First bloom 2008

these are my crocus. Honest!

Blue jay in the yard today...

Hope your Easter was fabulous. Ours was snowy. Snow on Easter is very depressing. It's looking to be a cold and rainy spring, without a day in the 70's. I need to get out and do some pruning, since I don't prune in the fall.
I saw this picture in an ad for a landscaping business. This ad is meant to display the quality of their work.

In design class, they called this meatball pruning.
No further explanation needed....

Ειναι ολα τα ελληνικα σε εμενα (It's all Greek to me!!)

"Phenology, which is derived from the Greek word phaino meaning to show or to appear, is the science of periodic biological events in the animal and plant world as influenced by the environment, especially weather and climate. Sprouting and flowering of plants in the spring, color changes of plants in the fall, bird migration, insect hatches, and animal hibernation are all examples of phenological events."

Pretty fancy talk, especially for my blog!! The truth is, I followed plant phenological keys for years, without ever knowing it.
I love my lawn. It's important that I have the best lawn on the block. Especially in front. I selected a specific grass seed mix and drove halfway across the state to find someone who would mix it for me. When I see the ChemLawn truck out in March, I want to scream!!
The grass is not actively growing right now, neighbor! You are wasting your money and your chemicals are blowing into my yard....
I don't use ChemLawn to time my lawn chemicals. I use the forsythia. It's the phenological plant key to tell you that the soil is between 50-55°. The perfect temperature for crabgrass germination....
Some of the phenological keys sound like cliche' sayings:
When the daffodils begin to bloom it is time to plant peas.
When the blossoms of the apple tree begin to fall, plant your corn seeds.
Silver maples show the lining of their leaves before a storm.

I know a farmer who has a big expensive tractor with a GPS system, a satelite computer system for monitoring grain prices, and his nitrogen is purchased years ahead of time. Planting time, he tells me, when the oak leaf is as big as a squirrel's ear.
Now, whether or not he holds true to that, I don't know. He farms over 100 acres and his family has owned that farm for 150 years. I am not about to argue with him.
I do know the forsythia timing holds true for me.

Pretty! (far away....)

What could be wrong with this picture? It's not my yard. My yard is full of snow. My camera is out of batteries, but my yard is full of snow. At Carol's house in Indy, they got lots of flowers.
I got snow.



On a truthful note, I spotted several robins today, a classic sign that winter is losing its grip, right? Also, the finches are turning bright yellow and it was March 10 last year when I spotted the first bluebirds, remember?

6 months???

My silly blog is still here after 6 months of neglect! Amazing thing, Blogger. It's like one of those virtual pets.
I have been working for a friend who runs a garment and screen printing business out of her home! Our girls play ball together.
I start my garden center job @ Farm & Fleet again, in April.
We have had Nick's friend living with us so that he can finish his senior year. Having him here makes me sooo proud of Nick! Luv ya' Nick!
I don't have any flowers in my garden, I can't even find the crocus under the snow. I hate this time of year, the snow is dirty and it's piled everywhere. As it melts in this rural area, it reveals it's secrets it's been keeping thru the winter.
This video makes me remember I planted 40 dutch iris bulbs in November.

The song is Hebrew, so cheerful! (not that I understand a word of it...)
Thanks for dropping in.

Spending some time on the deck...

Beautiful Bloom Day!

It's a Garden Blogger's bloom day for me!! A wonderful Saturday for looking at my flowers! It's been months since I have participated and I was so excited to finally take part!!
I even found a plant I did not plant! I don't know where this little aster looking guy came from!

Philmore is finding cover in the Purple Wave!

If you find yourself with a shady corner in need of a wonderful plant, I highly recommend Endless Summer Hydrangea. This color variation is on one plant, below the Bloodgood Japanese Maple.

The Lobelia looks like its coming out of summer dormancy and plays well off the Dale's Strain Heuchera....

I don't remember which allium this is. I planted it with the tiny little excuse of Black Beauty Elderberry, which you cannot even see, right now.

Nicotiana Appleblossom....


I had to have the anemone, but I don't have any place to put it where it looks natural, but I had to have it!! It has bloomed profusely since August. I dearly love it....
Anemone tomentosa 'Robustissima'

Seed Dahlia

I cannot wait to go around and see others' Blooms! Thanks Carol, for this opportunity!

Borer Horror!!

I have an ash tree in the front yard. It's a builder's special, it was there with the Silver Maple and the Bradford Pear. All of these trees are cheap, readily available and overplanted, if you ask me.

The pear tree has been moved, not destroyed, only because it does offer fruit for the birds. The Silver Maple was planted too deep and it's suffering a long, slow demise of it's own. The ash tree is the only one I wanted to keep.
Guess what?
I got a pain in my ash.

Vertical scarring associated with the Emerald Ash Borer. (notice the suckering? Another
symptom of ash borer.)

The bark here is completely torn away from the cambium. The suckering is the tree's response to it's life being threatened from the inside out...

Crown die-back, sometimes the first symptom people notice.

I have written to the Illinois Dept of Agriculture and sent them these photos. I am in an area that is quarantined, already, but I just want a confirmation.

I want a Purple Robe Locust Tree.