Last night around 5:30 I swear I could feel spring coming.  Yes, I said last night at 5:30 because the sun is completely gone by then, but at least it’s up past 4:30 now that the days are getting longer.   A misty rain was falling but the temperature was around 50 degrees and I could smell the earth again. That morning I had spotted the first blooms coming back into my garden courtesy of my fragrant Hamamelis Mollis ‘Pallida’.

The early snow froze the leaves before they could fall off but the blooms are back!

It’s looking like my Edgworthia Chrysantha (paper bush), Daphne Zuiko Nishiki, the more common Daphne odora, and Camellia Sasanqua “Yuletide” are battling for second place in the blooming race. Tangible and beautiful evidence of the eternal return.

Fall was so warm and wonderful right up until the time it snowed.  One of my Japanese maples hadn’t even dropped it’s leaves yet.  I hadn’t had a chance to finish all of my garden cleanup. And so all of my chores have been delayed and now it’s January and I haven’t done the pruning that I need to do.  But there’s still time.  How’s your garden looking? Are you good at pruning or do you let someone else do the hacking?

All you need is a little education to be able to do it yourself, save some money, and ditch the one style fits all method of pruning that many landscape services use. Click here to see Plant Amnesty’s listing of free and low cost pruning classes and other inspiring events (like the NW Flower and Garden Show) and get back out in that garden asap.