Springing up and down

It still feels a little wintery, but after two gloriously warm days at the end of last week, things exploded into bloom. I refreshed this daffodil and forsythia display for a couple weeks and it made me happy.

April 8

And then there was this grape hyacinth bud, until something ate it.

April 10

A lot of the seeds Emma and I planted have come up in their mini-greenhouses (below, gypsophila).

April 11

But earlier this week we had so much rain so fast that some seeped into our basement via the crawlspace, a first since we have lived here. This shows how the backyard floods (even in much lesser rains); I took these photos to share with landscape architects we are evaluating to redo our backyard.

April 16

The daffodils I planted last fall in the front have come up nicely, but they all seem to point downward. So avoid this type in future: Narcissus 'Carlton.'

April 18. Note the magnolia coming into bloom, despite being half-destroyed earlier this year!

April 17

April 17

Postings can't keep up with sproutings and bloomings

Our rocky spring has had its effect on some plants - the magnolia tree just didn't even bloom this year, for example. But a lot of rain in the past couple weeks has sent everything growing everywhere. I mowed the lawn for the first time around April 13, and it already really needed it. I really can't keep up with documenting everything.

I used my own compost for the very first time yesterday! I just pulled a little bit out of the bottom but the pile really needs some love - I should pull out the ready stuff and then mix the rest, which is currently a home for a large number of tiny flies, on account of I've been very diligent about sticking leftover produce on it lately.

Not sure why, but this April hasn't had as many migrating birds passing through the bush outside our solarium as usual. I did, however, spot what I am 95% sure was a ruby-crowned kinglet a couple weeks ago. I tried to take pictures, and when I looked at them afterward, all I could see was bushes, and I even knew where I was supposed to be looking. I know, I know, you are so shocked, because usually I get such clear pictures of birds. Snort.

April 13: 2015 daffodils returning

April 13: 2015 daffodils

April 13: 2016 daffodils and grape hyacinths

April 13: 2016 daffodil and grape hyacinth plantings

April 13: 2015 daffodil plantings on the left, 2016 on the right

April 13: The landscaping installed in the front last year is coming back nicely, though heaven only knows what these things are

April 13, front yard

April 13

April 13: lungwort in back plot

April 13: the 2016 tulip planting came up nicely! 2015, not at all.

April 16: Easter! Showcasing my bird's nest cupcake creations in front of my lovely springy tulips

April 17: This is not my bush (it's in Maplewood), but it's beautiful! What on earth is it?

Mystery bush close-up

April 18: viburnum blooming in front yard

April 18: viburnum and phlox

April 19: front landscaping

April 19

April 19: can't wait for the mini-lilac to bloom

April 26: this is not one of the tulips I ever planted! It was the only one of its kind that came up. Delightful.

Here you can see where the Lone Tulip lives, on the left as you're facing the front of the house

April 28: Funny story about the seeds in the mini-greenhouses I planted early last month. At one point I took the lids off and then didn't pay attention when I put the lids back on - so my six containers and six lids got mixed up. And where had I marked the identity of my plants? On the lids. Oops. In any case, at one point the mini-greenhouses were sitting in a pool of rainwater and so three of them never sprouted seedlings. But two types came up healthily (and one gave a few meager sprouts). Of the healthy ones, one is clearly parsley. But this is the other one - what the heck is it?! Deduction leads me to think either mini bell pepper, or sage. Time will tell, I guess.

April 28: I transplanted both the parsley (pictured here) and the mystery seedlings to the front, to the left of the front door as you're facing it.

April 28: The mystery seedlings (and look at the gorgeous phlox!)

April 28: this was a nice surprise - some of last year's thyme came back in the front!

Bulb planting season

Time to get those bulbs in the ground! I have not finished, but I have put in some daffodils and grape hyacynths. I am also improving my map from last year, to be published here when it is done. Here are the locations of the bulbs I've planted so far:

The new bulbs are planted on the right. The dark compost is a little misleading, as I also put some over where last year's bulbs went on the left. 

Same spot, different angle

Along the north-facing side of the big tree at the back middle of the back yard

The trowel, shovel, and pad point to the spot - a little to the right of where bulbs went last year.

Allium bulbs: three visible on the left, and the fourth where the trowel is pointing.

I pulled out a lot of this weed over the summer, but couldn't be bothered with the rest, and now I confess I think its flowers are pretty. (update: see May 4, 2017 post to learn the identity of this plant!)

I have no idea how the plants in the front are supposed to change as the seasons change, on account of I don't even know what kinds of plants they are, but this one has turned a nice yellow, whether that is good or not:

When I was a kid, we used to find these kinds of puffball fungi up by the track at the high school. I loved squishing them so the spores would whoosh out:

The back plot that I designed and put into action this year has not lived up to potential. The threadleaf coreopsis sort of gave up, and the wood's pink asters (below) are having a rather pathetic bloom, and it's just not filled out very well, but I can try some different things next year. The lungwort has done beautifully, and the artemesia has spread beyond expectation (perhaps a bit too much). Everything else is sort of okay.

Blooms in waiting, plus garden design class

Some of my lovely crocuses are juuuuust about to bloom! Mostly yellow in this batch:

Some of the daffodils have blooms readying themselves, too - I think the Rijnveld's Early Sensation is living up to its name.

And the first of the Spanish bluebells is peeking up leaves:

This shows the bluebell plant (up against the wall) in context, with the Pink Wonder daffodils poking up in the foreground. And a dandelion, which must die.

Last week having been so uncharacteristically warm, the magnolia tree is on the verge of massive bloom. It has cooled back down this week, though.

And in my mini-greenhouses, the alyssum has started to germinate.

I am two weeks into a garden design course at the South Orange Maplewood Adult School. It turns out to be taught by the sister of my friend Matthijs, whose daughter goes to preschool with Emma. I would say "small world," but it's not as if we didn't know that about SOMA.

Anyway I have learned all sorts of interesting things, though it has not translated yet into a design for the sad patch on our back patio that I have plans to redo.

Some of the things I've learned:

• Plants with variegated leaves are nice for reflecting moonlight if you'll be enjoying a garden after dark
• Plant grape hyacinths with daffodils because they have shoots in fall that let you know where you've already planted daffodils - plus they're cheap
• We can plant plants hardy to Zone 7A or any lower number
• This area has quite acidic soil. And trees increase the acidity in soil - which is why grass doesn't grow well under them, and moss takes over. You can decrease the acidity with lime.
• Lavender likes well-drained, rocky, limey (not acidic) soil - not clay! (explains why the plants in front did badly)
• Boxwoods don't like mulch
• Epsom salts contain phosporus, which promotes blooms, eg. for hydrangea
• If you want to get moss to grow on something (e.g. stones), mix some moss with yogurt and water in a blender to form a thin paste, then paint it on!
• Lawns should receive about 1" of water per week - if you're watering, give it to them one long (eg. 1.5 hour) dose
• Master Gardeners hotline: 973-228-2210
• Soil tests are especially important for places where you're growing edible plants, to test for contaminants.
• There are a couple nearby gardens that I'd like to visit: Durand-Hedden garden in Maplewood, and Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills

Helen (the teacher) recommended a book listing all plants - National Gardens (there is also a Northeast version), by Sunset publishers.