On my deck, At 28 deg F, it’s 10 degrees cooler this morning than in Boston. Some of the MA blogs that I follow have been planting onions and lettuces, I’m trying to decide whether it’s safe to try to harden them on said deck. Nights are supposed to be above freezing for the foreseeable future. But I don’t think it was supposed to be so cold last night either. I took a couple of vacation days to work outside; the first four day stretch I have had off in a long time. The projects:
- Clean said deck so that when it’s safe, there’s room for the seedlings to harden off.
- Rough cut rose pruning, almost done. I will come back after there’s more signs of life to take out any dead or unproductive leaves. I also need to fill a few place in the rose ghetto (hybrid teas) that gave up the fight against wetness and lack of sun. But all of the shrub and old roses are looking healthy.
- Hacking back the foundation plantings so that I can walk the sidewalk. I inherited these and just don’t know what else to do.
- Cutting out last years growth from the miscanthus. I want to dig and throw or give away more than half of it this spring.
- Cleaning wild berry bushes and vines from the rhubarb beds. Their little pink buts are so suggestive of future fecundidty.
- Moving a peony that was supposed to be in front of a rose and instead, grows up into it. This white peony’s blossoms are too big and the plant can’t hold them up. I keep moving them to give them a better chance. They make great cutting flowers.
- Moving a rhubarb plant out of the food beds. If no one wants it, I may have to throw it away. But I need the space in the food bed.
- Cleaning an area around trees that’s filled in with lily of the valley, and weeds so that I can plant some hydrangeas that wintered in the food bed. Soon!
- Burning the rose canes and anything elese that’s too big or not suitable for compost.
Gee, when I put it in a list, it looks like quite a lot. Better get back to it…
