Winter continues here at May Dreams Gardens.
The good news is that my Christmas cactus, which bloomed several weeks ago, provided me with a few bonus flowers this week.
It’s funny, but I don’t usually have orange flowers outside in my garden, except for a few ditch lilies that I have planted on the side of the house.
I planted the ditch lilies simply because someone gave them to me and they reminded me of driving down to my grandparents’ house in the summer. I’d watch out the window as we passed by miles and miles of ditch lilies growing along the side of the road in… the ditches, of all places.
My orange-flowering Christmas cactus is a passalong plant, too. I’ll take some cuttings from it this spring to pass along to others. Plant it forward, as they say.
I went out to the garden today and walked around in the melting snow.
Clearly, someone, or something, has also been out walking in the garden.
Rabbits!
Maybe one, maybe two.
And where there are two rabbits, there might as well be a hundred rabbits.
I’m sure they are finding all kinds of succulent lower shrub branches to chew off. Go eat the henbit that is coming up, you rabbits, and leave the shrubs alone!
There, that ought to keep the rabbits under control while winter continues.
I surveyed the vegetable garden while I was outside looking at rabbit tracks.
It is clear to me that I must replace the raised beds. The trick will be to do it early enough in the spring so that I can still plant peas.
In other words, I must find that sliver of time when the ground is dry enough to work before St. Patrick’s Day or risk not having a place to plant the peas, spinach, and lettuce when I normally do.
My Dad always seemed to find such a time in early spring, as I recall him tilling the garden, at least part of it, before he planted peas around March 17th.
In that sliver of time, I’ll have someone pull out the old wood around the raised beds, rake the mulch out of the paths, pull out the landscape fabric in the paths, till the whole thing up, form the new beds and edge them with some kind of stone.
Yes, stone of some kind, I think, which will allow for curves, if I decide I want some, and which won’t have to be replaced after a few years.
But before that gets done, I’ll need to endure a few more winter storms, including one heading this way which is predicted to arrive late Monday or Tuesday and bring with it the most dreaded of all winter elements — ice.
Winter continues…
Oh, rabbits. They looks so cuddly and yet quite a menace in the garden. we don't have rabbits running wild here…..
Gearing up for that storm here in Missouri too. Have all of the necessities in order. Seed catalogs, extra water, extra firewood, extra food and blankets.
Pesky rabbits… Rabbit pie is tasty?!
Big plans for the veg garden. Stone edged beds sound lovely, but hard work! Look forward to seeing the results. Good luck on the pea front.
my cute little resident rabbit, Harry chewed half a columnar bayberry this week in the wee hours of the morning…he is in big trouble and so is the shrub…I will have to wrap that one next year too…
Stay safe and warm from the storm, dear Carol. The visions of curved stone edged beds will give pleasant daydreams until May. Dang rabbits, we have seen those footprints, too. Not thrilling to see them, either.
Frances
Get some critter repellent right away and spray the lower branches and the trunks of woody plants. When the rabbits get hungry late in winter, they can kill a shrub by chewing off all the bark. Poultry wire also works.
It is going to be fun watching your new garden beds evolve. Those rascally rabbits are just scoping out the area hoping to find something to eat. This has been a rough winter for them too no doubt. Batten down the hatches and hope for the best regarding the storm.
Raised beds edged with stones sounds so appealing, Carol; then could you call it a potager instead of a vegetable garden?
Winter definitely isn't done, but I hope the storm holds off till tomorrow. I'm on my way to Indy to go see daughter in Portland, and want to get across the Rockies before the weather turns bad. I'm praying with you that we get snow, not ice.
Carol, Waiting until the weather changes is the hard part for me~I get an idea and want to act on it. Stone lined beds are very good looking. Good luck with the critters. keep warm out there. gail
Stay safe Carol with the next storm coming your way. Spring will be here before you know it!
I am not an orange flower person either(maybe a 70's nightmare) but I am now trying to add some into my gardening.You are going to have your work cut out for you redoing your garden beds, Stone sounds like the perfect way to go since wood tends to rot away eventually.Now is the time we all take a look at our gardens and make those plans of changes or moves. Those little rabbits may be a problem though.LOL! Mine is always the deer.
Looks like you have your list of "to dos" in place and waiting until the snow subsides. You are a brave one to deal with all that snow and ice. As a transplanted northerner who shoveled all of my childhood away in northern Ohio, I applaud your determination.
pesky rabbits – they can't be too sneaky in the snow, leaving their tracks behind, huh? 🙂