“Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows, lies the seed that with the sun’s love, in the spring, becomes the rose.” — Bette Midler, “The Rose”

Ah, if only! The finest roses I never grew were ones at a rental property that used roses as a weapon. If you could scale the six-foot fence you literally were met with a wall of thorns: roses—climbers and shrubs—and holly. The roses I have had (note the past tense), which produced rose hips (seeds), were ones I found to be too aggressive and not particularly desirable. Too many thorns, not enough flowers. 

I must admit, I’m a David Austin rose fan. If I’m going to deal with thorns, I want the result to be spectacular, and fragrant. There is a wonderful segment on how the company, David Austin, creates new rose varieties from old fashioned ones, in the UK, that wend their way here. It was on one of the Chelsea Flower show segments. It is well worth finding and watching. But I digress. This winter will have made a lot of plants happy. They have been snuggled under a protective covering of snow and haven’t been subjected to the many freeze-thaw cycles of prior years. I’m eager to see how everything has fared. 

So, what should I be doing now in my garden? Well, it’s a good time to trim up your fruit trees and bushes. I might prune my blueberries. It’s certainly the right time. Always remove dead, diseased, or damaged parts of plants, trees and shrubs—the “3 Ds” of pruning. Some hydrangeas, depending on which types you have, also do well to be trimmed and shaped now-ish. The two types of hydrangea NOT to trim up now are the repeat bloomers such as the Endless Summer series and the oakleaf / lacecap varieties. If in doubt, only do the “3 Ds” of pruning, and that can wait until spring.

A lot of hydrangeas that I see in Brandon, however, are the panicle type. This IS the type that you can prune. They are the limelight series, the strawberry series and beautiful old-fashioned Annabelle and her progeny. I think of panicle as the flowers blooming in one bunch, like grapes, on the ends of the stems and the blooms are oval-shaped or circular. These hydrangea varietals bloom on new wood, so they might appreciate a trim of 10-12 inches and some shaping around now.

What else should I, could I, must I do right now in my garden? Enjoy perusing the seed and plant catalogs—these are the best-looking plants I’ll ever see, anywhere. Make lists. That always makes me think I’ve accomplished something. Start plants from seeds for giggles. A seed is a miracle. It makes me appreciate all the work that places like Wood’s Market Garden do at this time of year to ensure I have fresh corn, tomatoes and strawberries, cucumbers, etc., etc. in a few months time. I do grow a few plants from seeds every year but I can’t think of a single successful plant I’ve transplanted into my garden from those starts. I begin so enthusiastically. I wash and sterilize all the containers, buy fresh planting medium and seeds. I plant and mist. Somewhere in there something happens—a warm day, I forget to check them, I don’t harden them off properly… a myriad of reasons. They die. I do marvel at and appreciate all the human labor that goes into raising plants for gardens of all types. It wouldn’t happen if it was left up to me.