Back in the garden...finally!

Well, after a bit of a hiatus, I was back in the garden today. This year I'm doing an internship at Chanticleer, where I ended my year last year (as the North American Christopher Lloyd Scholar). I'm excited about the prospect of being here for 9 months and the opportunities to learn and experience the garden over this period.

It was a nice first day. After a late-season snow storm that produced about 8 inches of snow last week, we were blessed with a beautiful 50 degree (F) day today.  With this week's temps we should see significant snow melt and the emerging of early bulbs.

Today I worked on pruning the majority of the day. As there is still so much snow cover, we're somewhat limited in what projects we can undertake. Pruning, however, is a perfect job these days. We pruned a series of Hydrangea paniculata and H. arborescens, both of which flower on current

seasons growth, making it safe to prune this late. We also pruned Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea'. Both the H. paniculata and the Catalpa were pollarded back to their base framwork, which allows us control their size while providing necessary stability for the plant from season to season. 

Remaining framework on pruned H. paniculata