Okay, Not Quite Like That Picture

We are having a heat wave! Or, at least, it almost feels that way. Temps are going to be in the high 30s to mid 40s for at least part of this week. After the extended frigid cold we’ve been having, this is very welcome.

That also means that I should be able to get my winter pruning done without freezing myself. I have a few things that need pruning before they start growing in the spring, primarily my hydrangea. I could prune it in late summer or fall after it finishes blooming, but I like the look of the dried flower heads in winter. So, I leave them and prune around this time of year. That and a couple other things I have planted bloom on new wood (that grows in spring after the winter cold) so they need to be pruned before that new stuff starts growing or there will be no or very few flowers this year. Just glad it’s going to be reasonably nice for that chore.

I did get a lot of seeds put out to cold stratify this year, also. I have wanted to do that for a couple years now, but just never got to it. When you are trying to plant mostly native plants in an area where winter gets cold, the seeds need a period of moist cold to break their winter dormancy. So just tossing them out in spring doesn’t work well. I have mine in peat pods set in window boxes, with the boxes lined up on top of the 8×12 raised bed in the yard. They get the cold and snow cover they need, and should start sprouting once the weather warms up in a few months. It’s a bit of work, but seeds are so much less expensive than buying the number of already started plants at a nursery. And, odd as it may seem, true natives are really hard to find at most nurseries since most people want the “prettier” cultivars or non-native garden plants and flowers that have become so common. And mail ordering just adds to the expense of buying started plants. I’m hoping most of my seeds grow so I can fill some areas that need it.

Other than those few things, it’s life as usual here. If you are getting this “heat wave”, enjoy it. It ain’t gonna last, I know that. But the days are getting longer- it’s noticeable now, so that means there is real warmer weather on the way.