Thank goodness for spring. Daily walks through our garden reveal new flowers, new buds, new growth. It’s too early to clear away protective mulches and start digging in most parts of Canada, but it’s the perfect time to relish nature’s beauty as it unfolds.
Even experienced gardeners may hesitate before picking up secateurs to prune their hydrangeas. Some types are pruned now, some later, some rarely — which is which?
Snowdrops are rather demure and unassuming flowers — simple white, downward-facing blooms on short stems. No fragrance, no vivid colours, no dramatic foliage. However, they’re always greeted with fanfare when they appear in our gardens in late winter, simply because they’re usually the first flowers we have.
In Beckie Fox’s weekly garden newsletter, she highlights Seedy Saturdays as a fun family outing experience. Also: This is the time of year when certain willows are harvested for branches to be used to weave baskets, fences, hedges, screens or “live” willow structures.
A potted miniature rose with red-and-white striped flowers is in a sunny spot in the house, and the buds are opening slowly, which means we should have a few weeks of colour before moving it to a less conspicuous spot to rest until it’s warm enough to place outdoors. Miniature roses are sturdier than they look, and make wonderful container plants.