Looking better?

Warmer days have come and although we've taken a step back into slightly cooler air this week, it's time for me to start cleaning up the planting beds.

There are some crocus poking through the debris, and the daffodil foliage is making a good push through now, so it's time to get rid of the debris from last year. Thus begins my most conflicted time of year in the garden: I love the arrival of warmer weather and watching the plants awaken, but hate the barrenness of the perennial beds.

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I think I'll post before/after photo combos here so you can more easily see the differences.

This bed definitely looks better after cleanup, but that's only because there's plenty of green pushing through the ground here:

The rest, well, now looks barren.

I really hate cutting down grasses, as I miss what they add to the winter garden...

I leave the dead stems and leaves until spring because I like the wild look and want to provide sheltering habitat for insects, spiders, toads, and other wildlife.

Yes, the bird feeder pole is leaning a bit

The walkway is certainly bigger now, but can you honestly say that the bed after cleanup is prettier than the "before"? There is almost nothing to look at now, and there won't be for at least a few weeks or more, depending on weather patterns.

I plan on moving a few of these pots around this year, especially the two closest to the foreground of that last image, as the rose mallow (Hibiscus lasiocarpos) gets so big and shades them out. So easy to forget this once the stems are removed.

There's still much more cleanup to tackle here in the front...

...where I always begin my spring efforts (for the neighbors who always keep their yards so very clean) and much, much more in back.

A large brick was keeping these daffodils from emerging

I won't be posting too much about cleanup efforts as I've done that quite a bit in the past, but spring cleanup time is when I get a good idea about which plants did not survive the winter, and you'll be reading about those unhappy discoveries.  Or not if I'm incredibly lucky this year.

Let's end on a happier note:

These pale yellow crocus are always the first to bloom...

...followed by the purple, whites, and deeper yellows. It's amazing to me how many pointy crocus leaf tips I found poking through fallen leaves -- at least half a dozen!

Daffodils soon too it seems!

Have you other cold-climate gardeners started your spring cleanup yet? (Don't tell me you're one of those fall cleanup people?!)

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