Turkey dinner anyone?

Nice weather returned this week with high's back into the 60's.

This mom and her two baby turkeys have spent their summer away from the flock and in our yard. Don finally got a picture of them. As you can see (click on the picture) they are just learning how to scratch the ground to forage. They clumsily scratch and actually cover up more seed than they find, but hey, who's keeping track?

After they're done feeding, they go to the dirt pile and dust themselves, which is hilarious to watch. You can barely see them with all the dirt flying. Then they'll just law down in the grass and take a siesta in the shade if it's hot, and in the sun if it's cool.

We've named the babies Flopper, and what else, Scratcher. Once likes to flop on the ground to eat, and the other one gets carried away scratching looking for food.

One day I looked out and there must have been 30 turkeys in my yard, and I know who to blame for squealing! You can only see a few of them in the picture, by the time I got out to take the shot, many had retreated into the woods.

Unfortunately, I couldn't pick out mom and her babies, and it was shortly after this they rejoined the flock.

All I've got to say is, Turkey season opens soon, so they better take cover. I'm actually glad the family left, because if the babies showed up without mom, I'd know she was going to be someone's dinner . . . how awful would that be!?!

The draught is taking a toll

First week of September turned very hot with highs in the mid 90's.

Still very little rain, our neighbor's pond that's damed is dry, so no more water in Mill Pond Creek. I have no idea where the animals are finding water to drink. After an entire summer of trying to keep the lower half of the yard watered, Don and I have decided to put in sprinklers.

It's not just the price that gave us pause, but the damage it's going to do to our entire yard. They will have to run the ditch witch from the front of the house where the water supply is, to the lower yard. This means they will not only bring up rocks, but will cut existing water pipes.

So, since they're making such a mess, we decided to put sprinklers in the back flowerbeds as well, so even the back will be torn up. I can't tell you how much I am NOT looking forward to this process.

Gorgeous Day!

After some MUCH needed rain on Monday and Wednesday, 2 inches in total, we actually had a COLD front move through bringing highs only in the 60's. Wow, what a difference a week makes!

Once again I took advantage of the nice weather:

• Sprayed trees and shrubs with an organic mixture for bugs and fungus
• Cleaned all the fountains, again
• Mowed Tiers E 2 & 3
• Raked upper yard from yesterdays mowing

Had dinner on the deck to take advantage of the weather and to look at the results of all our hard work. The only good thing I can say about the draught we are going through this summer is, no mosquitos . . . yeah!

After dinner I walked the yard to look the flowerbeds over and noticed how pretty the decorative grass was with the sun hitting it, so I snapped a picture.

Getting "close" to finishing -

After a week of nice weather, of course the high temps returned, and this week it's been in the high 90's with high humidity.

I mowed and raked on Friday so Don and I could plant this weekend. We ended up getting 12 Happy Trails Daylilies and 1 Highbush Blueberry in on Saturday, and 2 more Highbush Blueberries planted on Sunday.

Then the real fun began, as we moved the last of the 5 cu yd mulch pile into the BFB (back flower bed). Once we'd moved the mulch, we moved the last of the rocks that were left over from the patio being built. These were the largest of the rocks, and could only be rolled and shoved into place.

We even went to Pro Landscape Supply and bought 6 granite stepping stones to put in the flowerbeds. Three lead to one set of birdfeeders, and three lead to the other set of birdfeeders. We would have needed seven, but we used a granite rock the excavator couldn't get out of the ground as a stepping stone. Boy are we going to feel the pain tomorrow!

This flowerbed runs from East to West across more than half of the backyard. You cannot imagine how many leaves pile into this bed in the fall.

What's really sad is, the thing we're most excited about is the fact we can use the top of our driveway again!

I'm making progress . . .

Cold front came through and cooled us down, temps stayed in the high 70's for a week!

I definitely took advantage of the cooler temps and weeded, which had gotten out of control while I was on vacation. It took me a week, but I got most of the weeds in the flower beds as well as the deadheading done.

Also this past week we had quite the bird event. The baby Goldfinches were brought to the feeders; there must be 20 to 30 babies in my yard and trees. They are so sweet and not timid at all, you can walk right up to them and look them in the eyes. You can't imagine how much noise that many baby finches can make all wanting to be feed at the same time.

