Windy windy day

Gusty, windy, some gusts up to 17 mph.  Blew the chairs and umbrella and everything all over. Temps in the  60s.

Pruned the Lynwood forsythia out by the road cut, but really, I couldn't find many older canes to chop out, even though some have real rangy growth.  They're still young plants.  I moved 3 big rocks from behind the forsythia to the Meadow's Edge to add as accents.

Moved the Worcester's Gold caryopteris to the Birch Garden.. the gold foliage was right in line with the new Ogon spirea, so I needed to separate them.

Went after roses and bittersweet on the hill, took a lot out, but my goodness, there's just so much, and poison ivy blankets the entire forest floor at the top.

It was impossible to do much more in all the wind.

Cold snap

Cold today!  After all the record breaking heat that has made everything leaf out two to three weeks early.  Today was chilly, in the 50s, and very very windy.

I planted the three new Home Depot saplings on the hill, a Shumard oak and two red maples:

Look at the tuliptree this year:

And look at how leafed out the whole yard is --- this was taken April 23!

Changed the hummingbird feeder nectar today.

I am grateful

Overheard yesterday as I shopped at the garden center:

Dad, look here, these are dogwoods.

I was behind a tightly jammed stand of container trees, all about 5 feet high, and they blocked my view of the shoppers on the other side.  But it sounded like an older woman, and a man answered:

Oh?  The same kind I got?

I don't know, Dad.  The tag says Kowza.

What the heck are kowza trees?  I want dogwoods to replace the dead ones I got.

At that point an elderly man's face appeared amid the foliage.

Hi, I said.  Those trees are Kousa dogwoods.  They're a kind of dogwood that is a little bigger than your flowering dogwood.  And more disease resistant, I added.

They don't have flowers?  he asked, alarmed.

Oh, they do, I said.  Big showy ones.  White.

That's good, he said, relieved.  Cause I want to replace mine.  They got that disease.

Anthracnose, I said.  All the beautiful dogwoods around here have it, but the kousas don't get hit with it.

We chatted for a while, and his daughter came around to join us.  I told them the kousas were bigger than what he had, with a more rounded shape.  They both said that was good, they'd plant several 10 feet apart to allow room.  I suggested more space than that.  Oh, good to know.  I told them I was just another customer, not an employee, but they were very grateful for the help.

What about those other trees that are so pretty, you know, the ones that bloom?  Do they have those?

I took a wild guess and said, you mean Bradford pears?  They do sell them here, lots of them.  They're kind of a problem, though.  Pretty, but prone to structural problems, and they are actually invasive.

Oh I know, she said, there's a ton of them in the mall parking lot.

No, those were planted, I said.  Yeah, she replied, the town center has so many too, they're really invasive, aren't they?

Ummm.... get the kousa dogwoods, I suggested.  You'll be happy with them.

They thanked me sincerely, asked a few more questions, and went away very grateful for the help and advice.

And me?  I was also so grateful.  Grateful for the fact that I could offer even this modest advice and I knew what I was talking about.  I was such a newbie a few years ago that I also would have asked someone for "that tree that blooms", or "that one that has the bark".  I know so much now, and I can even help people as they decide to plant trees.

But I was more grateful for the fact that this nice man with the dead trees wanted to replace them with something pretty and hardy and growing.  He had to be 80 years old.  These container trees were $29 saplings.  He would never see them reach any size, and maybe never even see them bloom.

But he was planting trees.

Moving Dirt

Another warm summery day.... still in April!  Everything looks like early June, all leafed out, it's amazing.

A few holdouts are still on April time, and it looks weird to see them dormant while all else is so lush and green.  The Rose of Sharon is always late, and the clethra is still brown. Winterberry hollies just have small leaves.  The ornamental grasses are barely up yet.  Gaura shows absolutely no sign of any green at all... Gwen's are the same way, but I'll wait.

I think I lost all the crocosmia.  All of it.  The Lucifer and the yellow one too.

