Spring means different things to different people. This is especially true of gardeners who tend to be looking more closely so see things that the general population might miss. Every year is different too, at least in some ways.
The garden gloves have been getting quite a workout lately, with all of the bamboo rhizome pruning and other garden cleanup.
More randomness from the emerging spring garden. I'll start with a little vignette, a trio of plantings that has become pretty over time:
It's the time of year that I have mixed feelings about: bamboo chopping time. It's a happy time because it means that spring is here and the bamboos are pushing out new growth, but it's also a sad time as it means that all of that lovely foliage will be gone for a few weeks or more.
My bamboo before/after post is taking so much time, just some quick thoughts today. Sometimes life gets in the way...
Spring for most people is a sure thing: a time when the weather warms up, blooms start appearing, and everything greens up. To a gardener though I think that Spring is less certain. We know it is coming -- some years more quickly than others -- but there is a fair amount of hope, surprise, and even disappointment along the way.
One of the first trees to come into flower in the St. Louis area each spring is the Bradford Pear. These trees with their full canopies of white blossoms make any neighborhood more cheerful at this time of year.
I've been in the garden cleaning things up for the past week. After a day off yesterday because of an unexpected snow, I should finish up the bulk of the work today. I've been collecting little tidbits as I went, so here are a few of them collected.
I have two things for you today. The first is a question relating to a plant I grow: Petasites japonicus. This is the large-leaved plant that I grow at the edge of the pond if you've forgotten. When it first starts to emerge in the spring, it first puts up its flowers.
I spent several hours outside cleaning up the garden again yesterday, and toward the end of the day I noticed a unique color in this early spring landscape dominated by browns and greens: red!
Yesterday our state of Missouri was voting along with many others on who would be the candidates for The Election this November, and the most Super thing about this day was the weather. Temperatures of 82ºF (28ºC) made working in the yard for several hours a treat.
I guess it's certain now: Spring is here in St. Louis. We've got a little bit of colder weather coming this weekend, but it won't get below freezing. In fact today will be near 80ºF (26ºC) and mostly dry so I'll be out there continuing with spring cleanup. First though a break to enjoy some of Spring's goodness: fern fronds unfurling!
It's time to chop down my groundcover and "shrub" bamboos, as they will soon be pushing out new growth. Some are brown, some are still green but a bit tired looking, but all will be wonderful when the foliage refreshes.
A collection of tidbits today, starting with my Musa basjoo hardy bananas. This is what they looked like a few days ago:
Every year, regardless of how mild the winter was, all of my groundcover bamboos need to get mowed down. That's because they take varying amounts of damage ranging from minor spotting and tattering to complete leaf kill.
The title of this post is a bit misleading, as I don't see the subject as really a "problem" -- not a big one at least. It's my beautiful Fargesia 'Rufa' clumping bamboo:
Temperatures are very springlike in St. Louis this week: between 60ºF (15ºC) and 70ºF (21ºC) every day with lows that don't go below 50ºF (10ºC). That means it's time to start moving things out of the garage and basement!
Late winter (or very early spring if you're an optimist) is when I give my bamboos their first feeding of the year. It's commonly thought that running bamboo -- which spreads by underground rhizomes -- is such an "invasive" plant that you just stick it into the ground and it takes off.
That's the sound that I hear coming from the kitchen whenever the wind blows.
Like many, our weekends are shifted one day to Sunday/Monday, and on Mondays we like to get out and do something different and fun. We didn't have a lot of time this past week but we decided to take a quick walk around Missouri Botanical Garden.
Yesterday I started talking about rhizome pruning, arguably the best way to control running bamboos.
My posts about:
© Blogger template Shush by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009
Back to TOP
