Random garden stuff: Pics 1 &2. Yesterday, I dug up a northern catalpa that came up from leaf litter we got for free last spring. They grow to be massive trees and we already have two in the yard that were here when we moved in. I can’t plant them in the woods, so I dug this one up and am going to try my hand at making a bonsai. My next bonsai experiment will be with privet since it’s invasive and we’re actively trying to remove it from the woods. So far, I am noticing that the field of bonsai educators is dominated by men. Would love recommendations if you know of any.

I feel like bonsai is going to help me become a more considered and confident tree pruner. In my small and unusual urban gardens I didn’t get much opportunity to develop the skill and I’m still a lot more tentative and unsure than I’d like. My decade+ old potted Japanese maple really shows just how inept I was initially. Out here with more trees and bushes to manage I’ve increased my skill already, but Davin has mostly taken up the mantel on fruit tree pruning since we have a handful of very old trees here that require physicality I don’t have to successfully prune them.

Pic3: Found some daffodils in the woods and planted them in our front yard where they can thrive in full sun and less competition. It will be interesting to see what these are when they bloom. And that was it for me yesterday. I crashed hard after that.

Pic 4: Davin found these super old bags of dried sphagnum and Spanish moss at the thrift store. They’re probably from the 90s, which is about when I believe a White Rose craft store was last open.

Pic 5: It snowed last night, but it’s melted now. While my body has not responded well AT ALL to the weather system ping pong, I can’t complain because we did not get the big ice storm that has left many of you in other parts of this province without power.