One morning I looked out the front window, and I had 3 Bluejays sitting on the rim on FFB#3's birdbath, with 1 in the water taking a bath. As I watched, each one would wait patiently for the other to finish bathing, then take it's turn. Afterward, each one would fly off to sit in the tree branches to shake of excess water, before flying away, how precious.

This is the second year my Turtlehead flowers have been in the

ground and they're looking quite pretty. I think I'm going to start planting smaller flowers among the larger perennials.

While this flowerbed is a very pleasant place to sit, and I'm really glad I put it in, it's really challenging to keep weeded!

Wow, am I feeling spoiled!

As predicted, the warm front has moved in, high of 90.

I was out watering this morning when an UPS truck backed up the driveway and left a package by the garage door. I took it in the house so Don and I could open it, and to our surprise, inside was a very pretty yellow rose bush, sent to us by my father. Yellow is not only my favorite color, but is also my favorite colored rose. You could not tell it was delivered, it looked instead like we had just picked it up from the nursery.

I promptly watered it and set it in the sun, then Don took a picture of the flowers with Punkin and I on the deck beside it. We'll enjoy it in the basket for a while, then I'll probably plant it in a real pretty spot in the garden this fall. I did this a lot when we lived at the Couture home, and they do great in the garden.

Then after lunch we took Punkin on a walk down to the mailbox, and found there was an anniversary card from Don's parents, with a check for dinner out. Wow, I'm feeling pretty spoiled about now!!

Also during the walk down to the mailbox, we ran into our turkey family (mom and the two young-uns), this time they were hanging out by the dried up vernal pond. Later on I saw mom sitting in the loam pile, something she has absolutely fallen in love with. I wonder how much longer the twins will be with her?

More mowing before the hot front moves in -

A nice morning gave way to increasing clouds along with higher humidity, high of 85.

Don and I went out to mow after lunch and the first thing I ran into was more frogs, this time a Wood Frog, which live in the grass, go figure why they're named "wood" frog. So, since I talked about the Leopard Frogs, I decided it wasn't fair not to talk about the Wood Frogs.

Wood frogs have a very different song than leopard frogs, and I find them more in the grass by the tree margins, rather than in, or by, the wetlands or ponds. They seem to be less prolific than leopard frogs, or are just smarter at staying out of the way of mowers.

Usually by this time of year I'm stopping the mower 4 to 5 times a mowing session to move either a leopard or wood frog. Sadly however, that number is down to 2 to 3 times per mowing session this year. I'm guessing because of the drought, frog numbers are down.

My favorite "sounding" frog is the Spring Peeper. They start singing early in the spring and continue through May and sometimes into June. They start up at dusk and sing until at least 2AM. In fact, their chorus can be so deafening, if you have the windows open it's hard to get to sleep.

Spring peepers are nocturnal and in cold weather like ours they will hibernate under logs or loose bark. They belong to a family known as "Chorus Frogs" and their distinct call is a sign that spring is underway.

The grass is looking SO good after rain & fungicide;

A cold front came through last night and brought low humidity with a very nice day of 78 degrees.

What a difference a day or two make after nature delivers 2.5 inches of rain. Don and I will be mowing today and tomorrow. For today at least, no watering!

I saw some really pretty wildflowers down by what used to be Mill Pond Creek, and thought I'd go get a picture. I've no idea what they are, but we have them is several different places in the hollow.

Also by the stream, are two dogwood shrubs the builder planted to hide the culvert and to hinder further erosion. They are now in full bloom and once again are taking over the poor PJM Rhodos beside of them. Every year I trim the dogwoods back and every year they grow even bigger.

I would say in this instance the builder did good. The plantings did stop the erosion and the dogwoods do hide the culvert.

We're mortified, and in our neighborhood to boot!

Sunny and nice, high of 85, and the humidity is gone, do the dance!!

Everything looks so nice after the 2.6 inches of rain we received yesterday. Not only do we have water in our pond again, but the frogs were in it croaking . . . can you say pathetic? Poor things. On their behalf, this pond was actually dry by June 1st - a 1st!

