This rose gardener from North-Central Connecticut is waking up from her winter slumber!  This winter, I have read lots of books, enjoyed many warm fires in the stove with my husband and family, cooked up hearty winter meals, and slept soundly till the morning sun’s arrival.  All of a sudden, in the last couple of weeks, daylight savings time has arrived and the Vernal Equinox has, as well.  The morning sunrise is traveling closer to the north each day and the days have become considerably longer.  And then, there are the early Spring teaser days.  We’ve had several of those when the air is warm, the sun is brilliant, and the sky is a deep cobalt blue…ah, these days are so good for our souls!  They make our roses happy, too, and it doesn’t take many of them before our roses begin to break their long winter slumber.

Keeping Watch

I have begun my yearly habit of touring my gardens every day.  Right now, I’m watching the greening of the lawns and my roses.  I’m taking note of small animal chews on the canes and rabbit droppings left behind on the lawns and on the mulch.  I am seeing canes that have turned black from the cold winter and new growth beginning to break on other canes in celebration of the angle of the sun.  In short, I am planning where and when I’ll begin my spring pruning adventure.  I’m also planning which plants I’ll move or give away.  All the while, I keep my eye on the forecast and the big shrubs on the perimeter of our yard.  These spring bloomers are lilacs and forsythia.  The lilacs usually bloom for Mother’s Day, but the forsythia is an early spring bloomer and is usually the harbinger of pruning time.

Surprise Weather Events

Just when I thought it was just about time to get started, the morning weather guy today let us know that for the next three days we will have windy and cold temperatures during the day and really cold temps (low 20’s) at night.  Maybe some snow and ice, too.  That puts the kibosh on pruning for a little while!  Pruning sends a clear message to our roses that it’s time to grow, so I plan to leave everything be for a while longer.

Preparing

While I know that we are all raring to go out in the garden during the winter, there are some things we can do right now to get ready for our long, lovely season!  I will ask my husband, Bob, to please sharpen my pruners and loppers so I can sail through my pruning chores.  He takes them apart and does a beautiful job putting a sharp edge on everything, which makes my job so much easier.  I’ll go out to the barn and take inventory of my tools and put them in some kind of order so I know where everything is when I need to find it.

It is also a really good idea to do some stretching exercises every day so your body is prepared to do what you want it to when your garden season begins.  I spend a lot of time on my hands and knees while I’m trimming my roses.  If I don’t practice a stretching routine, after the first day or so, my muscles and joints might be stiff and sore.  I definitely don’t want that because once I begin, I don’t like to slow down.  Just a few minutes is all that is necessary and is worth the effort.

So, as I look with love at all my roses and yearn to prune and shape them, I know it is better for them for me to wait a little longer.  We’ll see what happens after this winter cold snap passes.  It looks like it may be another week to ten days before I’ll be able to start, but in the end, we’ll all be more comfortable when things warm up a little more.  Meanwhile, there is a little more time to dream about seeing our beauties again!