After a record breaking 60″ of snow from repeated blizzards from December through February, we were beginning to wonder if the giant piles of snow, taller than our heads, would ever melt.
I thought I had moved to the Alaska tundra instead of Virginia.
Eventually spring arrived with the advent of a bluebird making herself at home in our colonial bird bottle.
We planted a new redbud tree in the center of the yard, and a clematis near the light pole.
Tree Guillotine
Unfortunately a tree guillotine arrived to terrorize the gorgeous trees alongside the houses across from us.
Up the hill we heard the noise, then the next day it arrived closet to us.
Like a huge bulldozer with a long arm with a round saw blaze, reaching out horizontally and changing to the vertical orientation, it wiped out the trees.
That afternoon the neighbor put a giant sign in the tree: Save me!
Unheeded, the tree guillotine came to our section and chopped down much of the trees.
It was heartbreaking to watch.
Herb gardening in clay
Last autumn one of my friends asked me what I was going to do with my herbs over the winter.
Um…leave them in the ground.
Since I am new to gardening in Northern Virginia, I’m not sure how much of my Texas gardening techniques will work here.
Since I’m so busy, I decided to keep things simple and see how they go.
After I purchased a set of herbs at Colonial Williamsburg last year, I kept them near my kitchen sink to see if I could have a kitchen windowsill herb garden, since I was afraid they’d never survive a winter outdoors.
Not doing well at the window, I established a new garden in the back yard near the house, but the soil was hard as a rock, like my soil in Texas was.
At my Texas house I improved the soil by deeply working in peat moss, manure, and gypsum.
That took a long time, because the clay was hard as a rock, and I’m not that strong, so I picked at it bits at a time in the mornings and evenings, where ever I wanted to plants to grow.
Requesting help with this, I set to work planting the herbs when I was given the green light.
Ugh. Despite the first couple of inches being nice and soft, the rest was hard as a rock.
Laboriously I dug through the tough earth myself, then worked in the good soil before adding in the herbs.
Later, when the blizzards arrived repeatedly, I assumed my herbs were dead.
Imagine my surprise this spring, when I discovered that two of my herbs, chives and sage, had survived along with all my other plants!
Encouraged, I recently bought more herbs at Colonial Williamsburg.
While planting them, I was delighted to discover that the ground had become considerably friable in the last year.
I had absolutely no problem digging deeply to plant rosemary, thyme, tarragon, oregano, and more chives.
I love the purple flowers on the chives. (see header photo)
I’m not a fan of these border stones, nor the rock patio. Hope we can create a paver or flagstone patio like we had in Texas, which will be easier for me to walk on (I have one balance nerve.)
Easily growing mint
I also purchased chocolate mint and orange mint, like I used to have in my Texas garden.
My mom has always been amazed that I could grow mint.
I was equally amazed that my mom, a green thumb, could not grow mint.
I kept telling her it was effortless.
I had mint all over my garden.
It is an invasive plant, which I liked, because it helped me loosen the soil as I pulled it up periodically, making the soil more arable for other plants.
However, with my lack of time, I put them in pots to keep them contained.
I plan to add flowers, perhaps Impatience next month.
