Cold Climate Gardening

Remember the forsythia I pruned so that I could force some branches? It doesn’t look so floriferous out in the open, does it? (For comparison, check out the forsythias here.)

When I’m faced with a plant that’s not doing as well as expected, I try to analyze the situation before taking action. In the case of the forsythia, I observed that the flowers were only on the ends of the branches. If it were cold damage, I would expect the flowers below the snowline to bloom, and the ones exposed to the cold higher up on the shrub to be missing. That’s not the case, and besides, this variety of forsythia is supposed to be bud-hardy to 30 below zero Fahrenheit, and it didn’t get that cold this winter.

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And what is retirement for, if not to make a few dreams come true? And what is a garden for, if not to satisfy the longings of your heart?

I have learned a lot from watching the garden of my best garden buddy, Bub, develop. The most satisfying garden, for the gardener and for others, is one that grows out of the desires of your heart. Bub’s garden is filled with hellebores, daylilies, and even trees that she grew from seed, musical instruments she can play, birds, chipmunks, and squirrels she can watch and feed, and a labyrinth through which she walks.

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It snowed last night. Tonight there is still snow on the ground. This is the 8th of April, and the winter has lasted quite long enough, thank you.

There are two ways to view these late season forays of winter. A person can either despair or hope. When the snow of a long winter melts away, freeing the long buried earth to once again feel the life giving rays of the sun, it is a time of refreshing for hearts wearied by long months trapped between the four walls of a house. As exhilarating as this first taste of spring can be, a renewed burial in snow can cause an equal plummeting in morale.

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