It's going to be HUUGE!

If you are a garden blogger, you might consider going to the Garden Bloggers Fling. This year's fling is in the Washington, D.C. area, June 22-25. Not only do you get to see a wide variety of public and private gardens, there is lots of swag plus the opportunity to win stuff.

To qualify, you need to be a semi-active blogger and most of your blog needs to involve gardening of some sort. The garden bloggers I met last year ranged from gardening experts to a few bloggers like me. The one common denominator is they all love gardens. They are also a friendly bunch, eager to share their knowledge and experience if you but ask. This year's tour includes a winery visit and a dessert bar. Neither appeal to me, but then I am old and ascetic.

I'm wavering over whether to attend this fling as I have something else going on the week before. I haven't been to DC since the 1971 May Day protest against the Vietnam War. At the time, I was not yet a gardener but even had I been, gardening was not the point then.

But YOU could go! And share your pix. And if I can't attend, I can be there vicariously through YOU!

Winter clean up

With our weird weather, there were some tasks I usually accomplish in the fall that I just now completed - cutting back the clematis and asparagus. It took a polar vortex to push those plants to complete dormancy. While I was at it, I also cut back the ornamental grasses, as they had been smooshed by heavy snow that was topped with an icing of freezing rain. While I was in the vicinity, I also whacked the 'Autumn Joy' sedum.

I never did get the azalea wrapped in burlap, but apparently the snow protected it from the bitter cold, as it looks pretty good. Fingers crossed. Similarly, the lawn was protected and is rather green. At least the grass is not actively growing.

The ground is not frozen, either. Of course, we still have a couple months of winter to face. Hopefully, it won't be a nuclear winter.