With a cold front coming through, the temps were dropping and there was a steady breeze. Because it was so nice out, we decided to sit on the deck for a while after dinner. Of course by now the Bluejays had gone through their allotment of peanuts, so we gave into their screeching and put more out.

Out of 14 Bluejays, some of which are young ones, all have learned to land on the hanging trays. All but one that is, a young jay who cannot overcome it's fear of the four tray wires. So what does it do? It actually chases other birds, (and it doesn't have to be a Bluejay), to steal "their" peanut.

It was then we knew the grizzly truth, we have a mugger, a juvenile delinquent that lives in the "hood".

DO THE DANCE . . . 2.6" OF RAIN, YES!

Cloudy and humid, in fact, by the time we reached our high of 85 degrees, it was down right oppressive!

With temps in the high 80's and with dew points in the 70's, after watering in the AM I did nothing more in the yard. We had a 40% chance of rain which was high for us, so we figured just another Hazy, Hot and Humid day with no precip.

I happened to be blogging when about 3PM it started to rain. I didn't think much of it because we often get a few sprinkles that really don't amount to much. After 10 to 15 minutes it was still raining, and I started to get my hopes up. After half an hour I was getting down right giddy.

Then the clouds opened up and really let loose, and we had us a downpour for about an hour. Afterwards, when the sun was starting to peak out at about 6:30, we went out to check the rain gauge and we'd gotten 2.6 inches of rain!

While the downpour did not help the trees all that much, we did have water in our pond again. So we're hopeful the downpour filled enough low lying areas for the wildlife to find water again.

So, I don't care what kind of dance you do, but you have to do a dance.

5 Birdbaths plus 1 fountain and it's barely enough -

Sunny and hot, high of 93.

Every time I look at one of my birdbaths there's either a bird, squirrel, or chipmunk getting a drink of water. I seem to be the only source of fresh water for miles, or so it seems. This drought is really starting to take it's toll.

I know birds love fresh water, so I clean my birdbaths weekly and fill them daily. Just one more reason why Fodor's lists Mill Pond Hollow as one of the best values for the money as well as a "must see" ;-).

Our imported fountain from France is in FB#7, on the East side of the deck. The fountain is considered the "Evian" of all the drinking facilities and is used exclusively by the Goldfinches. They like to land on the top frog and get a drink straight from the "source".


Birdbath #1 is by the birdfeeders in the woods. This one is really popular with the squirrels, Bluejays, Mourning Doves, Nuthatches, and woodpeckers for quick drinks of water.





Birdbath #2 is in the FFB (Forest Flower Bed). This one is deep, perfect for Bluejay baths.









Birdbath #3 is in FB#3 in front of the living room bay window. This one gets a lot of sun which really heats the water, again I've caught Bluejays bathing in this one.








Birdbath #4 is in FB#5 which is by Don's office windows. This one is really popular with the chipmunks, Goldfinches, Chickadees and Titmice, because of the birch tree that gives it cover.







Birdbath #5 is in FB#1A, and is just big enough for chipmunks that live in the rockwall behind it.

More weeding, pulling, trimming . . . Ugh!

Partly Cloudy but nice with a high of 84.

Since I was in the groove, I decided to just keep going. Remember those Spireas and Stellas I was blogging about earlier? Well, it is now time to pay the pied piper for how beautiful they looked earlier. They are now out of bloom and have to be trimmed and deadheaded. I finally finished the 9th Spirea before lunch, and started in on the Stella's (all 12 of them) right after. Three 55 gallon contractor bags later, I'm done . . . stick a fork in me. I've finished weeding and trimming FB's #1, #2, & #3.

Also, remember those frogs I was blogging about? I was cutting back some Cottoneaster's by the Stella's when a large Leopard Frog jumped onto a Cottoneaster branch and gave me "the" look. If looks could kill, I'd be out cold. It was not at all happy it's home had been ransacked. I must have really disturbed it too, because I keep running into it now by the sidewalk, and I never knew it existed before.

This is the same type of frog that live in, or near, the vernal pond that is now dry.

That's for the birds, hummingbirds that is -

Fog in early am turned to sun by mid morning, nice day with low humidity, high of 82.

After several different attempts to find the perfect hummingbird feeder, we have finally found success with one from the Audubon Society. I never really thought about it before, but with all the wing flapping and fighting that goes on with hummingbirds, they must get tired.

