So much work to do!!

ugh

 

I have got to clean this up! Unfortunately, I also have to sort and organize every closet in this house….!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year’s zinnias are hiding the species tulips. I thought I could at least cut these down today…

 

 

These pruners are over 10 years old. Never been sharpened and they have given up the ghost.

I tried to cut down the zinnia stalks and these pruners merely bent them in half. If they won’t do zinnias,

how are they going to cut these:

                  

I have a dozen of these Knock Out roses I need to knock out.

(see the car my work sent me? over 200,000 miles on it!)

I know I will not get far with those old cheap pruners. So, I ordered these:

I know this is a lot, but I will take care of them and they will last me a long time. I will be able to prune everything I need to in just a few days. Yay. Maybe the closets will be done, by then.

                                      These are the tulips T. polychroma.

I read about these when Carol from May Dreams Garden, hosted a Garden Blogger’s Book Club. To be honest, I did not enjoy the book at the time, I thought it was dry and the topic seemed so out-dated! I did leave a review, I still have the book, but I really thought it was not my thing.

Until I realized I have planted 100s of species tulips. I’d never known about them, really, other than they do better in the south than hybrid tulips, which are treated as annuals, for the most part. But these little species tulips are what started the entire tulip-mania in Holland, over 400 years ago! It is from these humble tulips that the giant and fabulous hybrids were born, launching a Dutch frenzy for the tulip bulbs. One bulb was so highly prized, that it is alleged that 7 acres of land were given in exchange for 1 Semper augustus bulb.  These things are hard to prove because folks weren’t blogging about it in 1600’s.

It was in the book, Two Gardeners, (the one I thought was no good!), that I learned of this diminutive yet mighty little bulb.

Talk about a heritage! I admired the little species tulip so much that I had to have the ones Elizabeth Lawrence wrote about: var. Lady Jane. I will post a picture when they bloom. Because I will have pruned all of last year’s zinnia out of the way by then!

Hooo boy. Look how much time I’ve spent not cleaning out closets. I despise cleaning out and cleaning up.

Unless the job requires pruners!