Today I put cardboard down to smother the grass on the far side of the dry creek bed.  Then topped with soil and made a berm on that side.  I'll put the aruncus there.

Moved more dirt around, filling spots in gardens and around the patio. There's still about 2 yards left, if not more.  I offered some to Olmsteads and they took several wheelbarrowfuls.

Sowed the cosmos seeds today!

Moved the zenobia from the Birch garden to the edge of the patio where I can see it up close.  It looks like it's struggling... also late to leaf out, and not much of a root system when I dug it up.

Gardens are in!

Dry, breezy, 60s, sunny.
A spectacular day, perfect for heavy lifting and putting in the gardens.

We finished filling the driveway gardens, and all plants are in.  I moved the witch hazel 'Diane' from the dry creek bed to the new garden beside the driveway.

I thought it would be such a hard job, but it dug up easily.  The root system was pretty sparse, which might explain its lack of vigor in blooming.  I hope it does better in the loose, well draining soil of the new garden.

The beds are planted, mulched, I added stepping stones to the driveway extension bed.

Also planted the clematis Bees Jubilee next to the stand for the hummingbird feeder at the edge of the patio.

Geums are blooming!

Everything is so far ahead of schedule this year... it looks like mid May!

This is April?

Again in the 60s, cool, lovely day.  A good day to do the hard work of moving soil and building the new gardens.

This is April?

Dirt

60s today, but cool and windy.

Envirocycle delivered 6 cubic feet of topsoil and compost today.  Here's what it looks like:

Good stuff.

I planted the variegated redbud by the creek bed, but I think it's actually too high... might have to readjust the rocks of the creek bed edge.

Also planted the Elizabeth magnolia, that was pretty easy.  Jim helped, shoveling all the dirt!  So much more to do.  Rain coming tomorrow.

April Day

Warm, in the high 60s, sunny, partly cloudy.  Still too warm for April.

T

Dirt is coming tomorrow.  I gave up on Bluestone and called Envirocycle.  Six cubic yards for $198 including delivery.

The shape of the new gardens is final.

The Oklahoma redbud is blooming:

All the black and white tulips came back, looking good:

The dogwood is blooming, but I'm not crazy about the watermelon pink color:

I planted the Japanese maple Orange Dream in the Birch garden, at the back.   I originally thought it would be a good small, narrow tree to finish the west walk as you get to the curve of the walk, but it's too shrubby, and doesn't tolerate wind and afternoon sun too well. 

Retractable awning arrived today... an 18 wheeler had to negotiate the cul de sac!  Yikes.  It's huge, 150 pounds, 13 feet long, taking up a whole strip of the garage right now in its tubing.  We'll see if we can get it installed.

Japanese maple

Windy and cloudy today, in the 50s to 60s.

Bought a small Japanese maple today at Bosco's: Acer palmatum Orange Dream.  Beautiful foliage, the label says it stays 10 feet tall, 5 feet wide, so perfect for the end of the new driveway extension garden, just before you get to the curve in the path.  But online sources say it is shrubby (not tree like) and gets twice as wide, to 10 or 15 feet.

Can I keep it pruned so it stays open and tree like?  I want something to draw the eye to the curve as you come down the walk.... narrow, upright, a "beacon".  I thought maybe a bodnant viburnum, which is upright and to 10 feet tall (winter blooms, fragrant, fall color), but nobody has it, even online it's hard to find anywhere.

Storm coming

Another hot day, in the 70s, very nice, sunny.  But it feels stormy this afternoon, and rain is coming in for Friday and Saturday.  We need it.

I planted the male kiwi vines in the containers in front of the meters this morning.  Then spent some time finalizing the shape of the new garden at the top of the driveway, I think it's done.  Just need planting dirt.

Got bags of mulch today and spread 1 bag (2 cubic feet) each under the three willows, the grass was already taking over after I had cleared out under each one earlier this spring.