This feeder has 6 stations with perches by each one, and they love it! They will actually sit and drink for up to 5 minutes. That is until the hummingbird wars start. They adore fresh nectar, and will literally fight for two straight days.

We currently have four Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, 2 male and 2 female. What became apparent last night while we sat watching them from the deck, is the fact the females have formed a tag team. While the male chases one female, the other slips in to get a drink of water. We have to wonder if they don't take turns at this game, could they actually be that smart?

You will have to click twice on the picture to see the female hummingbird. It was sheer luck we got this good of a shot.

Those turkeys!!

Another gorgeous day thanks to the cold front that moved through, sunny with a high of 78.

Earlier in my blog I shared a picture of a turkey dusting itself. I have to wonder if this is the same turkey that now visits with two babies in tow. I can't believe how fast they are growing. We started feeding them corn, and they have since become permanent residents.

We have a pile of loam in the woods we use for planting purposes, and because it's been so dry, mom's been teaching the babies how to dust themselves. One baby in particular has really taken to dust baths and scratching. Which is kind of funny to watch, because the dirt doesn't always go where it should, and the scratching usually covers more seed than uncovers.

Something else we didn't know about birds until we moved here, birds love to sun themselves. All of them do this, and I can only guess we see it here because of the natural habitat which makes the birds feel safe. The baby turkey who loves to take dust baths, also likes to sun itself afterwards.

Sometimes I feel like I'm running a resort. Between the food, lodging and spirits (fresh water), what more could a bird ask for.

More weeding, pulling, trimming . . .

After 3 days of 90 degree temps, a low has brought a cold front through, high of 79.

The Rose of Sharon are also in bloom. I watched several bees flitting from flower to flower gathering pollen. Their bodies and legs were so heavily laden with yellow pollen I did not know how they could possibly gather any more any fly away.

Unfortunately, the Hibiscus (Rose of Sharon) have also outgrown their designated areas, so I really had to cut one in particular back. I planted it in front of the meters and it had done it's job, so well in fact, I was afraid I was going to get a notice from our utility company.

As I trimmed the Hibiscus back the bees just went about their business of gathering, seemingly oblivious to me.

I'm so happy when I see bees, frogs and butterflies in my garden, it means I have a thriving ecosystem and must be doing something right.

It's really getting dry, boy do we need rain!

Sunny and hot with a high of 90, at least the humidity was down.

After mowing sections 1 and 2 of the yard, I fungicided both. The heat is really starting to stress the yard. Plus, man-made-water (in-ground-sprinklers) just isn't the same as nature's water.

We just got a call from our water company to tell us we are under a voluntary watering ban. They asked us to only water in the morning, and to water deeply less often, all of which I do of course, it's just good gardening practice.

Last night we went to our next door neighbors to warn them about the bear. When we got there we couldn't believe our eyes, the pond behind the dam was virtually empty. This is a "fairly" good sized pond the kids play hockey on in the winter . . . it really takes you back.

BTW, the water in the bucket is what our water looks like right now. Can you believe they can charge for something that dirty? Unfortunately, this isn't the first time for us, we had to put an expensive water-filtration system in last winter. If we hadn't, that water would be in our house, yuck!

Okay, I'm officially waging war on all weeds!

Sunny and nice with a high of 83.

After being lazy over the weekend and having a 10 day hyatus from yard work, I decided it was time. I weeded, cut back shrubs, (Goldmound Spirea), and took a picture of my Kousa tree.

A Kousa is a Japanese Dogwood that blooms in June, and boy has mine grown this year. This is the second year it's been in the garden, and was purchased quite small at Lowes last year. While I've not yet seen any blooms, I'm hoping this is only because of it's young age. It's supposed to be shade loving, and it gets sun about 40% of the day. If it doesn't show signs of blooming next year, I think I might start getting worried.

The picture to the right is how it "should" look when in bloom. It's supposed to get approximately 20' tall by 20' wide, but I've not seen one as full as the one pictured. I see them a lot planted in yards with limited space and shade. The white really pops in the shade!

Unfortunately, a naturalized tree beside it is dying because of the changes going on around it, so I'll probably be replacing it next year. I'm thinking a pink dogwood of some sort would be nice . . .

