This was made from an image of maple blossoms... with a fun little program from DUMPR...

The return of Winter... ahrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...!

Yes, winter has returned with a vengeance... today was in the 20s and snowing... and we have at least three more days of this. I put plastic buckets over my bleeding hearts. They weren't up very high but i was feeling overprotective of them. The rest of the garden i am letting fend for itself. The daffodils, hyacinth, tulip, etc. are sued to the cold. I'm thankful that we are up on the hill and i don't have a warm micro-climate like i did in town. For the most part, things don't appear too early up here. It tests my patience but is much better for the plants.

So Long...

To the wonderful friend that was the pine tree near our kitchen door. We loved and appreciated the shade and privacy that you gave us. We enjoyed all of the birds that would land in your branches. And even tho' we still have the totem pole that is a part of you... we'll miss you lofty presence.

Little Worlds

Grape Hyacinth
Originally uploaded by pjslomer.

I love the grape hyacinth... i expect to see tiny little garden gnomes or fairies moving in and under them.

It has been a challenging year for these babies... seems that the deer and bunnies like them too.

Buddha with daffodils!
He stands beside a dwarf weeping larch that is just starting leaf out... actually needle out, not leaves.

Trees in the making...

Last week, Sandy gave me trees that she recieved from the Arbor Society. She had made a donation and they sent out trees (at this point they are no more than small twigs). She has a wooded lot and no room for sun-loving trees, so i am giving them a home. Yesterday I planted the "trees" in two large patio pots. We'll see which ones (of the 11) take hold and then transfer from there... probably after a couple years in pots. So we have baby:

• Dogwood
• Crab Apple
• Redbud (we've always wanted them)
• Golden Chaintree
• Hawthorne
• Pear

I really needed some trees in the making since today they came and took down the dead pine near the back porch. I'm really gonna miss that tree... it was so big and glorious... and the birds loved it... especially the woodpeckers. We had them leave the tree trunk up to about 12 feet. That way we still have a bird feeding station... and a visual block between our kitchen door and our neighbors garage window. We'll need a blind for on the kitchen door now because the reflected light off of the white house next door is insanely bright.

Oh well, little seedling... grow fast!!!

APRIL showers...

Rainsrops on Daylily leaves
Originally uploaded by pjslomer.

April 1 and the day began with rain... over an inch of rain.

While the rain continued to come down, Joseph and I took to sprinkling "milky spores" in the garden and around the birch trees. We used up what we had in this grub control... and i went and purchased more for future use. I also purchased a forsythia since Joseph mentioned that he would really like to have one.

After the rain stopped, I moved the butterfly bush that was in the main garden... down near the fire ring. I also moved the "pinks" from the sundial area to main garden... trying to protect them from the deer. We planted the forsythia along the pine line at the back of our property. I also planted the assortment of "potential trees", aka twigs... in two pots on the patio.

Noticed new groth on the honeysuckle, clematis, spiderwort, bleeding heart and astilbe.

Bradford pears are leafing out... as is the crabapple.