Early spring

– Posted in: Miscellaneous
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In 2005, the area to the right of the house corner was renovated. Now I’m tackling the next section. The rake handle marks my current goal. The tent peg marks a clump of phlox I want to save.

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

In the end, this may be the most important thing about frost: Frost slows us down. In spring, it tempers our eagerness. In fall, it brings closure and rest. In our gotta-go world–where every nanosecond seems to count–slowness can be a great gift. So rather than see Jack Frost as an adversary, you could choose to greet him as a friend.

~Philip Harnden in A Gardener’s Guide to Frost: Outwit the Weather and Extend the Spring and Fall Seasons

1 Comment… add one

Glori Heimke May 3, 2014, 11:48 am

Thank you for your page. This plant in the spring has been the bane of my gardening existence for years now. I used to have 22 raised beds all over my 10 acre property, next to my children they were my pride and joy. After being diagnosed with skin cancer most of them had to go and I gave flowers to everyone I knew. I have two gardens left, one is filled with very expensive irises, hybrid day lilies and oriental lilies and the other is just a nice though odd mix of flowers that con tolerate shade. I was outside today getting ready to add some new stargazer lilies and found the tell tale sprouts of the weed I have battled for 20 years. I spent two hours outside this morning and only dug out two plants, leaving many roots behind. The Golden Rod goes under my irises and even through them. They also go through the tough day lily rhizomes! Since this garden (shaded in the morning so I can work it all summer) hold literally thousands of plants, from miniature irises to my pride and joy a jet black iris, digging this up is not an option. I am going to try something different though. I am going to pour roundup into a cup and use a paint brush to ‘paint’ each new golden rod sprout that I can find. I know I may lose some plants that the roots have gone through but I think it may work. I have a three acre plot behind my yard (5 mowable acres) that I turned into a Wisconsin wild prairie. I love the Golden Rod in there, and there are so many other native plants and flowers it doesn’t get out of control. I will let you know how my ‘paining’ experiment goes! 🙂 Thank you again so much for your article.

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