Beauty before the storm...plum, magnolia, an incredible year for apple blossoms. Forget-me-nots, also in pink and white, white and lavender lilacs, bleeding heart, Solomon's seal, ornamental rhubarb, trollius, several primulas, euphorbia, Johnny-jump ups, then hail the size of grapes...yes, for twenty minutes...knocking buds off peonies and shredding leaves, kind of rough! And it is still raining...I just want to weed in the sun!
It's been rainy in northern Vermont, enough so it is slowing down work. Our ground is wet and I try to keep off beds, but this type of weather is good for dividing. Here I'm breaking up campanula latifolia. My favorite tools: a Korean plow, an old Smith and Hawken ladies spade (no one makes such things now, very frustrating) and Corona clippers. When perennials grow in circles they need to be divided! A clump can easily be three to five plants. See the thick white roots and the final area with space. Now there are five to plant, sell or give away. Have a home for plants ready before you go too crazy.
The second week of April, still snow...deer tracks and creature channels, angelica skeletons and fresh starts, frosted beauty, hellebores and the work to come!