Garden happenings

Things have been veritably shooting up out of the ground lately, aided by vast amounts of both rain and sun. I mowed the back yard for the first time on April 30, and it was already very tall (and is in desperate need of another mow). The Ramos team finally mowed our front yard for the first time on May 8, seriously overdue.

Yesterday I bought $45 worth of herbs, anemone, and creeping phlox at the Maplewood Garden Club plant sale but have not yet put them in the ground.

The baptisia was starting to bud on May 1 and has actually grown a lot in the 10 days since then

The bleeding heart started blooming around May 1 (date of this photo) and is still blooming

This is my new peony on May 1, the one I thought wasn't going to appear. It's a lot smaller than my established peony but nonetheless wonderful.

Viburnum and creeping phlox on May 1

Tulips on May 3. Very pleased with these perennial tulips; I hope they really do return.

May 4. Daffodils at their peak.

May 4

May 4

I finally got the remaining seedlings from the mini-greenhouses into the ground. From left to right, I put in Larkspur, allium, and foxgloves (which had really tiny seedlings - prob better to direct sow). I also put in the pepper seedlings in a spot closer to the house, between Emma's other plantings.

Sweet peas on May 4. I am delighted with these - they look so healthy and eager to climb!

The pepper seedlings went into the middle between Emma's patches of flowers, on May 4.

Tulips on May 4. They probably peaked around May 7ish. Lovely.

This and all below are from today

The cherry blossoms blew across the street from a neighbor's house!

Endless enchantments of spring

Every time I walk outside I see exciting progress among the plants, and the temptation is there to photograph everything. So I do!

I could not possibly be more delighted that the allium in the back plot is now two alliums, both with buds.

The foxgloves in the back plot are looking very robust, and you can see also the other things looking good in the back (left to right: forget-me-nots, artemisia, lungwort, aster, the small white allium).

Our cherry tree has always been a little half-assed, but nonetheless, its blooms are appreciated.

The two-year-old daffodils in the back didn't all do so well this year - especially the frilly stinky ones. Maybe because of the weather.

These look good, though! I really need to get rid of the last of the leaves. They are all piled in corners like this.

As the early daffodils on the right are spent, the ones on the left are in their prime, though not so great this year.

I should have captured these a week or so ago at their peak, but they did well. The little ones. None of the grape hyacinth  made it though - deer?

See the red peony shoot in the front! I thought it had perhaps been uprooted or simply didn't survive, but I am so pleased to be wrong.

This is the lavender I cut all the leaves on in the fall, wondering whether it was better to leave them or cut them. The one one which I left them is below, on the top right of the photo. I am still not sure what was the better course of action.

I like this little spot in the front, with the stones and all the different colors and textures of plant, all very close together. Want to replicate this everywhere.

The poppies! I am so proud of the poppies! Also the onesie daffodil in back that really needs to be dug up and propagated (scooped/scored/scaled) because a onesie is ridiculous,

Front left

Front right

Emma and I transplanted the zinnias, cornflowers, and gypsophila today.

Garden happenings

Most of the mini-greenhouses are now sporting little sprouts, the exceptions being foxgloves and peppers.

Allium

Gypsophila

Sweet pea

Also, everything else around the yard is looking stupendous and full of promise.

Magnolia

Alliums in the front yard

Perennial tulips... please don't let them get eaten before blooming!

April 19, 2017

Side-by-side comparisons of the front at this time of year are below. There were more daffodils than I remembered that didn't make it back this year, but the main takeaway is that everything else looks a little behind this year - no surprise whatsoever, given that spring only just showed up. Note the viburnum already blooming this time last year.

April 18, 2018

Finally, yesterday I saw an Eastern Towhee (bird) in the bush, and today a pair of chickadees made an appearance.

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

Reeves-Reed and Van Vleck

Unsurprisingly, there is not much to see at local gardens, because spring has ghosted us. Well, this weekend we've bundled up and gone anyway. I think the overwhelming impression has been, "let's come back when things are actually blooming."

At Reeves-Reed Arboretum, there are a billion daffodils WAITING to bloom, but this variety pulled it off despite the wintriness. I took this picture because every fall I forget that I would like to order daffodils that are pale yellow on the outside and darker yellow on the inside. This is my reminder.

This is Van Vleck House and Gardens in Montclair. Emma was sweeping pine cones with an evergreen branch. Imagine how lovely this will be when the wisteria on the house is blooming!