Out with the Old ...

By John Markowski @jmarkowski0

Last weekend started the spring clean-up and this weekend was more of the same. The difference was, the temps were in the upper 50's this weekend and it felt more like 70 degrees after the cold winter that just passed (fingers double crossed). 
One of my favorite spring tasks is to cut down the sedums. It signifies the end of winter by removing the spent flowers that persisted since the fall and exposes the new spring growth. Boo ya!
So out with the "old":   
And in with the friggin "new":

Now that the old flower stems of the sedum are removed, it is time for the daffodils that sit behind the sedums to take center stage and put on their spring show:  

We have a ways to go with the daffodils, but promise is in the air.
The next task was to move on to the Amsonia. As you may have heard me mention in the past, these are one of my absolute favorite plants for spring, fall and summer interest and the deer have left them alone for years now.
So again, out with the "old":  

And barely in with the "new":

To get outside with the pruners and actually physically do something was incredibly invigorating. I spent some time confirming that the bee balms and geraniums have returned yet again this spring and I'm ready to kick some ass from this day out.
One final confirmation that spring has returned; I spotted this creature roaming about the yard with baseball bat in hand:  

All is good y'all.
John