Showing posts with label spice bush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spice bush. Show all posts

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Swoll

Almost everything outdoors is swelling or starting to emerge from the chilly ground. Some things develop earlier than others: the serviceberry in the backyard looks like it is ready to pop, while the 'Cumulus' variety in the front yard has barely started. I have my fingers crossed that flower buds don't get nipped by frost. That has happened to some of the magnolia in the area.

Spicebush

I used to start a lot of plants from seed, but no longer, so I also don't have a very good setup for doing so. Consequently, once the zinnias and amaranth popped up, I moved them to the garage where they are under lights. Not the best situation, but it stays above 50 out there this time of year, so I hope it will be okay until I can move them outside.

Today was the first mow of the season. I felt a bit guilty making all that racket on Easter Sunday, but WeatherBug is predicting days of rain, so I didn't want to wait.

Sunday, April 05, 2020

Piddling in the yard

Yard cleanup continues. I have been cutting up the longer stalks so I can fit more into the trash can, but now am thinking if I am going to that much trouble, maybe I should just let the pieces mulch, then compost in place. Once I have finished downsizing the garden, I may just do that.

While cleaning up, I came across this thing. I suspect it is a spice bush I planted in 2017 (I think - there doesn't seem to be a blog entry about it). I thought I had moved it to the south side of the shed, but whatever I did transplant did not survive. If this is a spice bush, I am very glad to see it.


There are more crocus (crocii?) than usual this spring. Even though we had a mild winter, maybe it wasn't beneficial to the local rabbit population. The daffodils are blooming as are the pink hyacinth. And then there are fungi.


I reassembled and repositioned the tuteurs for 'Betty Corning'. Last year's experiment of trying to direct these clematis vines to the nearby redbuds was a fail because the Betty's don't get tall enough. Maybe this year I will prune back some of the vines, to try to control the rampant growth. In case I forget, I anchored the tuteurs to the downspouts.

The neighbor who lived behind me kept two compost bins behind his shed. When he moved, he took one with and bequeathed the other - and the compost in it - to me. The compost has been sitting in old recycle bins in the garage... until yesterday, when I spread half of it on the front lawn. My spreader is old and decrepit, and it seemed to get hung up on the pieces of egg shell, but I managed to make one pass over the lawn. The walk across the lumpy lawn and the pushing of the spreader reminded me of why I purchased a riding mower a couple of years ago. My ankles and arms were sore after that.

I hope you all are playing it safe, staying home, washing hands, etc. Keep calm and garden on.