Going to a garden party

What a winter this has been! As I sit in my living room looking out at all the snow covering the patio and the backyard, I'm thinking about what that snow is covering up—lovely tulips, daffodils, narcissuses, and crocuses, not to mention my irises, lilies, and ferns. How did they survive this harsh winter?

I do know that my geraniums, which I hold close to my heart since I started them from seed, survived very well because in late summer, we dug them up and brought them inside for the winter.

They’ve been sitting on top of the dresser by the front window in the empty bedroom, where they have thrived. They’ll need to be trimmed and cut back before they are planted outside again. And all my plants will need trimming and grooming when they start coming up in spring.

So I started to wonder what to do with all the extra plants and cuttings. I don't want to toss them, they are well-established, they had been in the family for years (they had been my mom’s).

Now my friend Lorraine also has a perennial garden and she has some mountain pink that I covet. It would look lovely once we finish redoing our backyard patio. But buying plants can be costly, so, putting two and two together, I wonder if Lorraine would like to swap plants and cuttings.

So now, on a snowy winter day, I'm planning a garden party. I'll invite a few friends over for lunch on my new patio, ask them to bring with them any plants or cuttings that they don't have a place for in their garden or window box and I'll share mine with them. There, now I feel better. Are you ready for spring?

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