Christmas Flowers

It's meant to be winter blooming but usually not this early.


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After the Frost

We've had our first frost, but there is a lone rose bravely blooming:




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Early Winter

There was SNOW on Saturday!  How can that be? I wasn't here to see it, and it kept switching to rain so not much here. But flying in yesterday, there was clearly snow on the ground from Maine to Delaware. In fact, for several miles between NYC and Maryland, there was a clear line paralleling I-95 where there was snow still on the ground east and north, and none south and west. Very interesting to see.

Frost on the car last night - appears to be first frost on the ground as well - but only just. Not a hard frost.

Needle Drop

This happens every year. The first time I saw it I was freaked out thinking the tree was sick. This is the white pine near the driveway Scott asked me to save.






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Blooming Now: the composites

Asters and goldenrods against a full tapestry of white ageratum. Plus, the mums just started to open up.












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Turtleheads

With all the recent rain, the turtleheads are having their best year ever.







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I'll See Her in My Dreams

Irene has been and gone. Our drought is definitely over, and may have been before this latest deluge. This storm was forecast to be badder than it turned out. But of course the power is off for an indefinite period. It went off with a series of flash-bangs just after 12:30 and PEPCO isn't prepared to give any information about repair times. With 13 hours of daylight, and temperatures staying between 65 and 85, it's not that bad. Except I have an electric stove, and so that means no coffee making in the morning. I've got a thermos, and right it's full for tomorrow morning. I'll continue the pattern as long as it takes. Hauling out the propane stove is too much work for now.




Except for debris (including several silver maple branches down in my front yard) there isn't a lot of damage in the immediate block or so radius. The creek is swollen but not amazingly so.



There are big trees down everywhere and many of them took out wires. Routes through our neighborhood have to be adjusted.






Sherbert update

Break in the Drought

It rained yesterday and the day before. Both were thunderstorms, but Saturday at least was a long hard rain, not just a few minutes. The rain greened up the zoysia-- it took about 36 hours but it looks lush at the moment. It hasn't been mowed since early July, but I might have to do it this month yet.












Blooming now are black eyed susans, ironweed, verbena bonarensis, pink phlox, and a couple of brave and vivid cardinal flowers.


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Hot and Dry

This morning it was below 90 for the first time in days and I spent an hour outside, mostly on the corner. I weeded both up and down along the curve.  The weeds mostly consisted of grasses, lamb's quarters, and dandelion/thistles.  I also decided to pull out most of the dark agastache which has spread everywhere. I started the year by cutting it back rather than pulling it out, but now it really had taken over around the copper trellis and I just yanked most of it out. I am working on percentages, so gettting it all is not required. My thought is just making room for the other stuff gives them a chance to compete for resources - especially water and sun. I watered by hand along the corner as well.

Hot

From the Washington Post:

Through Tonight: Simply stifling. Temperatures hover in the 90s through the evening hours before only slowly trickling back through the 80s after midnight in most spots. Lows range from just the low 80s in the city, to the upper 70s in the cooler suburbs. The record high minimum temperature of 81 may well be surpassed at Reagan National. Heat indices likely remain above 100 through midnight in urban areas. Evening joggers/bikers should take it easy, and take extra care in hydrating.

Tomorrow (Friday): Combining the heat and humidity, it’s perhaps the most extreme day in 15 years. High temperature surge to 99-104, with dangerous heat indices of 114-118. Add bad air quality into the equation, and consider cutting back on any planned time outside. An isolated thunderstorm can’t be ruled out but is more likely towards the Mason Dixon line.

Muggy in the morning, muggy at night. No evening relief.  I'm hoping the electricity holds out.


I've watered some, but right now its so humid I'm not inclined to pour water - somehow it seems redundant. But I am making sure there is water in the bird bath for the critters, at least.

Squirrel Highways

I read that in the Eastern Deciduous Forest in 1491, a squirrel could have traveled from Canada to Florida along the east post without ever touching the ground. According to ecosystem maps, where I live is still the Eastern Deciduous Forest, but we've lost a whole lot of our tree cover. When I bought the house, however, the squirrels could make it around half the perimeter before coming to the end.

When I bought the house, the yard and the neighborhood had plenty of mature tree cover. One of the first things I did, in one of my first week ends in the house, was get out my tree book and identify everything I had. There was a massive (three foot diameter) pin oak in the back corner yard next to the shed. Along the fence line at the back end was a string of fairly young Norway maples, interspersed with a couple of oaks and a beech, followed by young hemlocks and a young white pine, capped at the street with a magnificent white oak, and a small cluster of its babies. In the front yard, there was a stump of some hardwood tree, about two feet in diameter, and next to the front door a large silver maple. Along the street were ugly tall Norway spruces. On the inside of the yard, they were like cut-away trees, with no branches, probably because whatever tree had left the stump behind had prevented them growing branches on that side. All of this was totally squirrel connected, and the silver maple has hollows that are home to squirrel families.