Now for the really big news, our bear showed up for the first time last night. Punkin was looking out the family room window when she started barking. When I went to look I saw a black bear just rearing up and reaching for one of our feeders. So out we went with air horn in hand to rescue the feeders. On the way back to the garage I saw it cutting across the driveway by the stream going to our neighbors. Poor guy, I'm sure it's hungry and thirsty with the ongoing drought.

Look what I came home to!

Hazy, Hot, Humid, high of 91.

I got home late last night and what did I see first thing this morning? 5 tomatoes, 3 on the Big Boy and 2 on the Beefsteak, ripe enough to pick . . . my very first! I plan on having them with bacon sandwiches , yumm!

I must admit the yard looks really nice, Don did a terrific job while I was gone. I told him he was hired, and he told me he wasn't interested in the job, oh well, I can't say I don't blame him.

The tomato on the left is the Beefsteak and the tomato on the right is the
Big Boy.

Unfortunately, the weeds kept growing while I was gone, so it's going to take me a while to get them eradicated . . . they're everywhere!

Time for a review or recap:

Sunny with a high of 90, very humid until a downpour cooled things off, for a little while anyway.

Well, I guess it's been 30 days so it's time to revisit my Gardening To Do List.

• Trim shrubs and Bradford Pear - tree yes, shrubs no
  
• Fertilize the Rhodos - yes
  
• Spray the back-hill with Roundup - yes
  
• Cut trees out of the pines on the back ridge - no
• Weed the flowerbeds, again - yes
  
• Spray the weeds in the grass - no
  
• Edge all flowerbeds - no
  
• Plant 6 maple trees - one
  
• Plant 5 fruit trees - yes
  
• Plant 6 fruit bushes - no
  
• Plant Magnolia - yes
  
• Plant 12 daylilies - no
• Fertilize yard - yes
• Fungicide yard - yes
• Mow, trim, and water - YES

Considering I'm about to leave for 10 days and there's a moratorium on digging, I don't think much else is going to be added to the "done" side of the list.

But there's always a bright side, my little Stella's in the back are blooming and looking quite pretty!

The drought is starting to become quite real . . .

Very dry and hot this week, with temps in the high 90's.

It's just too hot to try and plant anything. The red maple is struggling, I have to water it deeply every two to three days. So I'm calling a halt to all digging until it gets cooler.

Plus, with my better half putting his back out and with me getting ready to visit Iowa, virtually all yard work is on hold.

Except the watering, which is becoming a real issue. It seems like my day is spent trying to keep something watered. Thank goodness James of Gates Landscaping came out and moved two sprinklers that are now covering the orchard.

I don't envy Don trying to keep up with this yard . . . .

1st of 6 goes in the ground

Sunny and nice with a high of 80.

Since we seem to be on a roll, we decided to plant the 1st of the 6 15 gallon maples we bought after the loggers came through. This one is a Red Maple, and is replacing a hard maple the loggers took out by 'accident'.

While the rocks are hard enough to get through, add to that big tree roots, and you have an almost impossible situation. We had to drag out the California tools, the pick axe to be precise, to get between and under the roots. With a lot of hard work, and a thrown back, we did get it in, barely.

The 15 gallon trees we bought looked so big at the nursery and sitting on the sidewalk. Now that one's planted and surrounded by 80' and 100' hemlocks and maples, it looks pretty small. We chose a spot that gets sun about 60% of the day, we're hoping this is enough light for the tree to acclimate.

Can you tell from the picture which is the 12' maple we planted in the woods? A hint: it's just to the left of a large trunk on the right hand side of the picture. If you click on the photo once and enlarge it, you can barely see it nestled between other trees in the background. In the picture you can also see the Washington Hawthorne we planted inbetween the magnolia and maple.

Another First: Heard first heat bug

Wow, another gorgeous day!

Sunny and nice with a high of 71; is it really almost July?

Today we decided the last fruit tree was going in the ground . . . eventually. The last fruit tree turned out to be the hardest fruit tree as we hit nothing but rock shelf. We had to move the hole 3 times, and I fear we still didn't give it as large a hole as it needs. Especially since this fruit tree, a Santa Rosa Plum, gets 15' high by 15 wide'. It's supposed to be a heavy producer and pretty hardy for our area, I guess only time will tell.

