Signs of a Harsh Winter

It's been a harsh winter. My garlic is now a good 5" tall now, but some of them appears to not have made it. I thought I planted more than this, but I guess not! 

Native plant: Anemone is in bloom!

More evidence that this winter was really harsh....even with inches of mulch over this hellebore, it is not quite as big as it was last year, however, it is blooming!

The Daffodils and Forsythia are also blooming today! Tuesday it is supposed to get really cold again :\ The pear tree has broken dormancy and sprouted some leaves already! We're ready for spring, but winter isn't giving up the ghost yet!!!

My hot peppers that I have overwintered aren't doing so hot :(

My Dream Garden

I finally found the look of how I would like my garden to look like in an issue of Gardening How-To magazine in the January/February 2014 issue. On page 31, the garden of Scott Endres is exactly how I would like my garden to look like, LUSH! Although I like his theme, I'd like mine to contain lots of fragrant stuff! Unfortunately, I don't think my hubby and I see eye to eye on how our landscape should look like. He likes the orderly chemical filled landscape that has been chopped into round or square shapes, whereas I like the more organic, natural blended look. Dilemma? I'd say so!

This same issues also brought other inspiration in new cultivars! The Golden Duchess Eastern hemlock from Monrovia is a pretty, small, and weeping lime colored evergreen! I think it would make for good structure in a garden. Also, Lotus Moon pearlbush, from Bailey Nurseries, looks like a good alternative to the typical forsythia, azalea, etc.! I hate planting things everyone else has so this plant fits the bill!

Falling Into Winter

Last Sunday I was finally able to see the forsythia mess up by the street. It turns out there are really only three bushes, but the one closest to the house has been left unchecked to grow wild. There were branches all the way to the sidewalk! Even though you are not supposed to prune more than 1/3 off, I figured this thing has grown enough over the years to have enough energy stored so I hacked away! I even got the chainsaw out! Inside that mess was a wild grape vine that was as big as my wrist! Anyhow, it has not been cleaned up well, but it is tamed at least! 

All the plants I couldn't figure out where to put since I didn't really have time to figure out the garden were dug in for the winter until hubby decided he HAD to do certain projects outside and had to move them. If I can't find any of my plants next spring, we'll know why! Now some of them are uncovered and winter is arriving this weekend! I need to get a new bag of mulch. This was the last thing I wanted to do when winter hit! *sigh* 

As for winter, my first seed catalog came in the mail today! Time to dream! What shall I plant next year????