Cutting down in springtime and other mundane things.

I survived the day. Wasn't sure if I was going to. My back is killing me, but ibuprofen seems to be handling the pain. I potted up over 150 grasses today and had dirt in my eyes, up my nose, in my hair, down my shirt, in my toes...you get the idea. Long day indeed.

I just wanted to put out a friendly reminder for those that have russian sage, butterfly bushes, and warm summer grasses, it's time to cut them down to about 18" from the ground. We leave them intact for better winter survival, and also because the grasses look beautiful in the wintertime. If you have Karl Foerster, you'll notice it is already greening up at the bottom. Both butterfly bushes and russian sage start new growth from the ground up, so cutting off the old growth keeps the plants healthy.

On Saturday,the winds were so bad that the plastic top on our green house ripped off. Poor Davey and the guys had to move all of the perennials from one house to the next. I spent a lot of the day starting to move them back. Davey asked me how I'd like to organize it and I got really excited about how I'd love to see the perennials look and offered my ideas. I'm not working again until Saturday, but I'd love to go in and organize some more.

I am so excited to start buying more things for my backyard. I've been eyeing some peonies, Home Run roses, Blue Sea Holly and about 50 other perennials. I don't think I'll be able to stick with just shrubs in the backyard because my true love is perennial gardening. So many to choose from! What will I do when I run out of room???