We had a short reprieve from the cold winter temperatures we’ve been having. It reached nearly 70 degrees and we actually saw the sun for the first time in days. It felt good to be outside this afternoon tending to some minor garden chores.
My first task was to pot up some more Purple leaf plums (Prunus cerasifera) that had rooted. I put all six cuttings into a medium sized pot and left them in the garage near the window and the garage greenhouse. Last year I made nearly 20 cuttings from some leftover branches after a pruning of another plum tree. It was an experiment then, I didn’t need nearly that many!
I also went outside and did a walk around. I examined the garden beds around the house and took note of the current state of each area. Cool season weeds were encroaching in most of the beds. Wild strawberries were invading the corner shade garden while henbit and chickweed were invading every other area. A little maintenance now should save a lot of work later.
I ended up in the Japanese maple garden where I began removing the henbit and chickweed while they were small sprouts. It was easy work since the recent rains have left the ground very pliable. The best time to weed is after a good rain!
After removing most of the alien invaders I brought a bucket of kitchen scraps to the compost bin and perused the wilder areas of our yard. The deer have been still been visiting as evidenced by their prints in the mud.
I finished up with my time outside today by taking a few cuttings of a Dragon’s Blood Sedum. I put the cuttings in a small pot to bring indoors for the winter. My goal is to produce a few new plants for next spring’s planting season. I also dressed up a pot of succulents I threw together for my wife to take to work. I’ll show you that in a future post.
It was nice to see the sun!
Yesterday was such an awesome day. So darned warm! A special treat for sure. Glad you got some potting done. I finally finished planting my bulbs. Yeah!
Dave,
You will have so many more plants for your garden next spring!
It was 72 degrees here yesterday. When it’s that warm — you go get ice cream at a local dairy farm out in the country! 🙂
Cameron
Dave,
It was beautiful wasn’t it! You are a smart gardener for propagating your favorites. The winter annual weeds are all up here, too! I do have a fondness for henbit but not chickweed! I spent the day out in the GOBN and the wayback along side the guys…I removed lots of forsythia that wasn’t right where it had spread. It looks awfully bare but, the options for native plantings are wonderful to contemplate! Have a sweet weekend! gail
Glad you got some sunshine Dave and were able to get out in the garden to do some work. Thanks for the guilt trip about the weeds, lol. My beds need some work too. 🙂
The good thing about living where I do is that everything is covered in snow. I won’t have to think about any weeds or mess until it all melts.