The weather forecast has dictated my recent activities regarding my gardens. If it’s warm, but not hot and with little wind, I cancel other projects to dig in the dirt.
Spring is early this year; usually I don’t even consider these activities until the middle of May. But with company coming the end of the month into the following month, I’m glad to get a head start.
My annual plan starts in October the previous year. That’s when I close the gardens and vow I’m not going to do as much next spring. I keep this resolve through most of the winter; but when the temperatures climb and garden centers open, I forget my fall promise.
Instead, I visit various nurseries and buy all kinds of things: azaleas, petunias, zinnias, celosia, Dusty Miller, etc. The plants all smile when I put them in my checkout basket. How could I not bring them home?
So the past two days of perfect gardening weather, I have pulled weeds, planted annuals, pruned various bushes, and gotten ready to mulch. This last is important because I am only one of two residents in our complex who didn’t accept the standard association mulch. Which means I’m on my own.
No matter. The complex where I live spread mulch about four weeks ago without weeding or pruning. Unless you’re into gardening, this might not matter. But for those of us purists, mulching is the last thing in garden prep, not the first.
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