gardening and Landscapes gardening 20:12
Pretty much the same view….just about sixty years apart! Use the Ginkgo for reference, the angle is not quite the same, but close enough to give the sense of it. There is a reason no one sees the place anymore from the road, at least not in summer.
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One of the quiet glories of the garden is the trillium. This is the classic white trillium that I will forever associate with Mont-Royal in Montreal. But also with here. Planted by my grandmother, it has slowly, slowly spread. It takes seven years from seed germination to flower…if all goes well. And the germination rate is low. One of the best things is that the patch, once concentrated in one spot, has now spread out. Helped by human hands, and its old friends the ants which carry the seed, there are now a few trillium on the other side of the drive, elsewhere in the garden, and under a few other trees. This is good.
They had made me nervous this year, with very little rain, they had come up small and tight. And since that single whorl of leaves is all they have for the year, that is worrisome. But with that week of rain, the leaves expanded and they are blooming away. Perhaps fifty plants now. Maybe more.
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gardening vegetable gardening 20:50
In little bits and pieces. I just managed to get the onions in the ground and some parsley. I have also finally created the bed for the winter squash. As I did last year, it is mostly old composted manure with a heavy mulch of old hay and paper bags. It seemed to work last year, so why not this year? It cuts down on the whole weeding thing too. I did nearly get the little tractor stuck doing this, amazing how slippery young hayfield grass on a steep slope is. But, more’s the fun. Eventually that area will be a very nice area for a tamer garden, but since the winter squash vines hit nearly thirty feet in length last year, tame isn’t part of the agenda.
It really did work too. (though I don’t have seeds for that particular hybrid butternut: Polaris F1, this time around, it sold out in record time, no surprise considering the amount and quality of the crop)
We are still eating winter squash. I highly recommend roasting peeled winter squash until it begins to brown (centimeter thick slices) and then mixing it with well sautéed mushrooms, bacon, and onion (a bit of sage and thyme added in). Serve over pasta. It might be that I have gotten somewhat bored with the standard presentation of winter squash: Mashed!
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A very nice ground-cover, even though it really can’t compete with heavy mulch or cold, dry winters; so it is best to let it amble about in a number of places where it can be an unexpected delight and not asked to really fulfill a Function as a ground-cover. It likes these old stone steps:
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I couldn’t actually get a good photograph of this, the framing was all wrong, as is the placement; but, a good example of how once in awhile a really bold color combination can work. This is accidental, but the orange and the pink don’t seem to clash. Perhaps because none of them are really ‘pastel’ or ‘soft’; the phlox isn’t due to its sheer size, the tulips by nature. I’m not really a fan of ‘hot’ borders and that sort of thing, but bold colors as accents do catch the eye.
I planted them on the old tennis court, the soil type may be right, but it may be too shady for effective blooming. Also known as the Florentine Tulip, the shape is lovely. And yes, sometimes there is a very faint scent. The flowers don’t last very many days though. Are they naturalizing perennials? That I don’t know, though after three years, they are all still there. They might, which would be nice.
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gardening 09:50
Accomplished. The big Fringe Tree* by the drive way pillars had over the last century developed an impressive arching branch some six inches in diameter. For the last few years it had been propped up, having split decades ago. It was rotted, but still alive. Then, a few days ago I noticed that the arch was no longer a nice curve but was instead sharply angled at the point where the main support was. Sure enough, it had split and dropped even farther. There was however a good new branch about an inch and a half in diameter, coming up from the roots and not the old trunk, that could replace the old arch. Assuming the arch didn’t fall on it.
And so, it was time. A few careful cuts with a saw and a bit of maneuvering to get the big branch out, and the job was accomplished. The fringe tree now looks almost exactly like it did a century ago. I wonder what the next century will bring?
* Chionanthus virginicus to be precise. Is it properly a bush or a tree? I think, if a chainsaw is appropriate for cutting it down, it is a tree. Actually, we used the Sawzall, mostly because the easiest way to do it was to have me support that arch while dad cut. That meant standing about a foot from the blade. You do Not do that with a chainsaw.
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gardening connecticut wildlife 23:08
After several years’ absence, though they may have been around (just invisible), I startled one today. Probably not the same one, of course; but a very handsome one. Perhaps even one of the kits seen in this photo from 2014. Let’s hope they make a dent in the rodent population.
Who are they you ask? The Grey Foxes.
gardening 19:32
The canoe is out of the basement and back in the barn! Several more pieces of vegetable garden beds dug, miscellaneous tidying up here and there.
What’s blooming? The daffodils and a few tulips, various spring bulbs such as the scilla, chiondoxa, muscari, and the like. A few wildflowers such as the violets, bluets, and pussytoes (out in the real woods, this is a good year for a number of spring ephemerals) The Star Magnolia is just opening today. The crabapples will be opening by this weekend, as will the shadblows. The peach and cherry are unknown quantities. It looks like the cherries weathered that last cold snap, but I am not quite sure about the peach…..we will see shortly. The forsythia didn’t care for it. Odd plant, it should be reliable; but more years than not it doesn’t bloom well. Strange.
It has swung over to hot and dry (for us) though, so I think a lot of things are going to go bang and grow very fast indeed.
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Well, I think the daffodil bank is unlikely to recover its full glory. It was just starting into bloom when the cold and snow came. Because those daffodils (genuine King Alfreds) are long stemmed, many of them got broken by the weight of the snow. But we will see, I’ll collect the broken ones this evening once I know for sure.
On the other hand, we will likely have the only Star Magnolia to bloom this year. Ours is always two weeks behind, even our neighbors, and had not yet even thought about budding out. Unlike everyone else’s.
Hard to say on the peaches and the apples, they hadn’t begun to bud out though, so maybe. Not that I need more apples, still plenty in the freezer!
The snow was a good thing though, as long as it didn’t break things, it protected them.
Now what is forecast for tomorrow….
Acair Fearann 