It’s Spring (Sort Of)! Just Photos! No Virus! No Politics!
We all need a break from the non-stop news coverage so I’m declaring this a virus (and politics) free zone. It’s spring, or at least the calendar says it is, so it’s time for some photos of what’s going on out in the gardens.
Over the winter someone or something stole all of our bark mulch and wood chips. Okay, I know that’s silly, but it looks like it. We’re probably going to have to haul in a few trailer loads of mulch to cover the hosta garden in the front and the other gardens. Despite the cold weather the hostas are starting to peek out.We worked over the raised beds and they’re looking good with no winter damage. MrsGF wants to put in a third this spring and I agree. They’ve worked out amazingly well and have been incredibly productive.The sedum are starting to peek out at well. They’ve been incredibly tough plants. They’ve been broken apart, transplanted several times, and have handled everything Wisconsin weather could throw at them and they still keep coming back. They don’t look like much now but by the end of summer they’ll be the size of large bushes, three feet tall, and covered with flowers, bees and butterflies.This is a mountain ash tree that was a volunteer we found in the backyard and transplanted into the front hosta garden for the heck of it. It looks like it survived the winter well also. We were afraid the rabbits in the neighborhood would go after it but they left it alone. It is not actually an ash tree despite the name. It’s a member of the rose family. It really liked its new location. It grew about three or four feet last summer.This is the rose that wouldn’t die, my name for it. It’s just a pink rose bush but this thing has somehow managed to thrive despite poor soil, rot, salt from the sidewalk, getting hit with the snowblower, etc. I was ready to dig it out a couple of times because I thought it was dead but it just keeps coming back. Looks like it survived the winter too.I think the hen and chicks would survive a nuclear war! We just threw a few babies on the ground around a fence post and now a few years later they’re everywhere up along the sidewalk. They’re amazing plants and seem to thrive under conditions that would kill just about any other plant.The chives, tucked away in their protected corner, are the first plants to peek out in the winter. There’s still snow on the ground when they start emerging. They’re looking good. We don’t use a lot of chives, but they’re nice to have around. I have to admit that I keep them around not because I like eating them but because they’re always the first new growth in the spring.We have a little circular flower bed where there used to be a firepit. We dug out the old truck rim that was used as a fire ring, filled it with compost and stuck these lilies in there and they’ve been doing good too. It will be a while before they come to flower, but they’re worth the wait.The irises survived the winter too and are already 4-6 inches tall. I love irises and we have a ot of them scattered around. We’ve had really good luck with growing them.Finally a bit of color! These guys have been in flower for over a week now and look absolutely brilliant in the early morning sun.
Yes, I'm a former farmer. Sort of. I'm also an amateur radio operator, amateur astronomer, gardener, maker of furniture, photographer.
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2 thoughts on “It’s Spring (Sort Of)! Just Photos! No Virus! No Politics!”
When everything else feels like anxiety, I can always look at the spring. It’s just lots of hope and dreams and potential. I love it. I don’t have the big garden you do, but I love to walk up and down the street and be nosy about what everyone else is doing. It cheers me right up.
Gardening and just being out in nature is one of those things that just about everyone enjoys. People who dig in the dirt planting stuff, even just in pots on a windowsill, tend to be healthier, have a better mental attitude and suffer from less stress.
grouchyfarmer 
When everything else feels like anxiety, I can always look at the spring. It’s just lots of hope and dreams and potential. I love it. I don’t have the big garden you do, but I love to walk up and down the street and be nosy about what everyone else is doing. It cheers me right up.
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Gardening and just being out in nature is one of those things that just about everyone enjoys. People who dig in the dirt planting stuff, even just in pots on a windowsill, tend to be healthier, have a better mental attitude and suffer from less stress.
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