The corner itself didn't have any trees, so the squirrel track came to an end. The north end along the street had Norway Spruces and a white pine, isolated from the rest of the canopy, (except by a circuitous route involving electrical wires) but nearly three times the height of the house. There was a cedar hedge along the east border along the driveway, and a mock-orange hedge at the east border along the inside corner. Both were too dense to be very useful to squirrel movements, though the fence line and power lines provided some access.




Cutting down trees is a really big deal for me. My dad was firmly of the opinion that only God can make a tree, and even then it takes decades. Fairly early on, I knew I needed the Norway maples had to go, and also the young white oak babies which were clustered around a telephone pole. Luckily I had that work supervised by a landscaper, because they left behind on the fence line a pin oak, a beech, and a black oak, which have continued to thrive.

I went through a couple of years with the ugly spruces. They were probably 50 years old, same as the house, and were Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tall. And they made a hedge totally blocking the view of my neighbors and my street, really creating an isolated feel in this tiny yard that appealed to me. But finally I bit the bullet and down they came.

I knew from the start I would immediately plant new trees, and not "small yard-sized trees" but big tall Eastern Deciduous Forest trees. Of course, I couldn't actually plant tall trees, but I could select the kind that could live and grow for a century or more. Focused on diversity, I selected a white ash, a red oak, and a redbud (which could live under the huge white oak). I dug the holes and my landscaper and I planted them. They were about ten feet tall when they went in, separated by about fifteen feet. The landscaper recommended against planting so densely, "because the crowns will interlock". This was precisely my goal! Now they are tall and I just observed a whole train of squirrels making the trip between them and the remaining Norway spruce. Some of the connecting branches are still quite thin and so two squirrel's worth of weight makes them droop alarmingly, but it works and I'm back into the squirrel highway business!




I've planted a dense set of very small trees along the north street where the spruces used to be, and am encouraging some red oak volunteers. I moved some white oak babies from under their parent to the north end as well and they seem to be thriving. I think I will also do that to the eastern fence line, where a volunteer tulip tree has shot up and taken hold. I'm doing my best to re-create the forest and the highway, and I've actually been here in this spot long enough to have an impact. How about that!

Sherbert update

Wildlife in the Garden

This morning folks were really active.












Sherbert update

Rain!

It was barely raining this morning, but it's been coming down all evening. Now we have thunder and lightning, and the dog is upset. But it's still raining, hooray!


Sherbert update

Every Thunderstorm Passes us By

Still dry but cooler. Watering.


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Dry, Dry, Dry

I don't think we've had any significant rain in a few weeks. I know for sure I emptied my rain barrel over a week agonizing and it's still empty. So we had a great wet start to the growing season- things sprouted and bloomed that I thought were gone years ago. The feeling in the shade garden was a rising tide of leafy exuberance.

But that has changed. Things are started to visibly droop, wilt and mildew. Ouch!

I've hand watered my new plants along the corner several times, including my few containers. I just stand there trying to pour as much water on them as I think they will take, without having too forceful a stream of water to knock them over. I think that technique has kept the new stuff alive, but it's left much of the rest of the yard thirsty.

I left the leaky, spraying hose coupler poised over the bird bath when I left for work yesterday. I imagine the birds and perhaps squirrels frolicking joyously in the spray and fresh pool of clean water all day. They certainly were both when I left and when I came back.

I finally found my working sprinkler yesterday, but had to go off to get hose couplers to connect it last night at the hardware store. I set it up on my front shady woodland garden under the big oak tree and let her rip for a good two hours. Things look much better along there now, but I need more and smaller watering elsewhere.

Thunderstorms have been predicted for the past few nights and also for the next few nights. So far, it's all distant flashes and low register rumbles and no action here.


Sherbert update

Yellow

A few years ago I read a bunch of books on garden design. Many of them go into color theory, with examples showing the color wheel and discourses on complementary versus adjacent colors. Then this book showed the single color garden, and I was smitten.

I have a yellow garden, and it's looking good.
















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Planted

I took care of most of the plants bought at Behnkes the other day. The plan was to plant out the lower shady bed, along the street at the foot of the wall. All natives. There were some interesting grubs down in the soil. I through them in the street where probably birds would get them.

