today's work in the garden

[rafiwinters]

So I've just come in from almost two hours in the garden, me and Neighbor V getting happily sweaty pulling weeds, disentangling dried old vines from the chainlink fence and from a tree by the fence, and generally preparing the bed for planting. So very very nice to be outdoors and in contact with soil and fresh air. It's still a bit chilly, around 45F this morning when we started, but it got warmer and we also got warmer from the work. Not sure what kind of tree it is but when it leafs out we will take pix and search for images.

One question that I Googled for and couldn't find any answers: if you're planting spring-planting bulbs (for summer blooming), can they go in while there's still a chance of frost, or should we wait till after last frost? We are in U.S. Zone 6, so last frost date is mid-April. Specifically we have bulbs for freesia and ranunculus.

Comments

[feroxargentea]

Frost will only affect what it can reach. So if you only have a light frost, perhaps sprinkling the top of the soil with silver but not freezing it solid at the depth of your bulbs/corms/tubers and any little shoots that might have started to grow from them, they should be okay. If you have a sudden heavy frost forecast, you can cover with fleece or a little more earth for safety. (I wish I had last frosts in April! Freesia are a heated-greenhouse thing here.)

[rafiwinters]

Good, then we can plant the ranunculus and freesias now! :-)