Spring Flowers

I am excited to report that spring made a much more dramatic showing in our yard this year compared to last. I'm not sure why, but there were more blooms on nearly every plant and shrub in the yard...and in some cases, we saw flowers on plants that were complete duds last year.

Was it some factor about the weather, the heavy snow blanket for much of the winter, or perhaps our somewhat distracted but nonetheless earnest efforts to weed and compost last year?

Either way, we had tulips spring up that we definitely did not see last year, more prolific oriental poppy blooms, and new lupines appear. Even the crabapple tree, which we had concluded was dead when we first moved in, burst forth with a full canopy of pink flowers.

Here are some other highlights:

*The bearded irises split from my mother's garden and planted near our side door last summer apparently like their new home. The purple ones smell like concord grapes!*

*These deep red roses next to the garage have a ton more buds this year, and thus far have been spared any aphid attack*

*We have more white peonies than either of the pink varieties, and they make such a stunning impact when cut and arranged in a vase.*

(Like that vase? I picked it up for less than $10 at a glass factory in the Czech Republic nearly 10 years ago, and it is one of my favorite possessions. I finally dug it out of the attic this spring and put it center stage where it belongs.)

*The foxglove, which is not typically a favorite of mine, won me over this year*

*Our deep pink peonies hardly did anything last year...just a few small, late blooms. This year was a different story. There must be at least four times the flowers, and they're much bigger. LOVE. Incidentally, I just realized that we only have one light pink peony bush (probably a Sarah Bernhardt?) in the yard. I think we could use a couple more.*

(Another vase related note: I just scored this milk glass cutie at a yard sale for 50 cents! :)

*Last year, I found a tiny fledgling lupine that had sprouted next to our driveway and transplanted it with some compost & TLC. It's about a billion times bigger this year, and much to my surprise, it's PINK!*

*The catmint Steven planted in front of the house last summer is crazy happy. As are the cats if we bring them in a little sprig.*

*And here's one of my faves: an old rose bush with gorgeously full flowers and an amazing scent. Steven pruned the bajeezus out of it last year and it's really paid off. Tons of buds!*

Very happy with the yard this year!

~LT

Garden Wish List: New Plants!

Yesterday I spotted hyacinths and daffodils that have broken through in the yard! Yay! This of course led to fantasies of warmer weather and all of the life that bursts forward with it.

Here are a few perennials that I would love to add to the yard this year:

1. Lots of lavender.

(Preferably the 'Grosso' cultivar, a highly fragrant hybrid with deep purple flowers)

2. Pom Pom Poppies

Bonus if I can find a beautiful salmon color like this:

3. Purple Hydrangea

4. Snowball Viburnum

Pretty sure I've been loving these for years but mistakenly assuming they're hydrangeas.

5. Purple Allium

6. Pale Pink Peonies

We have medium pink, white, and even a deep magenta...but I'm loving this delicate pale pink.

*Sigh*...aren't they all beautiful? I'd settle for 3 out of 6 this summer. And... uhhh...finally getting last summer's roses in the ground. ;-)

My Antidote to the Snowpocalypse Blues

So I never managed to get the roses from *this post* into the ground last fall. Which had me frantically tugging them inside one November night because we were supposed to have our first hard frost. I have to say that I doubted they'd survive the winter inside....but they're actually thriving.

They're actually....blooming!

Today I clipped a blossom and placed it in a lovely aqua blue vintage bottle I found a couple years ago at a yard sale. Just seeing it, and burying my nose in it, relieves the winter blahs.

I ended up putting this beauty front and center on the dining room table, so it's staring at us every time we pass through...reminding us that spring is just around the corner and summer will be here before we know it. Thank God.

The Mystery Plant Blooms...

Remember this plea for help in ID'ing the mystery plant growing near our side door? Well, it's been babied this year and lookie lookie:

It's a beautiful hibiscus!

Veggie Garden

One of the things that I immediately loved about our house was the yard and all of its possibilities....particularly the possibility of taking a stab at a legitimate vegetable garden. (Though at first viewing, that "possibility" was more accurately described as a wildly overgrown rectangular patch of yard, with some rhubarb peeking through the jungle leaves.)

Both my mother and grandmother are avid gardeners, so I grew up eating lots of fresh from the garden produce, which we all know blows anything from the grocery store clear out of the water. Now I want that sun-ripened goodness in MY backyard.

Side note: last year was one of the first years that the two of them collaborated on the same veggie garden. Saying it was on a whole new level is an understatement. Exhibit A:

A parsnip from their garden...yes, a PARSNIP...the thing that usually looks like a white carrot. It took me 4 meals to use it up!

Anyways, in late May, Steven and I grabbed some machetes (okay,okay, we rented a rototiller) and attacked our weed patch, mixed in some composted horse manure, and got ready for some planting.

*In the beginning...*

*Digging In*

*Final product*

We initially left that bush there in the middle because we were hoping that it was something exciting...maybe a currant, or gooseberry, or even hazelnut? But then I saw the very same bush, growing very weedlike and haphazardly on the periphery of a gas station lot. I nixed it about a week ago.

Also, you can see that we didn't touch the last quarter of the veggie patch this year. It's full of Siberian iris that we hope to transplant, as well as home to a haphazardly growing, but productive, grapevine. We're going to address that last section in the fall.

