Writing, organization and plants

Today I had a lot of writing and phone calls to catch up on.  I am up to date for columns and am trying to get my IMGC newsletter out tomorrow.  I also went out and helped Bobby set out the plants for the rain garden–that is my type of gardening–point and direct!  We need a few more for the boggy areas, but overall it looks good. Lets see how it drains after our rains tonight. 

As I was walking the grounds at the office, the pansies are simply amazing this year. If you have winter annuals, give them a shot of fertilizer to keep them blooming well.  Watch for those winter weeds that are encroaching.  The flowering quince, forsythia, spirea and witchhazel are all blooming now.  When they finish, if they need pruning, do so.  Forsythia benefits from 1/3 of the old growth pruned out annually.  Our saucer and star magnolias are blooming, so lets hope a late freeze doesn’t hit now, or the blooms will go.  The perennials are beginning to emerge. I have seen toad lilies, daylilies, and even some hostas beginning to show their heads.  Bulbs are blooming nicely and a little fertilizer on them is also a good thing.  If you have bulbs that are older ones from previous years that aren’t blooming, it could be a result of our winter to summer conditions last spring which may have had the foliage die down a bit too soon.  Fertilize the foliage now and see what happens next spring.

I came home and finally had a little time to clean up my amaryllis bulbs, cutting off the spent flowers.  To my surprise, the bulb the MG’s gave me in Magnolia the end of January has foliage now and another bloom.  That makes three bloom stalks on one bulb!!  I am quite impressed.  I threw away the paper whites, and cut back the other amaryllis flower stalk.  I will  move them outdoors this spring to get plenty of sunlight to rebloom next winter.  Many gardeners also are planting them outdoors to make care a bit easier. They seem to overwinter just fine and bloom in early spring.