There is so much going on right now—at least for this homebody (I can’t hold a candle to many of my lovely blogging friends)—that I’m going to touch on several things rather than just focus on one or two the way I usual do.
First, the incredible growing ferns that grow so fast I swear I can see them shoot up in real time.
Here they were two weeks ago:
Here they are now:
What will they look like next week? Never a dull moment at the home by the edge of the woods.
Last week, most of my free time was spent gardening. Because we live by the edge of the woods, leaves blow into my beds in the fall, and it takes a fair amount of time to remove those leaves. (All in all, those leaves are a good thing as they help protect the perennials from the cold that Maine winters bring.)
I am happy to report that I am down to the last leafy bed.
With any luck, the last of the leaves will be gone by the end of the week.
Notes From the Hinterland 
Your season is definitly behind ours. It is wonderful to look at your photos and relive early spring all over again!
It really is! No irises or dailies here yet.
Leaves might make work but they are very useful. 🙂
Yes they are! Glad to have them even though it’s work removing them in the spring.
Good job Laurie.
During weekend I took a walk in the woods and saw lovely ferns. Took a couple of images, will post them soon.
Look forward to seeing them.
Beautiful ferns, and I can readily imagine the rakes to move the leaves. I moved a few more this morning and then shoveled a pickup load of wood chips to keep the soil from drying out. It is a busy time especially here where it seems to rain every other day. Happy spring!
Busy is right with wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow loads of leaves removed from the beds. But I do love seeing things grow.
Do you compost the leaves when you have gathered them?
We should, but we don’t. Into the woods they go.
With the exception of oak, which are too acidic, I let leaves stay in place to decompose. So much less work and as the perennials grow the leaves act as mulch and soil enhancer. Mother Nature does it that way, so it must be a good idea! 🙂
Guess what the majority of the leaves are? 😉 Even so, I have often considered leaving the darn leaves in place, but so far I haven’t. Do you still use fertilizer and compost? Or, do you just leave to the leaves?
In the fall, I fertilize with Espoma granular PlantTone, (HollyTone on evergreens/rhodo/azaleas/blueberries), using lime as needed to bring our acidic soil to 6-7 pH for plants that WANT that. Compost mostly on new plants or older ones that need a boost every 2-3 yrs. (It is expensive around here, so I’m thrifty with it. 😉 ) Maple, birch, etc. leaves condition the soil to a neutral pH. Oak could be run over with the lawn mower or put through a shredder then sprinkled with lime to counter their acidity.
Thanks for the info! Will give what you wrote some thought. The problem is that the wind blows the leaves—and we have a lot of them— into the beds, which means I would have to rake them out, go over them with a lawnmower, lime them, and put them back in the beds.
Yeah, I get it…. those winter winds! My open yard gets swept clean (we have to store my maple leaves in a big bin with a tarp cover to keep them from blowing away).
Another work-around: Grow plants that like the natural acidic level of the oak leaves. Just a thought. I kinda love that the leaves naturally blow there.
Something to think about, for sure. The leaves do make a nice winter cover as it gets very cold in Maine.
To be sure! I rake leaves onto our garden plot, as well as our flower beds.
The ground does look lovely with all that green rising above it and spreading 🙂 !
Spring, spring, spring!
Soon the fern fiddles will be playing their tunes
Very soon!
I’m trying to get the gardens cleaned up too. I need to hurry up.
Spring waits for no gardener.
I enjoy the image of leafy blankets tucking the garden in for the winter. Nature knows best. Sorry about the extra work involved, but if you’re like me it’s a labor of love.
Those ferns are growing so fast Laurie, what a treat to see! 🌿💚 xxx
I love watching them grow.
Your ferns are a perfect example of that incredibly fast spring growth I mentioned in my current post. Sometimes I’ve wondered if they develop so quickly it could be seen by anyone willing to sit around with cup of coffee and watch them!
I have wondered the same thing.
last Autumn (Fall) I scooped up leaves wherever they drifted in the garden and spread them on my veg beds. Luckily for me they have mostly broken down by now but they did protect the soil and the perennials.
The problem is that the leaves in my garden don’t break down easily. Probably because it is so cold here.
I am learning so much from blogs about the different gardening conditions in other places. In our mild damp winters leaves don’t last!
So true! It is fascinating to read how different places have different climates, which in turn affect how a person gardens. Must say that I am a little envious that your leaves decompose so quickly.
So lovely!
Many thanks!
My garden sits under a couple of cottonwood trees so I feel you on the leaves
Glad you got in some solid outside time! I’m behind on everything but hope to put in some solid time in the coming week! Have a great weekend!