Gardening A to Z: K is for Killing Everything

I don't know if it is this wacky spring, or if I really messed things up by not working out in the yard much last year. I just couldn't do it. My heart wasn't in it. And now this spring we have had extremely sunny days followed by snowstorms. It's not good for anything.

Before the Nor'easter hit this past weekend, I spent some time on that sunny Friday (80 degrees) wandering around the yard. I was finally cleaning out a lot of the dead leftovers from last summer, so that you could see the new spring growth. I have noticed that many of my bulbs have not come back. Now, I realize that they do not continue on indefinitely and that the squirrels have a thing for moving them all around the yard. But they are really pathetic and almost nonexistent after a few years of spectacular showings. I also wonder if this hot weather alternating with snow is starting to affect them. They have looked even sadder since.

I also noticed that those damn beetles are already devouring my lilies. I feel sick. They haven't even had a chance to grow and those creatures are just killing them. I have spent so much time and money on growing those lilies and they are just shredded. I am trying to get out at least once a day to pinch them and trying to scrape off the eggs. The one advantage of the snow was they seemed to bury themselves back into the ground.

What is really hurting me right now is it looks like my original Japanese maple is gone. My father bought that for me when I put in my big garden. He loved them and wanted to give me that. It would be ironic for that to go after him, but obviously I am not okay with that. My maples always take a little longer to finally grow their leaves. But when I look at where my other one is in growth and how it has leaves starting to appear, I am not so sure that this one is even budding.

I hope the weather balances itself out soon and that I can keep getting out there to work on it. I want to revive some of this poor yard.