Goodbye lettuce

I checked on the lettuce last weekend and most of it finally succumbed to the cold. We had a wind-chill of -15 F about a week ago and that probably did it. Still, under only one layer of plastic, the lettuce and kale survived into January.

I am trying to root some flowering cherry tree (Kwanzan) cuttings and they seem to be doing well. The cuttings were planted about November 20. After several weeks inside a plastic tent planted in peat moss and perlite, one of the cuttings began to leaf out. That one is now well developed with four leaves. Two more cuttings are beginning to green and leaf out.

It appears that the diameter of the cutting is important. The cuttings are coming alive from the widest which was about a pencil thickness to the progressively thinner cuttings.

I am planning to order some European beech seeds to plant a hedge around the property and am already planning a week-long vacation in April to get a jump on the main gardening season. These extended seasons make the winter go by quickly.