 |
| Our son's apricot tree with "popcorn" blossoms Photo by TSM |
The cleaning bug has hit with the arrival of spring. Well, it's been more like with the impending arrival of my kids for Easter, especially our grandson who is not yet one (the house has to start clean anyway). I made a decent dent in my list, so I'm pretty happy about that. Still to do: dry clean the drapes and shampoo the carpets, clean outside windows on the second floor and the biggest jobs of all - go through all the storage in the basement and the garage. I made only a minuscule dent in the former.
We had a marvellous visit. All the kids were here!!! That hasn't happened in almost two years! We went for supper Friday night and my daughter announced her engagement! Yay! Another wedding!! We are so excited for them.
Then we spent Easter Sunday at one of our son's houses and then our daughter-in-law, who's taking photography classes, took family photos. It's been eight years since we had one of those done. A lot changes in eight years!
Today it was beautiful outside with a high of 13 Celsius so I grabbed my pruners and pruned my Annabelle hydrangeas and the Red Prince weigelas. Both grew and bloomed so profusely last year that I had a bit of clean up to do.
Every spring the weigelas have some winter dieback so they have to be pruned and the hydrangeas maintain their dried flower heads through the winter. Once the new growth appears on both, I prune them. Removing dead branches, crossing branches and unyielding growth is so much easier early spring plus I am not interfering with the blooms that will soon set. I simply cut back to remove the portion of each branch that has died, easy to tell by where the new leaf buds end.
The grass is greening up and the Schubert Chokecherry's leaf buds have swollen to the point where the tips of the leaves are breaking free of the bud. I can't wait until it blooms!
Do you see the edging popping up near the foundation, behind this bed? (yes, I knew it was). Another task to do yet and of course the spring maintenance of the lawn.
This evening I took our dogs for a quick walk and wouldn't you know it, I had a defective doggie bag? Not a seam in the darn thing! That was fun to use!! ^^
At the greenhouse, some of the stock has arrived and the perennials planted over the winter are growing well, some are even flowering. Next week is going to be busy setting up the outdoor sections for the season. It's a busy but fun time!
In Vancouver, where one of our son lives, the cherry blossom petals are falling, dusting the streets in pink snow. Tulips and daffodils are blooming. Even the lilacs have begun to flower. In Vernon, another son's apricot tree has flowered and the irises are coming up. I always marvel at the contrasts between here and there. How's your spring?
 |
| Photo by SWM |
No comments:
Post a Comment