Wordless Wednesday: Persistence

When Cutbacks are a Good Thing

I often hesitate to cut flowers in my gardens.

Especially in early spring when color is so sparse in the yard, I like to leave the blooms there. I feel guilty bringing in the few tulips or daffodils, as thought I'm thinning the ranks of the spring soldiers out there.

What I've learned about lilacs, though, is that cutting flowers actually helps produce blooms in the following seasons and so when those purple beauties arrive, I cut masses of flowers and set out bouquets all around the house.

I'm an inexpert pruner, but researching lilac cutting led me to some good resources. My main questions were what to prune and when to do it. The why already made sense to me --- increased flower production, bush shaping and air circulation.

It was nice to learn that you can prune anytime - spring pruning won't necessarily hurt the bush. But, the best time is late summer because at that point the plant doesn't have much incentive to put on new growth (which you're triing to get rid of). Think of a summer/fall plant as one who's getting tired after going after a summer-long bender. They're just not going to put much effort into their appearance.

What to prune is more subjective --- shape your bush and remove the "suckers." Lilacs produce a thicket of new growth at the base of the plant, and then also as new shoots growing upward from main branches. These can be removed to encourage the main bush.

This article from Fiskars talks about removing no more than 1/3 of the bush with each pruning and describes how to remove branches at the point where they meet other branches. Leave the branch "collar" intact so the bush can heal the cut.

Wordless Wednesday: Plant a Seed

First Pick of Asparagus

I love asparagus. And truthfully, much of this deep devotion comes from its early appearance in the garden. 

Last night we picked a few spears out of the three raised beds where our crowns are planted. We weren't sure it would do well in raised beds, but it seems to be happy.

This is our first picking year for this purple variety. After first planting, you typically don't harvest from the plant for three years. So, in many ways, asparagus is about patience. The flip side of that coin, though, is that an asparagus crown will produce for as many as 15 years without replanting.

We're in it for the long haul. If you are, too, I'd highly recommend planting some --- it's delicious raw from the garden, with a pretty different flavor than what you'll find in the grocery store. Want to know more?

Gotcha! Hepatica

We have a few trilliums in our yard, transplanted years ago from the woods. I think this little wildflower stowed away in the transport ... I'm not sure how else it would have arrived at the foot of our foundation. I realized recently that it's one I'd seen at Niquette Bay State Park, but not been able to identify (see my old post on the topic).

Since that time, though, I've gotten a wildflower identification book from my wonderful husband. I highly recommend it for any of you Vermont woods-walkers. It's Wildflowers of Vermont by Kate Carter. It's organized by color and size of plant, making identification quick and easy. The photos are fantastic, and all from Vermont. It's small and covered with a durable plastic cover, perfect to slip into your backpack or even a pocket.

So, the answer is: Round-lobed Hepatica. I was stumped at first because our Hepatica is white, but the book has the pink version. Luckily, the ones I saw at Niquette were just slightly pink ... a clue for me to thumb through the pink section in search of this lovely little early bloomer. Gotcha!

Bird

Bird perched on my knee

I feel your flutters and fears

Fly, little boy, fly