I'll update soon with a current picture of the garden, but here's the current roll call:

-3 varieties of tomato

-eggplant

-bell peppers

-italian peppers

-hot peppers*

-leeks

-kohlrabi

-celeriac

-parsley

-lovage

-yellow summer squash

-acorn squash

-green beans

-cantaloupe

-rhubarb, strawberries, mint, and a grapevine leftover from the previous owners

*I picked these babies up at the garden center because I thought they looked "cute". Turns out that this type of hot pepper--Scotch Bonnets--are among the hottest chili peppers in the world. So much for my quaint little visions of fresh salsa...

Till next time, (get it? get it? ha!)

LT

P.S. A grateful shout out to my mom and grandmother, who supplied the vast majority of the seedlings for this year's garden, as well as numerous other cuttings, and my brother for the horse manure...Muchas gracias!

An Army of 1500

Last night I released 1500 live ladybugs into the yard...

Their mission? To annihilate (devour) the aphids found sucking the life juices out of the rose bushes...

Because I want to see more of these next year...

And I really want to see more of these...

Speaking of next year, I'll order the ladybugs a little bit earlier, as the aphids were really worst a couple of weeks ago. Interestingly, the ladybugs ($10 on Amazon) will survive, dormant, for weeks in the fridge...so if they're ordered early, they can just chill out (HA!) until they're needed.

*ladybug photo from HERE; aphid photo from HERE*

Simply Breathtaking...

The wait is over. Behold the peonies in bloom:

Thank you, little Italian ladies, for planting tons of these gorgeous flowers once upon a time...

Lovely Lupine

Remember this lupine I had to liberate from the weeds last summer?

Lookie what it's doing this year!

Our buddy Mr. Robin, who has a nest in the nearby rhododendron, apparently wanted to get in on the photo shoot.

Notice the big nasty caterpillar he's snagged. (click to enlarge) Is it just me, or does he look proud?

Some Recent Pics

*Yummy brunch at the beautiful Art Nouveau-inspired Loie Fuller in Providence*

*Spring has sprung*

*Skinny Cat, Fat Cat*

*the impatiens cuttings have sprouted roots*

*J.P. Licks-an integral part of our Meat CSA pickup routine*

*Windows open & fresh air blowing on that one beautiful Saturday*

I could definitely stand another one of those sunny, 75 degree weekends....

Random House Updates

Bathroom. New highly-recommended plumber, shower valve fixed, and we are tiling away. We only have a roughly 2'x2' patch of wall left to tile, then grouting, and then (gasp) painting! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! But no more pics until the big reveal...I'm going for maximum impact here, can you tell? :)

Yard. Steven and I took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather a couple weeks ago and started cleaning up the yard, which had been neglected last year, if not longer. We raked, put our new leaf blower/vacuum/mulcher to use (awesome tool), weeded, pruned the large burning bush, and poked around. I was absolutely thrilled to see some flowers coming up! So far it's daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and...drumroll....the peonies are starting to poke through!

Trees. We had a couple of arborists come out to look at the 3 mature Norway maple trees in the yard and suggest a maintenance plan for them. Most notably, they explained why the leaves were all munched up last summer: winter moths. Apparently, these little invaders have become a major problem in eastern MA over the last few years...they lay their eggs on the tree in the fall, and in the spring the little larvae eat the leaf buds and leaves, severely crippling the tree. The treatment plan consists of one application of horticultural oil in the early spring to smother the eggs, and a subsequent treatment with a bacteria that infects the caterpillars. From my point of view, these natural treatments are a must-do for us, as these 3 trees are a crucial part of our yard...without them, it's a turf field with no privacy and no shade. In addition to the moth intervention, the arborists suggested some structural pruning and deep root injection of fertilizer in the fall. Just add it to the list.

The Great Flood of 2010. This past Sunday, I went down to the basement to do some laundry and discovered a lake!!! (PANIC) Our sump pump was apparently stuck in the "off" position and we had at least 3" of water throughout the whole basement, as well as plenty of soaked debris (dirty laundry, a carpet, wood scraps, cardboard boxes, etc). Luckily, when Steven trudged over to the pump and triggered the float, that puppy started cranking. But our homeowner morale had taken a major hit...we have a water problem!? is our basement going to flood regularly? what about mold and mildew???? did we buy a lemon????

Fast forward to Monday. Turns out we needed to put it into perspective. Two of my bosses stayed home to deal with their flooded basements, and one of Steven's coworkers had spent hours sweeping water towards the 2 sump pumps in his fieldstone basement. Not to mention the serious flooding throughout the city...T stations flooded, train tracks flooded, cars half submerged, retaining walls collapsing, closed roads, rivers overflowing, etc etc. Turns out, our 110 year old basement did pretty well in an extreme weather situation. In fact, it's relatively dry right now, with some pooled water in low spots. (hello, WetVac.)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the roof did OK, too. Of course it leaked, but a single bucket kept it in check. New roof in a couple weeks!

Something around here has gotten a bit too leggy...

and it's not me. (ha! I crack myself up.)

The impatiens from my grandmother before I gave it a haircut this weekend:

And post-massacre:

It's extremely difficult for me to believe that anything can survive this kind of treatment, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed...hopefully it will come back nice and full, and all of its little babies will sprout roots so I can plant them, too.

(Isn't it nice to always have a supervisor?)