Golden Lawns Tuesday, Oct 8 2013 

gardening and Landscapes , , acairfearann 15:26

The rather ferocious (if needed) rain combined with high winds yesterday stripped the ashes of their leaves entirely.  It also caused the white pines to drop their old needles, which had been hanging up in the branches making all the pines look quite ragged and ill.  The end result is that the lawns, and the tennis court in particular, are completely covered in golden needles.*  The roads are similarly covered, there was an actual drift several inches high along the centerline through the S-curves this morning.  The needles will quickly sink into the grass, but for the moment it is really quite impressive.  I am not sure how the pines decide to shed; since it occurs every few years it ought to be spaced out, with some trees shedding heavily each year.  But for some reason, they all follow the same schedule.

*The tennis court is not a tennis court anymore, it is a pine grove and (since I mowed it recently) there is little vegetation to break up the needles.  A few volunteer dogwoods and such here and there, the rest is a golden carpet.

 

Good timing! Thursday, Oct 3 2013 

gardening acairfearann 21:16

Why exactly am I away from here during perhaps the busiest time of the year for landscaping and gardening? At least there are two other people here to intercept the bulb order! And no trees this year.  Probably wise.

In the last few days, an entire garden bed has been reworked and a temporary garage built; I can’t take credit for either of those.  I have, at least, been running about a bit watering things.

See you after the weekend 🙂

 

Editing Barberry Saturday, Sep 28 2013 

Landscapes acairfearann 20:24

Now is the time to mow, or cut, or trim.  At least for things like re-sprouted barberry and burning bush.  It is too late in the year for them to regenerate successfully, but too early for them to have gone dormant.  Unlike many of the native plants, which have realized it is fall; and, if cut now, would simply wait for spring quite happily.  The barberry will re-sprout next year; but by cutting it right now, it has essentially lost an entire year.

So, despite the poison ivy still being exceedingly green, I spent a good bit of the afternoon clearing around the sugar maple sap line* along the lane and along a neighbour’s boundary line.  I have some orphan arborvitae, originally destined for the highway, that may go along that neighbor’s line.  It is not a problem, yet, but it might be in a decade or so; better to plant it now and have the privacy screening in place.  As for the highway, well!  It can’t get much worse!

*This is called being a good steward…my trees, my land, his lines.  Would he be unhappy if I didn’t cut the barberry? No.  Does it make his life easier? Yes. Is it, in the long run, also good for the land? Yes. Prior to that line being there we were essentially ignoring it.  Now, I have selected some young maples for the next generation, the invasive shrubs are under control, and we are beginning to see some regrowth of wider variety of shrubs/grasses/flowers.  There is no financial gain for us, except for a few gallons of free maple syrup. (and I doubt he makes much extra cash)  But the land benefits.

 

Photo of the day Sunday, Sep 22 2013 

gardening and Modern Photos , , acairfearann 12:01

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Taken much earlier this year, clematis ‘Mayleen’ of the Montana group.  A very happy plant, only in its first full year, it has sprawled over about 20 feet. This photo is taken from underneath it.

 

More Wood aster Tuesday, Sep 17 2013 

gardening and Modern Photos , , acairfearann 13:53

Seeing as I natter on about it so….

Here is one patch of it: this is the most recently created one, we simply stopped mowing the stretch between the Douglas Spruce and the Copper Beech because it was all moss.  One year later, this is the result.*  Wood aster is a takeover specialist.

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*For scale, it is an easy 15 meters between the two trees.

 

Botanical Art Thursday, Sep 12 2013 

Esperanza and gardening and Genealogy and Historical Events , , acairfearann 14:42

Again from the guestbook, this time by a cousin.  I use the term loosely, I have yet to understand how all the Smiths relate to the Palmers relate to the Websters relate to the Ellsworths relate to the…  Is Julia a closer cousin to Morris Smith than to William Webster Ellsworth? Possibly, possibly not.  In any event the genealogy is not my forte; I do know that there were any number of cousins living in NYC.  It is somewhat interesting to note; until recent times* Esperanza has been solidly Hartford/NYC/Hudson River/Adirondacks in orientation.  The 1870’s-1930’s group has not the slightest interest in points further south on the coast nor on points further north.  They are quite happy to jump to New Orleans, California, Europe, North Africa….but Boston and Washington D.C.? Different planets.

Anyway, botanical art:

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*recent = last three generations.

 

September Flowers Tuesday, Sep 10 2013 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 17:40

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September probably has the highest flower count here: if you were to count each individual aster, lobelia, etc.? Hundreds of thousands easily.  Spring and fall are the two growing seasons for New England, summer is survival against the heat and winter is survival against the cold.

The white wood aster, by the way, (which is in this photo) actually is fragrant: a very subtle floral scent on a good dry day…at least when one is standing in a patch several hundred feet square!

 

Autumn Volunteers Friday, Sep 6 2013 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 16:25

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Black-eyed susans (rudbeckia), blue lobelia, white wood aster, unknown aster

 

September Snow Thursday, Sep 5 2013 

gardening acairfearann 18:38

Heart leaved wood aster, or white wood aster, is a native flower (sort of in the aster family)*.  It blooms in late August through to frost.  The flowers are small, white, with purple or yellow centers.  It adores dry shade, but is equally content in full sun (though the leaves get burnt).  It spreads by runners and will outcompete most garden plants.  We have a lot of it.  The old tennis court is covered with it.  Last year we gave up mowing the mossy area underneath the big Japanese Maple, the Douglas Spruce, and the Copper Beech.  No point in it, it is very dark and composed mostly of blanket moss.  Or was….It is now a gorgeous carpet of white, looking for all the world like a massive drift of snow, beneath the purple leaved trees.  Quite impressive!

 

*The botanists are having too much fun taking this family apart and putting it back together, a group of frustrated divorce lawyers!

 

Nasturiums Wednesday, Sep 4 2013 

Esperanza and gardening , , acairfearann 09:46

From the guestbook, August 1878 by Louis Goddard

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