Back to early spring temperatures this morning after two very hot days.  This has been a most unusual spring weather-wise, but there’s something to be said for a respite like this before the brutally hot days yet to come (if any, cause who knows?).  It’ll be a good day to get out and tie up all the branches I pruned from the honeysuckles and cedars out front.  I have an enormous pile to sort out, cut up and bundle up.  Doing the actual pruning is kind of fun, but I dislike the clean-up; that would be the most appealing part of paying someone else...

I’m adoring this spring in the Tranquil Garden. I guess every year is a bit different; sometimes I’m more excited to be out there and sometimes not so much. This year, probably due to the long, hard winter, I’ve been feeling grateful for the beauty of the garden, the warm weather (I try to avoid complaining about any really hot days) and the joy of planting, weeding and beautifying. I feel less weighed down by the chores involved than I have other years. Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading Michel de Montaigne and he’s infected with me with his laissez-faire attitude toward one’s lack...

(I wrote the following a few days ago, before the temperature dropped and the rains started. ) I’m enjoying spring (feels more like summer, but who’s quibbling?) very, very much this year.  I’m thrilled about every new shoot that is suddenly four inches tall when it was nowhere in sight the day before.  Nothing like a long, tortuous winter and a late spring to make you appreciate the joy of wearing fewer clothes and puttering in the garden.  My slight complaint is the weather is so warm that the tulips are fading really quickly.  They much prefer a cool spring. I...

  I was looking out on the Tranquil Garden today and thinking about starting the annual spring clean-up.  I won’t be doing it right away, because, first of all, that would be against my nature; but, also because the ground is still pretty soggy, and I’ve read many times that walking around on the lawn and flower beds before the ground has a chance to dry up is a no-no.  It can compact the soil and grass in a way that you won’t like later on.  It’s not good for the garden, in other words.  One recent article I read suggested that...

It seems that all the posts I’ve written this winter have had something to do with the weather, so I’m just going to be clear (right from the title) that since winter may be prolonged until the next millennium I may as well keep reporting on this all-important factor in a Canadian’s  life, whether you’re a gardener or not. Here it is, March 28th, (by the way, happy birthday to my sister, Heather, down in New Glasgow, NS, where they’ve been suffering through an even worse winter than here, I believe!), and the thermometer says -9C outside my window.  This may not...