Spring is Coming (Even Though It Doesn't Look Like It Right Now)

This month's Stadler Nursery post is about digging out from winter and making plans for the coming spring!

This time of year most garden writers are penning stories about the arrival of spring, the crocuses, the early daffodils and the robins appearing in the garden. Here in the Mid-Atlantic this year, it’s still all about the snow. A fair amount of our unprecedented 52” of snow that fell in early February is still around. Any part of the garden that is shady still has more than a foot of snow on the ground while areas that receive some sun are starting to show some exposed, waterlogged patches of soil. The heavy wet snow and high winds broke branches and knocked over trees. Small shrubs are smashed flat under the snow and haven’t seen the light of day in nearly four weeks. It’s going to be an interesting year in the gardens around here.

While I am saddened by the loss of a couple of favorites in my own garden and a bit overwhelmed by the thought of all the work ahead of me this spring, I am choosing to look at this event as an opportunity to make some overdue changes in my garden. I’m looking forward to planting a few new things that I didn’t have room for before.

One plant I am definitely going to find a place for is a new dwarf form of the very popular Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ called ‘Little Lime’. I’ve had to admire Limelight from afar because at 10-12’ tall and wide, it is just too big for my small urban garden. Little Lime produces the same huge beautiful lime green to cream flowers on a plant just one-third the size. It will give me color from midsummer until well into the fall.


Hydrangea paniculata ‘Little Lime’

Another shrub I am considering is Exochorda, or Pearl-Bush. Growing only 3-4’ tall and wide, it is covered in pure white blooms in the spring. Pearl-bush is an old-fashioned favorite that is making a comeback in today’s gardens.


Exochorda

My garden has a lot of perennials, some of which have taken it upon themselves to take over ever larger areas of the garden. While I am out there cutting back broken things and digging up dead things, I plan to dig up some of those too.

This will make room for some new perennials coming on the market. I am a big fan of Coneflowers (Echinacea) and there are some great new colors coming out that I’d like to try, like Flame Thrower, Tomato Soup and Mac N Cheese. Their bright hot colors will look great on a summer day. They are long-blooming and make great cut flowers too.


Echinacea ‘Flame Thrower’

February is always a dreary month that seems to go on forever even though it is the shortest month of the year, but with all the snow this year it was even more so. I’m tired of looking out the window at all the mounds of dirty snow everywhere. Planning the changes and additions to my garden has been a fun diversion and I’m anxious to get started! How about you? What new plans do you have for your garden this year?

Cheryl lives with her husband and their three cats in a 100-year-old house in the beautiful state of Maryland. She has a degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland and has been the manager of Stadler Nurseries in Maryland and Virginia for over 20 years. Become a fan of Stadler Nurseries on Facebook to find out what's going on in the garden world!

My first Weekly Wednesday post is up over at Make It From Scratch! This one's a frittata, sort of...check it out!