The first 2 to 3 years we are supposed to pick the blossoms off the fruit trees as they bloom, to help create bigger, healthier, root balls. I think I may have the will power to do this for one year, since I am soooo anxious to see them all in bloom. I never thought of this before now, what if my better half is allergic to their pollen, ack!

As the trees mature, I'm hoping the leaves and blossoms will help break up and soften the rock shelf that sits behind the orchard. Not only will this give us something more appealing to view as we sit on the deck or patio, but maybe we'll see some fruit loving birds to view as well :-)

Honorable mention -

Absolute gorgeous day with a high of 75.

My white Coreopsis are in bloom, despite the fact the chipmunks keep eating the buds off. I saw one in the Coreopsis bush and scolded him, telling him he was being a very bad boy! When he turned to look at me he had white petals all over the end of his nose, ha, caught in the act! If he hadn't been so darn cute I might have gotten mad.

I can't be certain, but I think this is the same chipmunk who's eating the fruit off my Adams crabapple tree because they are both in the same flowerbed.

This is Punkin on the deck trying to convince me to let her chase the chipmunks. She can't figure out why we let these renegades run amuck in the yard.

The only good thing about the lack of rain is the fact we have NO mosquitoes and can sit on the deck!

This time it's the Astilbes turn -

We are starting to get a few hotter days thrown into the mix; sunny with a high of 87.

The Astilbes have decided it's their turn to get all the attention, and I think it's fair to say, they deserve it. The Astilbes to the left are on the north side of the house in FB #5. There are a total of 7 in this bed.

The Astibles to the right are in the Forest Flower Bed (FFB), and are in the shade 70% of the time. There are a total of 12 in this bed. That means I have 19 Astibles to deadhead in about 30 days. Hey, do I know how to have fun or what?

You can barely see the blue hydrangeas in bloom in the back. After looking at this picture, I can't imagine why I wanted pink hydranges!

Another day, another tree -

Partly sunny but humid, with a high of 82.

We got another tree planted today, this time the Galaxy Magnolia got lucky. While we did hit a lot of rocks, thank goodness they were all reasonably sized, and could be removed. To be on the safe side however, we took the grass out by sections just in case we had to move the hole, something we've had to do in the past.

Shortly after getting the Magnolia planted we got a short rain burst, just like we planned it ;-) We've only received a few days of rain this spring and are going into summer with a deficeit. I think it's going to be a long, hot, dry, summer.

My pink, I mean blue, Hydrangeas are blooming ;-)

Gorgeous day, high of 82. I planted pink Hydrangeas and wanted pink Hydrangeas, what happend?

Most gardeners want blue hydrangeas and usually buy the Nikko blue variety, then go to extra lengths to ensure they get blue with a ph balancing fertilizer. I guess it's the loam and peat moss I used, because I used nothing special.

If I were honest, I would admit I love the blue, even though I didn't think I would. The blue really sets off the pink Astilbes. Some of the Hydrangeas are multi-colored which I also think is very pretty. Also, I'll bet if I tried to duplicate this process in another bed, I'd get different results!

This picture shows one of my multi-colored hydrangeas just "starting" to bloom, which I think is almost prettier than a full headed bloom. This hydrangea obviously loves where it's planted, from the very first this one came up early and set a lot of heads. It gets sun in the afternoon for about 2.5 hours, which isn't what the grower recommended. But it's where I had a spot for one so that's where it went.

It just goes to show flowers are more versatile and forgiving than one would think . . . thank God.

Wow, my very first homegrown fruit -

Sunny and hot with a high of 91.

I guess the heat is good for berries because I picked my first black raspberries this morning. They were pretty good by themselves, but would have been better on ice cream :-)

Another thing, I won't have to worry about the bear coming down and stealing my raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, because the kazillion of chipmunks in my garden will eat them first. The little rascals climb all over the branches and go straight for the ripest ones, how they know which is which is beyond me.

I also took a picture of my blackberry bush which just started to bloom. This shrub gets 6' wide by 8' wide, can you imagine how pretty it must be when it matures and is in full bloom?

