Real Gardening

Sunny and in the 20s today.

I actually did real hands-and-knees gardening today, with pruners in hand!  I decided all the overwintering plants on the porch needed haircuts.

So I cut back the dried stems of the butterfly bush and all the sages (the Lady in Red coccinea and the black and blue sages had actually bloomed all winter).   I chopped back the begonias in the black troughs, which were finally mushy.  I was surprised at how the gaura is green and seems to be thriving.  The Angelina sedum is green and growing too.

And the soapwort in the containers seemed to still be growing, but I did cut that back.  The rosemary is looking good.

And when it was all done, I watered.  Everything was quite dry. Although most plants are dormant, they do need water in winter, just as they would get from winter snowmelt outside.  The porch is staying in the 20s at night, and up into the 40s in daytime.

It all felt so good: trimming, cutting back, watering, snipping and generally doing real gardening.  And everything looks a little neater now, ready for spring to come someday.

But in spite of doing some real gardening today, I still can't get out the back door: