Forced Forsythia from the yard with Oxalis and store bought Tulips to brighten up my kitchen window

With my newly obtained garden which hasn’t seen a working hand in probably a full year I am eager to see what my garden will produce. You see, when I bought my new home late last fall, the mature garden was one of the very reasons why I bought this little place I now call my very own. And of course when I first moved in, it wasn’t but a week before New York’s crazy slew of weekly winter snow storms would start.

But I did manage to quickly throw in some hyacinths and tulips into the ground and into containers to at the very least say to my garden, “Lookie here, I love you and I will take care of you now and here is some of the first proof”… now had I only had a chance to grab some bonemeal  that would have been perfect!

So, as snow storms came and went, I perused my vegetable and flower gardening catalogs, buying tomato cages for tomato plants I still do not have and way more seeds than I will know what to do with, but alas that’s what happens when we start getting ichy for the Spring Season to arrive.

And as I have surveyed the areas where the garden areas once stood strong while walking my dog around his new yard, there are signs here and there that perennial iris, geranium, tulips, daffodils, roses, lilacs, forsythia, one lonely apple tree (whose significant other past away while we moved in), hardy mums, poppies and other unidentifiable plants at this stage of just showing their noses up and out of the ground actually exist.

I am already relishing in the feeling that Spring will soon be here. I so miss the leaves on the trees at this stage of March. It’s the third week of March, with it’s fickle weather patterns where it might snow one day (as it did already on Monday) and will again this Wednesday but be bright, warm and fuzzy like it was last Friday when I heard that NYC temperatures nearly hit 80 degrees. Really?! Yes Really.

So while reading a few interesting things I learned that when lilacs start budding, it’s a good time to start sewing your cold weather vegetables like spinach, peas and bush beans. Who knew? Well, instead of doing that in the snow the other day (do ya blame me?), I did cut some forsythia from the yard and put them in a vase where they quickly bloomed. I also did this four weeks prior with the same results, though the forsythia took a few weeks to generate their blooms.

I also cut dead wood from the many roses that are on this property – but was very careful not to cut down too much, only those canes that were obviously dead. Pulling up the left over dried leaves and ‘stalks’ from last year’s spent iris certainly helped to prevent root rot as well. I would have done this last fall, but the snow came too quickly and wouldn’t completely melt till just last week despite me being in planting zone 5.

I have also started to collect any egg shells that I have used, rinsed them and allowed them to dry, along with keeping my spent coffee grounds both which will start to be used to help my compost pile and to fertilize my gardens. There’s still much to do and well, that’s what the love of gardening is all about. Being patient, allowing the plants to germinate on their own time schedule and to do your very best in helping your garden thrive.

Chow Ciao for Now

Leah