February Thoughts for the Garden 2022

 

February is the perfect time to review past garden plans and start planning for March-May.  March is always a great time to schedule in the Friday TV show "Gardeners' World" on BBC.  Available to watch on Saturday mornings, it is a real inspiration for gardeners world wide!  Monty Don is the host and he works in his gardens in England with at least one dog, mostly his Golden Retriever, Nellie.  Barney gets excited when he sees Nellie on the TV screen.  Barney understands that he is my garden assistant in so many ways!

March- As soon as any snow clears from the flower beds I rake and remove leaves and any debris from last year's perennials (lupine, delphinium, geraniums, peonys, poppies, iris, etc).  This year I will be marking the perennial and their young shoots with flags so as not to cover them with mulch, but mulch around them.  I have created 4 large compost bins at the side of the house and plan to make good use of:

1) soil from last years potted plants and window boxes

2) plant material that has been composted from 2019-2020

3) composted leaves from past years

Mixing all of this together on large tarps, loading into wheel barrows and spreading in the beds should really improve the soil.  I am going to try and not use so much commerical compost and Soil Pep this year.

Until then, I will get planning new uses for the green house, investigating nurseries in the Flathead Valley, and designing a couple of new flower beds and the woodland garden at the back of the property...getting things on paper seem to ensure they actually happen!  So, happy mid-Winter and everyone keep an eye to Spring!!!!

View from Ronan, MT....looking at Mount Calowahcan, the 6th highest peak in the Mission Mountains. Formerly known as Mount Harding, named after President Harding. This peak was one of the first things I saw upon arriving in Montana.  I was picked up at the Missoula Airport in the summer of 1992 and driven to Big Mountain to play in the Montana Chamber Orchestra Festival that year.  We drove over the rise from the National Bison Range...and this was my view.  It took my breath away.  Fast forward 30 years, and I am spending the winter in Ronan, with this view from the house in this picture.  One never knows where life will take you, right???  The Seeley garden is sleeping now...awaiting my return.  Until then, I am using my days to soak in Montana's winter glory, learning new music as bald eagles fly by my window.