It been a roller coaster month. Really hot and dry then cool and rainy. Critters galore. The rabbits continue to munch on some favorites. The bluebirds fledged and the robins and wrens are about ready to go. Deer circumvent the perimeter of the meadow. Chipmunks are everywhere now. Fireflies were out the other night. The praying mantis egg cases hatched and the polliwogs turned into frogs. Life goes on.

Today it is 46 and raining. Last Wednesday it was 91 and dry. You have to love the New England weather. We gardeners are not happy that Memorial day observances are rather chilly and wet, but we are thrilled to have the rain to help ease the drought conditions. It has been a busy few weeks. The bluebirds fledged a couple of days ago.. we saw four but there may have been more. The wrens are building everywhere and momma robin has laid some beautiful blue eggs in a cedar tree right outside our breakfast table window. Hummingbirds are regular visitors to the feeder and orioles are slurping up the grape jelly and oranges. We have had other visitors too: deer in the meadow, rabbits, turkeys, a huge milk snake and raccoons. (They left their footprints in the pollen on the front porch). Ready for some flowers?

Happy Memorial Day. We will never forget those who served

We have had a glorious spring with pleasant temps and rain when we needed it. Spring is fading though, warmer temps are on the way and there’s no rain in sight so its time to drag out the hoses again. The spring ephemerals will be disappearing soon, so I thought I would photograph them before they go

I hope to get out in the garden and photograph some more plants this week. Busy, busy, busy times

We have gotten a lot of rain recently, and the plants love it. The ephemerals are in their glory. This time of year is fairyland – its just magical. Of course, the critters do their best to harass me. Baby rabbits are munching and the voles really wrecked havoc over the winter so I am transplanting a lot of things to fill in the barren spots. At the end of each day I am tired and sore but happy.

This little guy has lots to nibble on

There is much more but this post is long enough. I hope you enjoy it.

Spring has sprung. We have returned from the sunny south and the garden is waking up.

The above photos are the nice things that are happening. Unfortunately, I discovered that my 3 orange deciduous rhododendrons are covered in scale. Absolutely covered. I decided I needed to remove them. I started with the chainsaw and broke the chain. Then I moved on to the sawzall. That worked pretty well. I decided to leave one plant to see if it will make a come back and “hoick out” the other two.

Downside: a sore back and two beautiful shrubs gone. Upside: lots of space to move crowded plants into. The grass is getting green. The epimedium are almost ready to pop and …….we might have snow on Friday. The gardener sighs.

Spring is here. According to the calendar, and according to weather reports it sure looks like spring weather is here as well. There are reports of spring peepers. Will it last? Who knows. We usually get a tease or two of warm weather and then just when plants are up and sometimes even blooming, we get a snow in April or a big freeze and that messes everything up. We will have to see.

I’m writing this from afar so I can’t go out and actually look at the garden and send photos of shoots or buds. Are the daffodils up yet? Is the forsythia budding? Are the crocuses up and being eaten by rabbits? Did the voles return and eat everything over the winter? Did the deer break through the barriers and nibble the azalea buds? Have the bears come out of hibernation and torn down the bird feeders hoping for a few old seeds left behind? Those questions and more will have to wait a couple more weeks to be answered. There is work being done in the house while we are gone, and its not quite ready for us to come back yet. There will be much to see when we return, both inside and out.

In the meantime, we will enjoy a bit more of the ocean and warmth. This spring feels more hopeful than last year’s did. I look forward to seeing my gardening friends again in person and getting on with life.

Happy Spring!

The garden is resting under a huge pile of snow. That’s actually good at the moment because it will insulate the plants from all the bitter cold. The voles are probably enjoying the cover as well and munching away happily. Grrrr.

In the meantime, I have escaped from all the snow and cold and am enjoying some warmth and sunshine in Florida. I thought I would share some photos from our area and hope they warm you up as well.

More later……

Its a frosty morning in these parts, but our snow is sadly gone. It was washed away by the rains last week, however I am sure there will be more to come.

I received new bluebird houses and a feeder for Christmas, and we put them up a couple days ago. We had two really old houses already, and they were cleaned those up as well. It didn’t take long for a flock of bluebirds to come by and inspect the new digs as well as the remodeling of the old ones.

Perhaps the bluebirds of happiness will be harbingers of a wonderful 2021.

Cheers!

The garden is resting, of course. However, there is always activity in the yard. This crew came through the other day and nibbled on the clematis growing up a tree trunk. Time to put burlap around it.

The gray squirrels have perfected ingenious methods of getting to the birdseed.

Even though the gardens are resting, my garden club stays active decorating planters around town. This one is at the Police Station.

A week ago we had about 4-5 inches of snow. It was heavy and wet.

We lost a big limb off the willow

View of the full moon from the porch

Luckily, I got the outdoor lights up before it snowed

Sunrise on a snowy garden

Merry Christmas

We have had a wild couple of weather weeks. First the snow, then warm days in the 70’s and now reality has returned. Twenty-five degrees this morning. I took advantage of the warm days and got most of the garden clean-up done. Dahlias are now dug, dried and put away. The elephant ears and brugmansia are hibernating in the basement.

We always mow the meadow once a year

We had some tree work done

So everything is resting. No more blooms until spring but as usual there will still be beauty during the winter months.