Oh, there’s a *lot* to…

Oh, there's a *lot* to do in the roof garden. I have cleaned up one corner so far, cutting down the honeysuckle (which wasn't the kind I wanted initially anyway) and digging up the million bells and lantana, which I'm pretty sure are annual in this zone. I was tempted to prune the roses too, but the Chicago Botanic Garden says to do that when the forsythia is blooming, and I'm not even sure it's budding yet. (Granted, I have a little forsythia in a pot, which may just be dead, so maybe this is not the best indicator. But I don't think I've seen any forsythia blooming around the city either yet...)

I was excited to see what I think are buds on several plants! The big azalea bush in the red corner, the small hydrangea, possibly the medium hydrangea, and I think almost certainly the weeping cherry tree. Also, I think my Japanese maple on the balcony downstairs is budding leaves too. And I may be mistaken, but I think I saw some greenish leaves among the ivy and ditto the artemisia (aka wormwood, which Wikipedia tells me is used to make a tea for helping pregnant women through the pain of labor -- Kevin doesn't think I should try that, though...). Also, my bird feeder is pretty damn empty, which is good, because I thought the birds were ignoring it, so there's at least a chance that they used it over the winter. Either that or all the seeds just blew out of it in storms and such. But I'm hoping it fed birds.

There's so much more to do that it's a bit overwhelming. A good ten hours or so of work, I think. But on the other hand, it's nice to have some gardening I can do now, while I wait for planting season to start, two months from now. And if I just do an hour or so at a time, it should stay fun, rather than annoying. :-)