Our beautiful, big redbud tree fell over during that storm earlier in the week.  It made us both so sad.

 

We thought maybe George could push it back up with his tractor.  He came over, and tried from several different angles.  But the root ball was just too weak to hold it up.  So, Jon cut it up, and George straightened the stump with his tractor.  

 

The next step was to dig up a two year old seedling from the other side of the second redbud tree.  We are going to nurture the baby tree a couple months, and then plant it in the heartwood of the stump.  

 

I’ll let you know how that works out.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Here is my beautiful Clematis blooming.  

 

Last year the deer ate it right down to the ground.  I love it too much to just give up on it, so this year we put up a little fence to protect it.  This is the top deck.  It has grown and bloomed all the way from the ground up to the top of the deck rail.  

 

I am so glad I took this picture to show you, because a couple nights ago the deer breached the fence and ate all the flowers except the top four!!!  It looks a little sad.  But I know that it isn’t dead, and will grow back next year.

 

I guess we better rethink our fence before then.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The apple trees are loaded with baby apples.  They should start ripening in late August and early September.  

 

It is so exciting to see them every day, and know that we will be making apple cake in just a few more months.  

 

Such a great investment:  apple trees.  They give us sweet-smelling flowers in spring, shade close to the garden for a little rest break, and apples in the fall.  We love them.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

Years ago one of my students gave me a 4 inch pot of orange lilies.  I think it must have been my last year at Sunnybrook.  We brought them with us when we moved here.

 

We planted them in the wild garden, and they grew so well that we were able to harvest bulblets and move them around into other gardens.  They were SO beautiful that first year, but then the deer decided that they liked them too.  Those unprotected lilies are long gone, but the wild garden is fenced, so we still have some in there.  

 

And we enjoy them every year.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I always thought that growing carrots took deep, fluffy soil, and frankly I didn’t want to go to all that work.

 

Last year I discovered several varieties of carrots that will grow in “heavy soil.”  I wouldn’t call our soil “heavy,” but I figured what it means is that the soil doesn’t have to be fluffy and deep.  So I tried them and they grew!!!

 

We have carrots without all the work.  Yoo-hoo!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Memorial Day is a day to remember those who gave their lives in service to our country.   

 

We can’t thank them to their faces, but we can remember their sacrifices, and be grateful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this milkweed plant in the park the other day, and I took its picture.  When I looked at the picture later I noticed that one is in bud, and the other is in bloom.  

 

I remember seeing them all along the Blue Ridge Parkway, when we lived in Virginia.  

 

We love milkweed, and so do the Monarchs.  The butterflies lay their eggs in the milkweed, and when the caterpillars emerge they eat the leaves.  I wish this variety grew in our neighborhood, but I haven’t seen any in years.  

 

Be on the lookout for milkweed; you may see some in your travels, and you can be thankful that the Monarchs have food for their next generations.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Another lovely smell this time of year is honeysuckle.  And it is everywhere!!!  We even have some growing up the compost bins.  I should probably weed it out, but I love putting the flowers in my water bottles for the day.  They add a sweetness that only comes in summer.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

It’s Ligustrum!!!  THE smell of summer.  The ligustrum are blooming all over the neighborhood and all over town.  Any trip to town will bring the smell of ligustrum directly to you.

 

Not everybody loves it, but I do.  So I just drink it in on every walk, every trip.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Remember the cherry tree that I showed you a couple weeks ago?  Well, look!!!  The cherries are ready to pick.  

 

We went down there today and picked about 50 cherries.  There are still some more, not quite ripe.

 

I looked in my garden bucket of stuff, and found the tag that came on the tree;  it was dated April 26, 2012.  It only took 12 years for it to produce cherries.  Don’t care:  they are ours, and they were delicious.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!