, friends!