I've been so ENVIOUS of those of you in warmer areas! Watching you move woody peonies, uncover growing eyes swelling already for this year's foliage and flowers....while we're still under ice and snow! I've also been stuck inside decluttering to make it possible to list our house in a couple of months so haven't been able to take advantage of the few nice days we've had to work outside but HOPEFULLY that'll change today! It's supposed to be 45 today and sunny, looking pretty still out there right now so hopefully there will be little to no wind so my plan is to get out there and start cleaning up my garden beds!
I have beautiful paths through by beds that are partially covered by several inches of pine needles, hopefully I can get those cleared off and pretty again....I removed most of the drip lines going to the huge front planting beds that I emptied over the last 2 years but still have a bit of that to get out as well, think there are still a few daylilies and irises to relocate but that's probably better left until March or so. There are various big pots and metal birds that were left out last fall that need to be put away—sounding like a pretty full day! What are you doing in your garden today?

Sounds like a good plan, Liz. Our entire weekend is supposed to be rainy.

As I walk through my garden, I see many things I would like to get done...chairs painted or scrubbed, plants that need pruning. More of last year's hellebore leaves to cut off. I have bags of pine needles that I want to spread under azaleas. Then I want to edge my garden beds. So there are plenty of things to do, but the weather is not cooperating.

I hope you enjoy your day and get a lot done!

Here is a hellebore that I trimmed up.

It's nice and sunny here, about 56 day time high. I'm going to be planting foxgloves and sweet peas. This year I decide to start them individually instead of just throwing them down and hope they will sprout. This way I won't have to thin them
I also want to root my favorite fig tree and a few shrubs, I can't find this variety at a nursery, I usually buy mine from the farmers market.
Luckily I did a few things before the rain like finished a walking path near my roses, I used to have tan bark here. But I made the path thinner so I can plant more things.

Sounds great, SoCal! I so wish that I could grow foxgloves! They rot in our heat.

I did cut down the foliage on three hellebores before the rain started again.

LG, I put them in the shadiest part, they come up naturally from my compost.

Resting a bit then I go over to my sisters house to pick up some lemons and fertilize her fruit trees. I'm enjoying this weather today. All the plants look so healthy after the big rain. I think we might have gotten 1-2 inches here.

Your days all sound much more fun than mine! I did get a lot done, got a lot of pots that I want to keep emptied out and moved, beds cleaned up some, but the drip line that I wanted to remove was still frozen to the ground—even worse, the landscape pins that I used to secure it to the ground were frozen in place!
Hellebores and foxgloves are both so beautiful, will be trying them both in AL. Did you try the foxglove in sun or shade, LG? I've always seen them growing in shady areas, they self seed around Jeff's family's fishing cottage in Michigan, every time we go up there I want to take them home with me...

Glad the rain helped, SoCal. I do believe that half the fun is the anticipation!

Liz it sounded like you did get some things done. Hopefully if it all thaws out you will be able to get those other chores done.

I have tried foxgloves only in the shade and in the drier areas. You might be able to grow them, Liz in a dry shade in your land.
They are certainly worth the effort!

Shoveled a pile of snow onto my garden this morning, that's the extent of my outdoor gardening.

Inside I have a bunch of lily seedlings going and Oh and I started basil on Inauguration Day. I forget how fast those annuals germinate! And how quickly they grow.

February is arrives tomorrow. Longer days and steps closer to spring.

Hellebores I have grown to love. Self seeds here, not aggressively, just nicely and comes up right through the snow. A northern gardeners dream plant!

I'm going to put hellebores where they have to compete with my baby tears, they are also very aggressive.

It amazes me that hellebores can be aggressive, seems that they propagate from seed so slowly....

I was talking with three contractors who came to see my front garden and give me their quotes for demolition and building the new steps, small pathway, and new garden beds. It was windy and it felt like -18C while we were talking. I feel sick today, but the project is moving forward.

Rain, rain, rain...but we can get somethings done in between showers...grateful for sandy soil in rains....Planted a peach tree after my boys pulled out a dead pear. The roots of the pear had circled so much it strangled the tree...reminded me to check before I put potted plants in.

I have lots more digging/planting to do, because I need to move things before they break dormancy. The list is long and we are not freezing at nights this week, so lots is going to get fooled into thinking it is spring...

I just ran into a huge problem! I heard a second generation nursery man on youtube talk about the importance of bareroot fruit trees/shrubs and how they establish better. The huge blueberry I bought 2 years ago was came packed with clay soil...might not have been a problem, but my soil is sandy. It has struggled since day 1, but I dug it up today and spent 1 full hour washing clay off...it was so dense! It had barely sent out any new roots.

From now on I am checking both for circling roots and soil/potting mix being too different from my soil.

Good that you checked it, Annie! Fresh blueberries are the absolute best to eat fresh. Probably true of any fruit but the difference in blueberries is amazing.

I always buy barefoot fruit tree. I haven't kill one yet. I have another 4-5 fruit trees coming in Feb/March.

I moved my grapefruit tree up to the bank, it gets more sun there, then I moved the fig to its space, the fig tree space will be for the Pakistan mulberry, I need to stand up in the bank to pick the fruit.

Fertilized all of my roses with chicken manure.

SoCal, you are getting a lot done. We are getting a cold spell here.

Our weather went from sunny and 60 to super cold a d snowy today! Glad I got started outside last week because I think it might be a while before I can work out there again.

A long slow gradual thaw is all I am hoping for this year....that when it warms up, it stays there. I can wait. No more of this warm and then several detrimental frosts causing problems even for peonies, like last year.