Tasks:
- Attend the Yard, Garden, and Patio Show in Portland for “inspiration”.
- Start removing the leaf/needle cover from the flower beds once the ground starts to dry out.
Notes:
For me, the grand kick-off for a new gardening season is the Yard Garden and Patio Show, held in the Convention Center mid-February. It’s a fun show; I go there for an eyeful of new and not so new plants. There are display gardens too, usually heavy on the hardscaping and with very predictable trees and plants. Some local wineries turn up and offer wine tasting and pours – a definite plus for wine loving gardeners like me. Wonder if they do garden deliveries later in the season?
Back in the garden, the most unsavory task of the season awaits – the late Winter leaf/needle cleanup. It can be a daunting task given the volume of material. This year (2010), I managed to get it done in 12 hours. I spread the task over 3 weekends and it didn’t seem so arduous. Motivation is usually high for me, once I get going. It’s exciting to make way for rapidly reemerging plants, awakening from their Winter slumber. (Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself when I’ve been raking for a few hours.)
