The lost garden

On Saturday, January 13, I started working in the garden.  And who would have thought or dreamed of working the grounds in January years ago?  But yes, climate is definitely changing. I remember how it snowed and snowed, the whole world over from December to February, and even more.  Snow swept the world from end to end.  But not anymore.

In any case, we are having a mild winter–alarmingly mild. Yesterday it reached 35 degrees. It’s not unusual to have a January warm-spell. But what that usually means is a week or two with highs in the mid-30s. The snow is gone, except on the north-facing slopes and where the plow has piled it high.  But this is still winter! 

Nevertheless, I’ve started pruning roses and cleaning debris off flowerbeds.  The ivy that remained from years ago when I took them out had regrown, and it has expanded and their roots are so deep in the ground, and so hard to pull, that I wasn’t able to eradicate them for good this time.  Seeds floating in the wind have planted themselves really well too, and there are some type of shrubs or little trees growing everywhere.  Thankfully, they are easy to pull out.  What a total mess this is!

Overgrown vines are the worth of all!  The wild grapes and Virginia creepers have been left to grow unchecked, and are now climbing rampant on shrubs and trees.  The long, thick branches of the wild grapes have created some very thick canopies on nearby shrubs and trees, shaping them almost into a huge mass, and causing damage and breakage of limbs.  The beautiful old lilac tree is in a most disarray too, some of its branches are broken and the weight of the vines on it had caused the trunk to split in such way, that now part of the tree faces east and another part west. 

I have been doing some aggressive pruning on the roses, cutting them almost to the ground and cleaning their spaces out of debris and unwanted grasses that have populated flowerbeds.  All the roses are in very poor condition.  Some of them had died, and must be pulled out and replaced. I used to have a list of all my roses, with names, and specifics such as date of purchase and such.  I don’t know where that list went and I have forgotten all of their names, except for some. So now I’ll have to start from ground zero and I might even have to give my roses new names.  Names, of course, I will choose for myself this time as I see fit.

In those parts where the snow has withdrawn, the grass is green and brittle and all over the flowerbeds there is a thick layer of matted leaves, pressed down by the weight of the snow, and debris of all sorts. I'm sure my dear little creatures and fairies are not liking what they see...  who would!  It's overwhelming, really.

Here is what weather means now.  Days like these come as a gift–a respite, a precursor of spring, but you can never be too sure.  

Oh, and have you noticed too? I know I have!  “The shortest day has passed, and whatever nastiness of weather we may look forward to in January and February, at least we notice that the days are getting longer.  Minute by minute they lengthen out.  It takes some weeks before we become aware of the change.  It is imperceptible even as the growth of a child, as you watch it day by day, until the moment comes when with a start of delighted surprise, we realize that we can stay out of doors in a twilight lasting for another quarter of a precious hour." Vita Sackville-West.  Isn’t that wonderful!

Hoping and waiting for a beautiful, promising spring and a renewed garden!