Lots of weeds. Also lots of tall volunteers, some of them good things. Mostly I cut them way back and down, especially if I wasn't sure what they were. I pulled out some things, even if they could be good things, to make more room for the plants I most want to encourage. I would like to positively identify more of the weeds.


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Iris

Henry Mitchell, late great gardening columnist in the Washington era, wrote of taking a week off work to stay with his irises at their peak, so as not to miss a moment if their glory. This would be the year to do it. I only have a couple of varieties, but the colors throughout the neighborhood are extraordinary.














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Mowed

I got it mowed for the first time. It was knee high in some places. Nearly 3 hours to do the whole thing. I put down seed in the dog's yard. I should have done it in March but I didn't. Since I had the seed I went ahead and used it.




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Blooming now

Wild indigo




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Summer Tulips

Several days in a row with temperatures in the 80s. Tulips and spring ephemerals don't know what to make of it.


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Invisible work done

I spent a lot of time this weekend, but mist of what I did is not highly visible. I was weeding and trimming, and things look much more neat now. But to the untrained eye, there is not much change.

I cleaned up my grass slope along the street. I cut back what is now straw from last years grasses. I pulled old grass and leaves out by hand. I weeded around the young trees at the edge of the slope.

Between the front and the side, I filled four compost bags.

Weather was hot and sunny, but very humid so the very back never dried out. Passing thunderstorm added more dampness.

Most of the tree leaves have emerged but are not yet full size. I like the laciness and fresh colors.


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Vignettes

I got a new long lens for my good camera, and used it to isolate specific vignettes last weekend. Here's a clue about the state of a garden: if all you see are plant portraits and tightly cropped vignettes, there's a reason. Don't expect me to zoom out and show the wide angles any time soon - too much running amok throughout the garden.

Shagbark hickory leaves emerge like flower blossoms from buds.

Virginia bluebells really like my yard, especially in such a wet spring. Ants have carried these all over the front.

Celadine poppies

Spring beauties are spreading nicely. I got some seeds from down by the creek a few years ago.

White oak isn't as dramatic as the leaves unfurl, but it is bright red right now.

My two apple trees are incredibly laden with blossoms.

Yellow foliage to go with the yellow flowers in my yellow bed.

Cleaning Up the Slope

I got some work done today, almost by accident. I went out to putter for a few minutes, and ended up spending the better part of three hours on just one small corner of the yard. It's an area I haven't touched in at least two years, maybe more: the edge of my yard along the front street, where it touches my neighbor's yard.  This is one of the places I first planted, back in the last century. But across the property line, my neighbor has ivy, myrtle, japanese honeysuckle, forsythia, and other bad things. It has encroached, and I started down at the street and ripped and ripped.

I just leave the leaves on the slope, so there was a thick blanket of only partly rotted oak leaves, and the roots were not deep in the ground but rather buried in the leaves. I also trimmed back his dogwood, abelia, and forsythia, so there was space to walk up the stones set in the slope to be steps.  Under the leaves and between the vines I was ripping out were several good things. I hope I've given them all room to breathe.

I'll have to look for pictures of what it looked like when I started. I archived those pictures off this computer but they should be stashed on one or more of my backup disks.

Weird Volatile Spring Weather

I don't want to complain about the rain. We really need it this time of year. But I am very keyed to the light, and dark days make me move slowly. I wish the rain would manage to all come at night, and the sun to emerge with a high pressure blue sky every day.

But what tremendous volatility we've had this week!  Wednesday was in the 80's. Yesterday didn't make it to 45 degrees. And Tuesday is supposed to be back in the 80's, or nearly so.  It feels like we've had a lot of rain overall, so I took the time to examine the facts.

So yes, we've had somewhat more rain than usual. But it's clear that the next month we need it to keep coming. It's really May and June that determine how it'll turn out for the growing season. Last year, the rains came in July and August, and that was too late for many of the herbaceous perennials and annuals - though it definitely provided relief to the trees.

It's still coming down here on Saturday morning, so no digging today. But tomorrow will be dryer and warmer, so I should line up what I want to get done.

Catching up on work

I got all my Lowe's plants from two weeks ago in the ground, along the front. It rained big time this week, especially yesterday. That made weeding especially easy today. I got the rock garden cleaned out. The weed of the year (or at least of the season) is some little cress. It was so thick in the rock garden it looked like a planned ground cover. To my regret, it went to seed before I got it pulled. I figure it's an annual so hardly worth pulling, except to give breathing room to the stuff I really want.

I need to study up on my weeds. I'm not sure what everything is as it emerges. Last year I had a lot of volunteer black eyed Susans and I think I recognize the foliage again but I'm not certain. Also, my asters have seeded about. I'm doing a lot of pinching off things too. Trying to keep things from sprawling out of control.



