365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Lilac Time
Day 190: With almost all sunlight blocked by an enormous branch of the big Doug fir at the end of my carport, my lilac had gone leggy and seldom produced more than a few weak blooms. I'd read in a gardening book that lilacs could be brought back to their former vigour by drastic pruning, but the article also counselled patience, saying that it would take at least four years for a plant to "bush out" again. I enlisted a neighbour's help to shorten the fir branch, and then with some trepidation, hacked the lilac back to a two-foot high stump. That was about ten years ago, and for at least the first two years, I considered digging it out and starting over in a new location. I resisted the temptation, and at last my patience has been rewarded. The lilac has thirteen lovely lavender flower clusters this year. That said, I will never prune it again!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment