I cry "Uncle!"

When I decided to let the clover re-establish itself in my lawn, I failed to anticipate how much it would infiltrate my flower beds. Also, spot treating the weeds in the lawn last summer was a piece of cake compared to now, when more unwelcome plants are taking root there. So I will cancel that experiment and let the lawn guys take care of the weeds for me.

I did manage to do a lot of weed spraying before the heat wave it. Temps in the 90's, heat index over 100, sunny to boot, but breezy, too. My daughter and I kayaked on Cedar Creek today. It's a good thing we got an early start, as by the time we came off the water, many more folks were heading in. We both did a good job applying sunscreen, so no sunburns. Also, very few bugs, so no bites, either.

We had even more rain before the heat wave, which brought down a limb from my elm tree. My theory is the tree is so leafy that the added weight of the rain water was too much.

I followed through on my threat to pick some of the fruit from the serviceberry bushes and freeze it, but just enough to experiment with, to see if anything is interested in the berries mid-winter. A few days later I noticed that the remaining berries were gone. More than just robins dine on them, but I failed to observe the feast.

I've seen yucca plants in others' yards blooming. About all that is colorful here is the penstemon. I watch the bees climb in and out of the blossoms, and a brief overview online indicates that Penstemon barbatus 'Coccineus' is attractive to pollinators. I'll take that with a grain of salt, as it's difficult to find definitive information anymore on the Web, especially about cultivars.

Clio and I have been walking in the early part of the day (6:30am) before the sun becomes too brutal. Ordinarily, she likes to bake on the deck, then come in and flop onto the kitchen floor to cool off. Lately, the baking is short-lived. Not so for old cat Finn; I think the heat feels good on his ancient joints. Summer has definitely arrived.

What's that noise?!?

On our way back from a quick trip to Milwaukee, we stopped at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. The parking lots are surrounded by trees which are full of Brood XIII cicadas. And they are LOUD. Inside the gardens themselves, things were relatively calm, although some shrubs and small trees were covered with netting, presumably to protect them from the cicadas.

The previous time we were at the CBG, I came home all excited about the experience. Now - meh. It's not the gardens' fault. I think my interest in expanding my garden exposure has abated. My own yard is enough.

Despite my efforts to attract the birds and bees, there isn't much wildlife activity in my yard. The serviceberry fruit is abundant and dark purple, but the robins don't seem interested. There is no fruit on the chokeberry shrubs, probably because they bloomed too early for the pollinators. Despite the honeysuckle vine and penstemon blooming, no hummingbirds have appeared yet, although it is a bit early. And the bee population seems lower this summer.

The winterberry holly is blooming, but one might not notice it as the blossoms are so small. Last year the bushes next to the house produced no fruit. I have both male and female plants; I wonder if it is a pollinator problem.

At least the wren box sounds like it is full of (noisy) babies.

My house has lost power twice in recent weeks, once from a squirrel in a transformer, today from something else. I've been getting estimates for a whole house backup generator. Holy cow - are they expensive! I like the idea of having automatic backup, but the price is giving me pause. I will get one more quote, then decide.

Feels (almost) like summer

Some mark the beginning of summer with Memorial Day. The weather is almost there, but some cooler temps are in store for us this coming week. As I age, I find it more and more difficult to work under the sun. This morning was overcast, though, so just right for getting some things done in the yard.

I like my older honeysuckle vine but not how it is out of control. Hopefully, these trunks from the arborvitae will help corral it and send it up instead of out.

For the younger honeysuckle vines, I proactively set up trellises to keep them in check.

One other climber, the Clematis Paniculata which is still in a container, is being trained to climb up the pergola. (No pic, because the whole setup is rather chintzy looking.) The plant received a top dressing of composted cow manure today, to keep it happy.

And then there is the climbing rose. I've been looking for a trellis to arch over the gate in the fence, but it has to be at least six feet wide and six feet tall, which is expensive. While spraying weeds behind my privacy fence, I noticed the neighbors behind me had installed a trellis made from concrete remesh (or something like that) for their new climbing roses. So now that is on my shopping list.

Yesterday I managed to get the rattlesnake master into the ground before the sun came out from behind a cloud. This morning was overcast, so I tackled the beds in the front, cutting down spent ragwort flower stems (the hedge trimmer works well for this) and hand weeding. The Penstemon hirsutus (Hairy Beardtongue) is blooming there, along with the Heuchera richardsonii (Prairie Alumroot), which the bees are loving.

The Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks' (Rough Goldenrod) I planted last year is doing well, still in tidy clumps. The aster I planted in front of it did not survive an onslaught from bunnies. I'm debating on whether to replace them. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any reference to the variety.

The serviceberry (a.k.a. Juneberry) fruit is ripening, right on time. The robins will be loving these shrubs in a few weeks.

The spiderwort is blooming well, mostly early in the day. Later on, it closes shop. The rain garden has been closer to a water feature this spring, and I'm not sure the plants that have been under water are going to survive. I'm wondering if some Siberian iris would do well there.

And to close out this post, my trio of suns. They are made from metal, and I purchased them at the annual home and garden show. The first on is on the front porch, the second one by the dining room window, and the last one on the back fence. I particularly like that last one, as its look changes with the changing light.

Have a great weekend!

Pop! goes the serviceberry

The serviceberry shrubs in the backyard popped this weekend. They should produce a lot of fruit for the robins come June (which is why another common name for this plant is Juneberry).

Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'

According to The Spruce website, there are nine different types of serviceberry. The ones in my backyard, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance', are also known as Apple Serviceberry. The ones in the front yard are Allegheny Serviceberry, specifically Amelanchier laevis 'Cumulus'. They bloom a bit later, and the fruit forms later as well. They are more tree-like; one site says they will get to be 10 feet tall, another says 20-25 feet tall. I'm hoping for taller.

When a tulip blooms in my yard, I have to take a picture before a rabbit eats it. Despite the upheaval from the landscape renewal, there are still grape hyacinth and violets growing here and there, and it looks like the daffodils were scattered about. Every year I promise myself to dig up the daffodil clumps that are not blooming well, but maybe I won't have to.

The AC was serviced today, just in time for warm temps. Despite the high pollen count, I have doors and windows open, to air out the house. I'm ready for spring.

Fall colors

We finally had a light frost, followed by what used to be referred to as "Indian summer" - the last of the warm days (one assumes). The sweet potato vines are kaput, except for the one in the flamingo planter. Almost everything else is in autumn mode.

The catmint decided that all the warm weather we have been having means that it should bloom some more.

The serviceberry is putting on a show.

The 'Limelight' hydrangea has reached its pink stage.

The northern sea oats are past the copper stage, now a solid brown.

The swamp oak looks more robust leaf-wise than last year.

Sean from Sanctuary Natives returned to replace the butterflyweed that did not survive its first year. He says he doesn't often get to revisit installations, so we took a brief tour of the yard. Something that I don't think he realizes is that all his planning of what plants to put where will eventually come to naught, as the nodding onion, penstemon, and columbine will spread willy-nilly. I don't mind, just as I don't mind the grape hyacinth, 'Dragon's Blood" stonecrop, volunteer violets, and other plants that have hung on, despite the upheaval from last summer. They are all welcome.

Schizoid

The spring weather continues to come and go. I actually ran the AC for a couple of days this past week, but today the furnace is on again, plus April showers. At least I mowed before the rains came.

Insects seem to come and go as well. Last week I saw a red admiral on the creeping Charlie, yesterday a fat bumble bee in the serviceberry. (I was not quick enough to capture either with my macro lens.) Other than the ants that have invaded my kitchen, not much else six-legged activity.

Creeping Charlie sans red admiral

Serviceberry sans bumble bee

Something new I am trying this year is dripping water from milk jugs. I hung one over the birdbath, but I think it spooked the birds. There is another one over a tray of dirt and stones, to keep it moist for bugs like butterflies and mason bees. We'll see how that works out.

I'm enjoying the serviceberry which has really popped the past few days. A hard freeze at the wrong time can interrupt fruit production, but I'm hopeful there will be a bumper crop for the robins.

The flower stems of the ragwort have a weedy look to them, but the blossoms are lovely. (Can you tell I'm enjoying the macro lens on my camera phone?) Once they are done blooming, I'll cut back the stems to tidy things up a bit.

While I am enjoying all the newbies in the yard, let's not forget the stand-bys. The new leaves emerging on the elm tree show why it is such a great shade tree.

The Crimson King maple produces flowers of a sort, but it seems to be sterile, unlike its cousin the silver maple.

I put out the oriole feeder, but so far, no visitors. An acquaintance who lives in the country has seen an oriole, plus wild turkeys. I doubt I will ever have the latter in my backyard, but today there was a pair of mallards. (I *told* you it was wet out there.)

While all this beauty comes to life with no help from me, other parts of the yards require my attention. I gathered up most the cedar planks from the disassembled raised beds and put them at the end of the driveway (free!), but no takers. My neighbor across the street has been tearing out his deck, so he took the planks (and more) to the landfill for me. I would have like to see them reused, but they weren't in very good condition, plus sometimes you just have to let go.

Bugs, buds, and blossoms

I've seen a swarm or two of gnats this past week, but today I spotted this fellow feeding on the witch hazel blossoms. Some kind of bee, I guess. Honey?

Bee on witch hazel

Meanwhile, buds are starting to swell here and there around the yard.

Serviceberry

Chokeberry

Elm

Hawthorn

Ragwort

I didn't get a good photo of the snowdrops, but the "regular" croci are blooming as well as the daffodils (which look a little raggedy, due to the fluctuating weather).


So much for outside. Inside, I finally got around to starting the zinnias from seed. But first, I made some pots from newspaper, as described in this video.


Mine are not as refined as the ones in the video, but they will work.

Today I finished de-branching the arborvitae, so that task is finished. Now I am waiting on an estimate for the rain garden, because of this repeat performance:

I hope the rain garden helps.

A little pop

Now that the temps have risen to near June-like 80's, shrubs and trees are starting their spring show. The neighborhood magnolias are gorgeous, as are those all over town; last night's rain may have ended that show prematurely. The ornamental pears have magically popped as well, which is a mixed blessing as they are proving to be invasive. My completely unscientific observation is they spread to relatively open undeveloped land but not to mature woods. Has anyone else noticed this?

In my own yard, the serviceberry has popped. Some years it fails to bloom due to late frosts, but despite the erratic weather we have had, it patiently held on. Mine has never fully recovered from rabbit girdling its first year, hence its lack of height.

The grape hyacinth has made it's return. Started elsewhere in the front yard, it spread to the yucca bed. I recently did away with the yucca (or at least made a first attempt) and hope the grape hyacinth takes its place, as it's a harbinger of spring and a low-growing ground cover the rest of the summer.

Some people don't like violets in their beds, but I am not one of them. There are also some Johnny-jump-ups elsewhere but getting a photo of them would have required more agility than I have as they are growing under the elderberry behind some hardware cloth. (I don't know if rabbits eat elderberry, but I have lost too many plants and shrubs over the years to take a chance.) This pic also show a bit of columbine starting to show above ground.

Besides the pink hyacinth under the purple smoke bush, there are white ones behind the barberry. I have no explanation for this "hidden garden" other than I thought the white would be a nice contrast to the dark barberry. The barberry is being removed, to give the gold mop more room, plus it is another invasive (one I have not noticed in the wild... yet).

Some of the daffs are done already, but others continue to brighten the landscape. Too many daffs are never enough.

Yellow isn't the only color of daffodil around here. I think this was marketed as a "pink" daffodil, but was not quite what I (nor the catalog) pictured. I still like them.

One of these days the redbud will pop. Meanwhile, the trees are starting to leaf out, even the Prairie Fire crabapple I planted this year in the backyard. Hopefully, those leaves will turn into branches, as right now it mostly resembles a stick.

For the record, my order from Prairie Nursery arrived intact but with no forewarning. The plants look really robust. One flat of coneflower, one of rubekia, one of butterfly weed (for clay), and one of mixed this-and-that. Not pictured: a one gallon pot of Culver's Root. Guess what I will be doing for the next couple of weeks.