Some spring in passing

Well I hope to get back here with a more detailed report but life calls! There are many encouraging signs of spring here along with the returning birds. New shoots are coming up from the Clematis integrifolia seedlings and there are leaves breaking on the Edible Blue Honeysuckles.

I began the work of cultivating in my EBH nursery yesterday (sore shoulders today) and was pleased to see the the mouse damage was minimal. Many plants are now showing leaves and should begin to bloom soon. I also began to dig out the discard plants in my Japanese nursery as I have chosen several to keep and move into the next phase. Most had very good root systems so it took a little thumping to get the soil off the roots. This whole area will be filled with the selections from my Russian seedling Nursery and others. There are still 66 pots of EBH (not sure if they are all alive) to be planted somewhere!


This has been a bad year for mouse (vole) damage to a number of plants including cheery plums, Nanking Cherry, and even apple trees. The cherry plums and Nanking are totally girdled so they will have to regrow from the root!

 Very serious and I was looking forward to them blooming and producing fruit as they are very young plants.

Total devastation!











On the encouraging side are the signs of growth in my seedling Clematis integrifolia seedlings. They have survived another winter and look very healthy. Many new Clematis koreana seedlings are also looking like they have life so that is good. The link is to pictures over on the GardenBuddies CLematis Forum.
So we keep smiling, weeding, cultivating and planting. Speaking of planting there are so many things to start so I better go!