Okay, maybe with 2 blackberry bushes that large there may be some berries left over for the bear and me.

Flowerbed #3 is strutting it's stuff!

Nice & sunny today after an overnight rain, high of 83.

Speaking of Stella d'Oros, they are now in bloom and are quite the show-stopper. I have 9 Stella's in the front, and 11 in the back. For this year anyway, the Stella's in back won't need much trimming because they are still young. But I'm betting the front are going to take me 1 full day to deadhead.

If you look at the close up picture, you can see the Goldmound Spirea still in bloom peeking from behind the Stella's. Of course the Sugar Tyme Crabapple and Poukhanense Korean Azaleas have been out of bloom for a few weeks now.

I have to admit that taking the time to work slow-release fertilizer into all of the beds around each and every flower seems to be paying off. This is now my second year of using this approach, and it seems to be working well.

Of course the .75" of rain overnight didn't hurt either. Can you tell yellow is my favorite color?

The Spirea are really putting on a show . . .

Mostly sunny with a few clouds in the morning, high of 78.

The Little Princess Spirea are in full bloom and are quite pretty. Unlike their cousins the Goldmound Sprirea that have turned into monsters in the front, the Little Princess are still very dainty.

Unfortunately, I have 9 of the Goldmound Spirea to cut back in about 30 days, and I don't mind saying I'm not looking forward to the job. But, they are very pretty right now . . . .

The Stella d'Oros are really budding this week so they should be in bloom sometime next week. They too will be a chore to deadhead or cut back, but are also worth the effort.

While I did get 5 cubic yards of premium mulch delivered, I only got about 1/3 of it spread. While most of the front beds are almost entirely without mulch, at least FB#5 now has mulch. I hate to say it, but I'll be lucky to get the rest of the mulch spread this fall in the BFB when we're done planting.

Oh well, as Scarlet would say, "there's always tomorrow", or in my case, "there's always next spring," and with each new spring comes renewed hope for the perpetual gardener.

More rain - yeah!

Cloudy with light rain all day, in my area we received .75" of precip, high of 60.

Light rain all day precluded me from working in the yard, but that's okay, we really need the moisture. With the rain we've been getting the fertilizer is starting to kick in, I'll be mowing quite frequently again for a while.

Too bad I had the echocariogram yesterday, or I would have gotten the lower half of the yard mowed. I'm afraid when I can finally get down there to mow, it will be time to call the bailers again. Maybe I should just plant timothy grass down there and have the Joppa Hill hobby farm come and take care of it for me ;-).

Some of the To Do's I need to take care of in the next 30 days:

• Edge the flowerbeds
• Trim the Goldmounds, Weigelas, Roses, Lilacs, Burning Bush and Bradford Pear tree.
• Fertilize the Rhodos
• Spray the backhill with Roundup
• Cut trees out of the pines on the back ridge
• Weed the flowerbeds, again
• Spray the weeds in the grass
  

Last but not least, plant 7 - 15 gallon trees, 1 - 10 gallon tree, 6 - 5 gallon fruit bushes, 12 - 1 gallon daylilies, 2 -1 gallon lowbush blueberries, to name a few . . . of course I'll be planting these over the course of the summer. I'm glad this is the last of the planned flowerbeds.

Along with mowing, trimming, fertilizing, spraying, and other miscellaneous chores in the yard, I'll be fairly busy this summer . . . :-).

Gorgeous day yet again, I'm getting spoiled!

Sunny and windy with a high of 72; I'll take this kind of weather in June any day!

First thing in the morning I took the preformed concrete to the dump, and while I was at the rock pile, I noticed another person picking and choosing rock to take home. I said to myself, dah, why don't you do that, it's a lot easier than going rock hunting. So that's what I did.

I went through a 30' long and 20' high rock pile looking for nice looking rocks that weren't too heavy or hard to reach. After I thought I'd picked up enough "nice" looking rocks for my hose-path, I went home and placed them.

When I was finished I didn't take a picture because the rocks were still pretty dirty, and I knew I needed to get more river rock for the pathway itself. I'll take a picture when it's finished, and let you be the judge of whether it looks better or not . . .

After lunch while waiting for my echocardiogram appointment, I decided to take pictures of some of the new flowers in bloom.

