Our poor bulbs. They are soooo last week. We watched in delight as they poked their little noses ever so cautiously from the still-cold earth. The anticipation of seeing their first flowers made our hearts flutter.

Then it happened- Spring rushed in and visual overload occurred. Within a matter of days, the mere emerging green tip of the daffodil foliage no longer held so much power. All of the garden started to wake up, and the grand entrance had begun.

Our bulbs surely contributed to the welcoming, but how dare they stick around now that they have flowered! The foliage leaning to the side, tips turning yellow, now certainly detracting from the overall beauty of the season? What is a gardener to do?

Monica and I worked all day in the rain yesterday. We totally enjoyed it, we both have great rain gear and we got a bunch of stuff done. I was blissful when my walkie talkie went on strike and had to be put on it's charger. No noise around me but the sound of raindrops on my hood and the woosh of the wind as it traveled through the nursery. I jumped in a few puddles with my bumblebee rainboots to keep smiley-happy.

When I finally made it home after a few detours due to roads that became rain bypasses, I continued to smile about my day. How wonderful it was to be in the rain.

Essential Tasks to Prepare for Spring Gardening

After the winter holiday season, most gardeners start itching to get back out in the yard and start their spring gardens. Unless you live in a mild climate though, chances are your garden is still under snow or too wet and cold to work. As a result, January and February are ideal months for planning, ordering seed, and starting plants indoors to be ready the instant they can jump into the growing season.

Work back six weeks from the last frost date in your area to develop a timeline. The following list will help you get started before you set out a single plant.

• Do you want new beds? If so, lay out newspaper 5 or 6 sheets deep, then add several inches of compost over the top. This kills existing vegetation by smothering it. Four months later, you can dig it up to work the compost into the soil. No sod removal is necessary. (This is best done in December or January.)
• Shop for seeds in December and January. Order early for best selection. If you snooze, you'll lose.
• Assess soil. Buy a soil test kit or have soil tested. Most county extension services can test your garden soil or recommend labs if they don't. Healthy soil is essential to a productive plant, so it pays to test especially if your results were unimpressive last year. Call to find out what you need to do and how long it will take, then plan accordingly.
• Check shrubs and woody plants. What needs pruning? For early spring bloomers like forsythia, prune promptly after flowering is complete.
• Fruit trees need to be pruned before they begin to blossom if you didn't get to it while the trees were domant. If they blossom, it's best to wait until winter rolls around again. (It's okay to prune dead wood.)
• Do you have a lot of perennials? Do any of them need to be moved? Spring is the time to transplant divisions or move plants around. If you have friends who are gardeners, it's a good time to arrange trades.
• Check your tools. Clean and sharpen blades on hand tools. Have mower serviced if you didn't do it in the fall before you put them away. Budget for new tools or replacements now.
• While you're at it, organize the garden shed. Clean, sterilize, and organize terracotta pots, planters, and starter trays. Sterilize using a bleach and water solution of 1 part bleach to ten parts water. Rinse thoroughly, then dry. (Remember to do this in the fall so you don't have to do it when it's still cold outside.)
• Clean and repair outdoor furniture. It may be too cold to paint unless you've got a basement or heated and ventilated work area, but at least they will be ready when the weather warms.
• If you haven't broken the chemical habit, make sure you check any old chemicals you might have. Before you discard, check with your county or city waste management office for guidance on recycling or disposing of any hazardous chemicals.
• Provide or build gardening supports for peonies, tomatoes, peas, beans, and squash. Supporting flowers with heavy heads prevents breakage. Growing vegetables vertically saves space and prevents bugs and slugs from knoshing on your veggies.
• Sow seeds in starter trays according to package instructions and the last frost date for your area.

Don't get anxious and start working in the garden too early. The soil needs to be damp but not soggy or sticky. If you take a handful of soil and make a ball, it should fall apart easily when you open your hand. Also, setting out plants prematurely often results in discouraging losses. Planning and getting ready to go saves time and money you'll want to spend on cool new plants and tools.

Featured Books: The Ann Lovejoy Handbook of Northwest Gardening: Natural Care and Sustainable Design

The thing to remember is you are planting for the future. Your clematis vine is going to remain in this spot for many years, so it is advisable to spend a little time preparing it’s home.

The main cause of clematis failure is drought. Be sure to add plenty of composted cow manure to the planting mix. We also recommend “ Soil Moist ”, an inexpensive, non-toxic planting mix additive which will also help with moisture retention.

Dig a hole 18” deep and wide. Throw a few handfuls of Bone-Meal or Flower-Tone in the bottom. Next cover the bottom with 3 to 4” of composted cow manure. Finish filling the hole with a mixture of ½ compost, ½ your soil. If you have heavy clay, also add 2 cups of Gypsum to the planting mix, as well as lining the bottom of the hole with stones or broken pot pieces.

Gently tap the clematis out of the pot, and disentangle the roots. Place the ball of soil in the hole, spreading out the fleshy roots so the crown of the plant is 2 to 3” below the soil level. Gently hand tamp the soil to firm it. Next, give the clematis a nice long drink. Water twice a week for 3 weeks, then once a week through the growing season. During drought periods, water twice a week. Clematis like their roots to be cooler than their tops. Consider planting a daylily or hosta next to the crown to shade it, or simply add extra mulch to a depth of 6”.

The first year all hybrids should be pruned to 6” when planting to encourage multi-stems at the base, increasing flowering and vigor.

A good start in life has now been given to our plant and we must not forget it in the future. Water deeply during droughts. Top dress each spring with 20 lbs. of composted cow manure. Throw a few handfuls of Bone-meal or flower-tone around the root zone spring and fall. Fertilize regularly through the growing season with an organic fertilizer such as Neptune’s harvest or Fish emulsion.

Clematis have very thin stems when young, and a little protection should be given, such as a 12” high cylinder of mesh or wire at the base of the plant.

Be sure to notice the pruning requirements of the clematis you’ve chosen. This leads to the best flowering ...