We weren’t cheated after all…

                                      

                                       Happy New Year to all of you!

Wow, we really thought we might escape this winter’s wrath, but alas, the bad stuff is howling at our windows. Can we really complain? The past weeks almost convinced us we weren't going to see any Winter at all. Good for the millions traveling during the holidays, good for our heating bills and so much more.

While today was a high of 14 and a low of 5 with below 0 wind chill factor here in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia it's good for the perennials lying in wait.

As you know, I'm thinking about how I can landscape my property - on a budget. One of the things I might try to accomplish this summer is landscape around my shed. It looks lost and not real attractive from the side, especially because it's hoisted up on bricks to make it flat. This is because my yard is one big sloping hill - well, not so big, but I can feel it when I walk up and down the length of the yard!

                                            Here's the backyard last week.......

And here's the back yard  - oh - last week, too! I truly love this snowy blowy weather as long as my loved ones are safe and cozy and warm in their homes. That snow has long since melted and it's almost too cold to drop anything substantial now.

So, I'll be researching some things like: where can I buy small green shrubs (evergreens - like yews) around here? They have to start at some nursery....I have to find one that sells them small (and cheap) so I can put them around my shed and here and there in the yard.

I have lots of articles on how to propagate flowering shrubs which I will definitely do. I accidentally discovered that Weigelia's are easy to propagate just by cutting off the branches and sticking them in soil. I trimmed mine  and stuck them in a pot. Weeks later I noticed the leaves were still alive so I repotted them and gave them away - long before I bought my home.

Have any ideas?

And by the way, I received a mailing from the The Arbor Day Foundation. They will send you TEN trees for $10.00 if you become a member. My daughter did this years ago and got beautiful trees especially a Kousa Dogwood, another dogwood,  and a GRAPE Rose of Sharon that are now just gorgeous. Not remembering the other trees. But the mailing I received said I will also get TWO CRAPE MYRTLES in addition to my ten trees! My dream was to plant two Crape Myrtles in front of my house! Now THAT is a bargain and I'll be a member of the Arbor Day Foundation!

Get your ten trees, along with an Arbor Day Foundation membership, here: https://www.arborday.org/

My daughter's Dogwood that she got from the Arbor Foundation. I must have one or two in my yard!

Until next time...stay warm and safe and have pleasant gardening dreams.

~Ann