The 1st picture is of my Little Princess Spirea in FB#7 that's between my back sidewalk and deck. You can also see my fountain, my frog rain gauge, my new solar lights, our patio table w/umbrella, and at the far end of the patio, our fire pit and chairs.

The 2nd picture is of my Goldmound Spirea that are in FB's 1 & 2 at the front of the house. The hose-path I worked on yesterday divides beds 1 & 2.

The 3rd picture is of FB#3 which is in front of the living room bay and at the end of the west side of the house. You can see the Goldmound Spirea in bloom behind the Stela d'Oros, which are just starting to bloom.

Absolute gorgeous day;

Today is even more beautiful than yesterday, sunny with a high of 71.

This is more like May weather we're having in June, but believe me, I'm not complaining.

In the morning after watering, I decided it was time for the preformed concrete dividers in the front flowerbed to be removed. I'd been thinking about this for a while, and after the rain storm on Monday, the mulch had washed into the rocked pathway. I'd used the concrete dividers thinking they would channel the water away, but every time we get a hard rain, the gutters overflow and the rock gets a bunch of mulch mixed into it, I give up!

In the picture you can make out the preformed concrete Don and I worked really hard to get in level . . . oops!

I've decided instead to go with a natural look by using large rocks to divide the flowerbed from the path, much like I used in the back flowerbed. The only problem being, we've used up all the rock on top of the ground, so it's either go rock hunting, or wait until we hit more rock when we start planting again. Not in the mood to hunt for rocks, or plant, I decided to mow :-).

I actually made good time mowing the upper yard. Since it had only been 3 days since I last mowed, and the fertilizer hadn't really kicked in yet, I was able to mow using the full width of the mower. I hadn't been able to do that since early spring, yeah!

What a difference a day makes

Wow, the cold front that came through on Sunday really cooled things down, partly sunny with a high of 74.

Unfortunately I had to work today, so I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time in the yard. Punkin and I sat on the deck periodically, and I didn't think I'd have to water, but I noticed one of the Red Maples was wilting, so out I went to water . . . again.

The picture is of Punkin watching me water, wondering where her deck buddy went.

I did get the order made, and when I got home from shipping, Punkin and I had supper on the deck. It's a beautiful place to relax after work, I feel very blessed.

RAIN!!

I woke to the sound of rain, yeah!! Much cooler with a high of 76.

I was so excited we were to get rain all day. Then I heard we were in a thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch until 8PM, and I said to myself, here we go again.

Around 2:30 the worst of the storm hit our area with drenching, vertical sheets of rain. Then the winds started up, and as I watched the large trees bend and sway with the wind, I said, "If I loose another tree, I'm moving!"

Thankfully we didn't loose any trees, nor did we see any tornadoes, straight-line winds, or hail, like some parts of NH experienced. By the end of the day, I'd say sometime around 7:30PM, the sun was peaking out from behind clouds. Everything looked and smelled so good. I decided to go out and check the rain gauge, and we'd gotten 1.5 inches. Boy did we need every drop!

Warm and dry with more humidity

From the time I got up I could tell it was going to be more humid, sunny with a high of 87.

I'd heard it was going to be cooler on Sunday, so after watering in the AM I decided to run errands after lunch. Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten very far when I heard on the radio we were to get high winds and a lot of rain on Sunday when the cold front moved through.

I quickly tried to finish my errands so I could get home and mow the rest of the upper yard. Lowes was one of my stops, and I remembered it was about this time last year I saw the Cedar Waxwings eating berries on trees lining the parking lot. At first I didn't see any, but as I was driving out I spotted 3. I quickly pulled over and watched them for a bout 10 minutes, plucking only the ripest berries. Don and I both agree they are the most beautiful bird we have ever seen.

Trust me, this picture does not do the bird justice. The colors are such a beautiful, striking pastel, it's almost surreal.

Remembering I should be home mowing, I grudgingly left to go home. Once home I quickly changed and mowed the front of the upper yard. Again having to double mow, I finished at 5:30 after starting at 4:00, and boy was it humid, yuck! I literally sweated off 4 pounds in that hour and a half.

All I got to say is, IT BETTER RAIN TOMORROW!