March 15, Bloom and Groom Day

This little brilliant yellow Dutch iris is the star of the garden today. First thing this morning, when I was looking out the window at the garden, it was this single tiny flower that immediately caught my eye.

These Dutch iris, Katharine Hodgkin, are also blooming today. They are lovely, but understated.  It actually  takes a close up with the camera to completely appreciate these flowers.

The bed containing the little yellow iris has been cleared and is ready for spring planting.

We are waiting to clear away the brown leaves on my flat leaf parsley.  These plants actually look like they may have survived the winter.  If they did we will have parsley early, but the plants will quickly go to seed.  New plants will still need to be started.

The next bed in line was Ed's project for the day. Because we garden where we do our grass is not of the mild mannered variety. Quack grass, Agropyron repens is a constant source of irritation for us whenever beds come in contact with our lawn.  I have read that a severely infested acre can produce 7 to 9 tons of these nasty rhizomes. That tiny little grass shoot sends out a rhizome that can pierce a bulb, plant stem or potato with ease.  Ed worked hard to get the bed free of this and other weeds and grasses.  Still we know that it will return.  The only way to get rid of it is to move.

Now that is a beautiful sight! An entire 5 by 32 foot bed cleared and ready to plant. More than a dozen additional beds wait for attention. It is still March, we are off to a  very good beginning!