It's a frigid Saturday here in Kansas and ProfessorRoush has been indoors nearly all day, quarantined and safe for the most part. Okay, in full admission, I did venture out a bit this morning for a post-office posting and then one errand led to another and then another. I suppose thinking if I must allow a little exposure that a little more won't matter isn't the best stay-at-home attitude, but I'm counting on the fact that community spread has not yet happened in this area. I also have to admit that Manhattan without its normal hustle and bustle is a fantastic place to live; no traffic, no lines, no hassle. Although I surely wouldn't want to lose half the population in a permanent manner to our current plague, there are some advantages to the 30-40% less travel we're logging as a community as long as the infrastructure doesn't collapse. Such a fine line there is between civilization and chaos!
It was warm enough a couple of evenings to work outside this week however, and I did get some necessary garden chores done. The straw and mulch got mostly spread, and I finally tackled the multitude of my ornamental grasses. A "before" picture above, and an "after" picture to the left of the last grass clump, the latter also exposing my burn pile of the previous cuttings, doesn't begin to relate how nice it felt to unclump my ornamental grass clumps, creating an overall orderliness to several beds and removing a lot of the remaining brown foliage.
Next to that last grass was also my garden suckering champion, a slowly-disintegrating Purple Smoke Tree that has needed desuckering all winter. Once composed of several strong trunks, only one trunk now survives the repeated ravages of our Kansas gales, but it has been suckering ceaselessly for several years.
I wrote about a mysterious cavern that opened up at its base before, but I never did find out who or what lived there and the hole has disappeared. A short visit with the loppers the other night was uneventful and this mess now looks less messy. I fear, though, for the survival of that last trunk, standing at an angle and exposed to the elements.
Spring continues to dribble in by fits and starts. My Star Magnolia was at peak bloom on Thursday evening, the previously frost-browned early blossoms obscured by the main display. As the forsythia starts to fade, other Magnolias are coming on line, pinkish "Jane" and dark purple "Ann" trying to open despite the cold. Best of all, I was able to harvest those first few spears of asparagus and Mrs. ProfessorRoush banished them fresh to the oven, pre-basted with a little olive oil, salt, and Parmesan cheese. There is nothing like fresh asparagus, straight from garden to oven, to bring those first fresh vitamins and sunshine into the house. Hopefully, no virus will ever break through our asparagus-borne health to spoil the celebration.
It's a frigid Saturday here in Kansas and ProfessorRoush has been indoors nearly all day, quarantined and safe for the most part. Okay, in full admission, I did venture out a bit this morning for a post-office posting and then one errand led to another and then another. I suppose thinking if I must allow a little exposure that a little more won't matter isn't the best stay-at-home attitude, but I'm counting on the fact that community spread has not yet happened in this area. I also have to admit that Manhattan without its normal hustle and bustle is a fantastic place to live; no traffic, no lines, no hassle. Although I surely wouldn't want to lose half the population in a permanent manner to our current plague, there are some advantages to the 30-40% less travel we're logging as a community as long as the infrastructure doesn't collapse. Such a fine line there is between civilization and chaos!
It was warm enough a couple of evenings to work outside this week however, and I did get some necessary garden chores done. The straw and mulch got mostly spread, and I finally tackled the multitude of my ornamental grasses. A "before" picture above, and an "after" picture to the left of the last grass clump, the latter also exposing my burn pile of the previous cuttings, doesn't begin to relate how nice it felt to unclump my ornamental grass clumps, creating an overall orderliness to several beds and removing a lot of the remaining brown foliage.