I've been coasting for a couple of years and I need lots more time to whip things into shape.

Got lots of pictures this morning. I'll have to get some uploaded soon. It's the prettiest time of year in the neighborhood.




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Bunnies

It's approaching Easter, I think, based on the chocolate bunnies in the stores. But all the thirteen years I've lived here, I've never seen a rabbit. Until tonight, that is. At least, once there was a road kill rabbit a few blocks from here. But nothing alive.

Abbey and I were walking across the pedestrian cut through next to the park, and a bunny hopped away from us. It was only slightly bigger than a squirrel and with grey fur that could be the same. But it had a huge white cotton tail. It ran to the fence to get into the O'Brien's yard, and hopped right into the fence and fell down. But it made another two hops and then it was under the fence and off down the hill.

Many raccoons and millions of squirrels. I can recognize my individual squirrels some times. A couple of times turtles in the yard. This year, invisible deer have totally eaten the tulips.

But today was my first live rabbit.

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Apple Blossoms

I'll never taste them because of the deer but I get a nice crop every year.



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Redbud

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Cleaning Up And Planting

I got a fair amount done yesterday. I focused first on the street corner. I pulled out a number of weeds- mostly dandelions. I planted a few things. Some moss phlox on the extreme narrow corner. At the edge of the wall by the rose trellis I put in some sea pinks (thrift) and a dianthus.

Clara and I got the lilies out of the broken pot and down into the ground. I'm drawing a line in the trellis space and switching from yellow to pink.

We also got things more cleaned up along the back fence in the dog's yard.


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Springing Up and Out All Over

There are signs of spring throughout my yard. I got a new camera yesterday. Add these together and what do you get? An incredibly long post with many photos.  The camera is a Canon Powershot S95 - great review at the end of the year by David Pogue, been on my wish list for new pocket camera since then.

Daffodils are still everywhere. I like these "reverse" ones -with white in the center and yellow on the outside.

I am entranced with bud break and emerging foliage. I love looking for the details and imagining what will come next.

Oak leaf hydrangea - this shrub has interesting details every month of the year.

These are the tiny little leaves of my pagoda dogwood. This will have clusters of tiny white flowers and then black berries which are the absolutely most popular bird food ever. This dogwood was killed to the base two years ago (by deer) , but is again taller than me.

I love how the rose foliage is tinged with red. This is my yellow rose, which is only slightly red around the edges. It is almost entirely green when fully emerged.  Sadly, I did not get a good photo of the red one, which is really red. I'll try again.

The little leaves and shoots are also very very fun to look for. You have to pretty much stand right over them to find them.

I've shown these trout lilies before - the foliage is endlessly fascinating while visible. I've seen this down by Sligo Creek as well. It's ephemeral though, and will be gone by June, I think.

This is Golden Groundsel. Again, it occurs wild down by the creek. Likes moisture. It has really settled into the yard and spread quite a bit on the slope, where it is a nice ground cover 11 months of the year. For a month, it has these tall yellow flowers, which are kind of disreputable singly, but make a nice mass at their peak. I'll show it again then.

This is the foliage from Golden Alexander (Zizia aptera). I started this from seed about four or five years ago and it spreads slowly. It has yellow flowers later in the season, but I also like the foliage quite a bit. It likes shade, but this patch is in almost full sun and might go dormant in August.

This is a Home Depot iris from a few years ago picked up only for the foliage, though it blooms with nice enough blue flowers.

This is a wild indigo. I went nuts on indigos a couple of years ago and put them everywhere. Most of them are a lovely deep blue, but I'm pretty sure this one is yellow since its in the yellow bed. Looks like asparagus coming up, but member of the pea family. Native. Can tolerate shade and drought once established, because its got deep roots and cannot be moved once its big.

The emerging foliage of sedum 'Autumn Joy', with drops of water held in the foliage. This is one of the most popular perennials ever - this one probably comes from Lowes or Home Depot. I was able to split it up into pieces after a few years, and this patch in well drained soil with good sun does much better than my other parts of the same plant elsewhere in the yard.

I also took numerous daffodil portraits. I love my daffs, and I was trying out the camera. I got some extreme closeups, and I may have used the digital zoom accidently. I haven't found where to turn that function off yet. I was taught never ever to use it, because it basically is throwing away the outer edges of the photo without adding any additional detail. But I found I kind of liked doing in camera cropping, which is basically what the digital zoom does. I could focus and frame exactly what I wanted. The only issue is a false sense of how sharp the final image will be. No additional commentary necessary about the daffs but I am happy to share the pictures here.