What's Blooming

I managed to capture a couple of blooms before our new northern monsoon season began, but today the monsoons arrived. This means wet, soggy blooms. It has been raining for over 24 hours. I have a new rain garden. I have a new pond. Here is a dry species tulip, 'Lady Jane.'

And anemone 'Blue Shades' soaking up sun before rain.

Later blooming daffodils, part of a naturalizing mix from Bluestone Perennials, catch the rays of the sun before bowing to the rain.

My serviceberry tree, laevis, in its first spring did not disappoint!

Carpeting the new woodland edge border are forget-me-nots, more naturalizing daffodils, wild strawberries, and muscari 'Magic Carpet Blend.'

Coming around the northside of our garage/workshop, the bleeding hearts drip with rain.

Greeting us out front are creeping phlox, bright red tulips, ajuga and short iris – all somewhat droopy and drenched.

New this year are two 'Purple Prince' crabapples courtesy of our wonderful village. They dropped them off last week, planted, and staked them. I simply responded to an offer from the village in our local, weekly newspaper. (I have learned that if a newly planted tree is over an inch in diameter it is better to stake it for a year, with a slight give.) With the rain, they are already in bloom. Now I have a blooming buffer from the street.

Annual blooms and the last of my mail orders waiting to be planted. I think it is supposed to rain for the next five days at least ... (sigh).

Garden bloggers' bloom day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens the 15th of each month. Stop by, see what's blooming in gardens around the world, and add your blog blooms to the list.

How I Celebrated Arbor Day

Originally I planned to post this on Arbor Day which is celebrated the last Friday in April. I celebrated Arbor Day by, appropriately, planting trees! Little did I know then that the "cold" I was suffering on Arbor Day was actually bronchitis and is the reason why this post is a little later than planned.

The first tree I planted came in a box - yes, a box!

And the label said ...

Immediately! (Which is why I was not going to let that "cold" get in my way.) The tree arrived Thursday afternoon so I unwrapped and soaked my new tree overnight in a bucket in my shed.

Nice buds!

I prepared the site with some compost and peat moss. Eventually this will be part of a new, large bed.

Say hello to my new Serviceberry tree, Amelanchier Laevis. I cannot wait to see her leaves open and hopefully, flowers next spring. I chose this tree because it is native and provides a natural food source in the form of berries for a variety of birds in this area. I am watering it with a 5 gallon bucket with holes punched in the bottom. I read somewhere that new trees and shrubs should receive 5 gallons of water every few days to establish. This way, I know I am watering sufficiently.

I also planted another Arborvitae along the drive. You can see last year's growth on the one to the right which I planted last spring. I plan to extend this bed further down the drive and plant a third Arborvitae. I think of the Arborvitaes as "posts" on my living fence and in between them, I will have some substantial perennials. They are strategically placed in front of my neighbor's windows. I chose these trees because they are a classic in this area, hardy, evergreen, provide good cover for birds, and will not outgrow this narrow space.

Along the potager (kitchen garden) I am incorporating the same concept only with Alberta Spruce - also extremely hardy. It will be nice to have some winter interest and structure. These grow very slowly. The tree circled was my Christmas tree and I tried to overwinter it. Don't do that. I now know that it is true you should not try to overwinter a tree (even though the label offered instructions). If I get another this year, the hole will be dug out and the tree planted right after Christmas. You can see how it suffered compared to the one on the right. I hope it recovers. I hope I recover ... there is so much to do in the garden and it's very difficult to "rest," but I think I am going to make it!

Tree Tops

Planting this one tree last fall of 2008 (as well as my shed) improved my backyard view throughout the seasons. Popular I know, the Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea Pungens), but I suppose popular for a reason. It has always been one of my favorites. The new spring growth on this tree was stunning. I am sorry but I am not sure of the cultivar/variety. If you have read my past posts you will know that I did not have any - as in big, fat nada - trees on this lot when we purchased this home. And trees are my favorite! Fortunately, we at least have some good neighbors like those Maples.

Reasons I chose this tree: native to North America, bird friendly, evergreen for winter interest, very full habit for privacy, readily available, transplants well in most soils and it is hardy - zone 2 in fact. Also, I am really trying to relate all my plantings by keeping within a color scheme of blue, orange, reds/burgundy. Or at least have those colors running throughout the entire garden. (I am afraid I find it very difficult to be that disciplined, however.)

Other large native trees I have planted: Eastern White Pine (above top in very early summer), Pin Oak (above with fall color against neighboring Silver Maple).

Why did I choose these? The Eastern White Pine is THE signature tree here along the river - majestic, beautiful. Both these trees have high wildlife value as well. I would have loved to plant a Swamp White Oak (another tree found throughout this region) but I do have a relatively small lot. I chose the Pin Oak because it has a much narrower form and transplants well in urban settings. The Eastern Pine will grow into (or should I say above), our neighbor's lot as it matures but he told me he loves trees (yeah!) and I did discuss my plans with him.

So, why all this tree talk? I had a great get away weekend and visited the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as well as Cornell Plantations in Ithica, NY. Not the best time to visit the theme gardens (of which some are undergoing construction), though still inspiring. BUT we also hiked through the Arboretum and it was a picture perfect fall display.

 Red Maple (Acer Rubrum)

 

Shadblow Serviceberry (Amelanchier Canadensis)

This is on my list to plant - but Amelanchier Arborea. Seeing this one just confirmed that YES, I definitely want to plant this.

White Birch (Betula - not sure which one)

This reminded me of the Paper / Canoe Birches in Wisconsin - one of my favorites.

 

The bark of River Birch (Betula Nigra)

Hmmm, maybe I can find room to plant one of these. (I find myself eyeing any village / suburban house with mature trees and trying to calculate just how much space those trees grew up in and how close together they are to see if I can fit more trees on my lot!)

Swamp White Oak (Quercus Bicolor)

Oak Leaf Hydrangea (Quercifolia)

Okay, not really a tree but I couldn't resist. I planted one of these ('Alice'), and seeing this mature shrub with its spectacular fall color made me feel really good about it! I would recommend to anyone.

Oh, by the way, the trees in Cornell's arboretum are all tagged so you can read what types they are. And I also found Michael Dirr's book "Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs" helpful in writing this post for the (hopefully) correct latin names and spellings. It is one of my favorite books and I refer to it quite often. You may enjoy finding out more about the Cornell Plantations.

We ended the weekend touring some of the wineries around one of New York's finger lakes, Seneca. Stocked up on that wine so I can celebrate another great day.