Another week with no rain (or very little...)

We still have been missing all of the good rainstorms here.  10 miles south they got soaked the other day.  And farther north the rain has been regular.  But the Appleton Gap has persisted, perhaps even expanded.  All of the big weather systems seem to split at about this latitude.  And we are still very dry. 

The creek is still running, and I do remember summers when it was dry by this time.  It is difficult to know if this is unusual or if dry summers are the norm for these parts.  Must consult the record, I guess.  One thing I've noticed is that there really is a "microclimate" effect.  Our yard has about a one or two week shorter growing season than the yard we had in the city.  We are low here, and we get the first and the last frosts of the season.  And there is not as much thermal mass (streets, sidewalks, roofs, etc.) to keep the heat on a close to frost night.  It's better since we have more trees.  

This week the daisies and blanket flowers are declinin g, the coneflowers are at their peak.  The hydrangeas are coming into bloom, and the hardy Hibiscus is making nice looking buds -- I hope for something spectacular in another week or so.  The Monarda are lovely, the Gooseneck Loosetrife is blooming.  The Ligularia are beginning to bloom nicely.  Dahlias all over are blooming.   The Butterfly Weed is perfect as usual, and the Joe-Pye Weed as well.  Cannas are gorgeous, though I have to water them daily and they haven't begun to flower.   Annuals are coming into full bloom and giving the yard color. 

We had the first couple of tomatoes from the garden last weekend, and we've had jalapeno  peppers for a few weeks. Raspberries are coming in strong, we've had at least a pint a day and sometimes more for the last week or so.  There is a nice looking zucchini out there, and the onions and leeks and potatoes are maturing.  We pick broccoli once or twice a week.  Summer is good.  Even though we love to ride down to the farmer's market every Saturday, there isn't much we need to buy.

Catch Up Week

Had the week off, and was able to get caught up on a lot of things, including the garden. Cut back some iris on the west border that seemed as though some animal had been sleeping in them. Throughout the week I was able to put in an hour or two of gardening each day, and then also catch up on filing, weeding cleaning and so forth inside. Also had a little time to be out and about. All in all, a good week.

Photos this week are of the garden stars. The Joe-Pye Weed in the late evening sun is lovely, and now that the Rudbeckias are blooming too, the purple and yellow are so great together.

The Mandeville in the pot on the deck is spectacular. Not a native, nor able to over-winter here, it is none the less one of the nicest tropicals for the deck. I have over-wintered them once or twice, but inevitably the white flies take over around March and all of the effort goes for nothing. I may try again though - it is so hard to see this beautiful plant die in the frost. If I do decide to try to bring it in, I will need to decide soon and begin to spray it with malathion to knock down the white flies as well as possible before late September. Have to do that for the Hibiscus anyway, so might as well.

The Casa Blanca lily in front is the first prize winner this week. It is as nice as it has ever been, and really stands out. So nice that a photo of it has become the wallpaper for my new iPhone - for now at least. I hope that it lasts at least until Thursday when the Torch Summer party is here.

And the forth photo is of the Barberry bushes that we planted several years ago on the West side of the garage. They are basically a pain in the neck to maintain, having very vicious thorns, and growing profusely every year. But even so, we cut them back to almost the ground each spring and they reward by giving us beautiful young growth each year, contrasting nicely with the blue stain on the cedar siding. Pretty high maintenance for a foundation shrub, but as long as we can handle them they are worth it.

Weekend of Heavy Work

Writing on Monday evening, it is hard to even remember all that happened over the weekend. We worked hard on the project of replacing the large planter next to the deck. While Bill did the hard stuff, I puttered around the yard, moving perennials, cleaning up around beds, raking a bit here and there, pruning back the spirea that was finally completely free of snow, etc. The temporary greenhouse that we had put up a couple of weeks ago blew down last week and we had to reassemble it. Luckily, nothing had been bent or broken, and we were able to reinforce our understanding of how it all goes together. Much easier the second time. Oh yes - we nailed it to the deck this time.

Bill had put the frame of his planter together last weekend, and this weekend he intended to get the cedar sides on, add the corner and top and bottom trim, and then begin the process of digging out the dirt from the old planter (which had originaly been a hot tub in the basement), breaking down the sides and tearing it all apart, then moving the new one into place, leveling it, and refilling it. The whole project took him most of the weekend, though I was free enough for most of it to get the rest of the work done.

Planted a box of Asiatic lilies and another of Oriental lilies that I bought at SAMS Club. I'm never sure about SAMS Club plants, but some have turned out very well over the years. The hostas under the weeping willow tree are fantastic year after year, and they all came from one box. Last year I grew a bunch of astilbe, and they didn't amount to much. But I'm hoping the plants survived and will be nice this year. Time will tell. None of the purchases there are very well identified, but for generic plants they do seem to do pretty well.


Some neat things: The bloodroot plant that I captured the first sprouts of last week became a clump of sprouts by Saturday morning. Then Sunday morning I found another clump of sprouts. I figured that they would bloom some time in the next week, but the warm, sunny weather made for fast growth, and by late afternoon Sunday the buds were showing color and ready to open. Amazing.


A beautiful clump of Darwin tulips comes back every year, very early, and I always forget about it until the next year. It has been very dependable, but for some reason I just forget it is there until it blooms again. It blooms early and fast, before I really even see the sprouts, and then its over before the big stuff starts.




A very lovely little bird followed me all around the east side yard as I worked. It sat in the tree or shrub nearest where I was working, flitting from one place to another as I did. Not sure what it was after. I tried to identify it, and I'm not sure if I have it right. I think it was a yellow rumped warbler. My photo is not great, but will help me remember.


Finally, not all clear signs of spring are happy.



But at the end of the day, life is good.