Friday, April 15, 2011
Maple babies and the first roses
We were showered with silver maple seeds Monday (April 11). It was nothing like the crazy shower of seeds last April in West Virginia, but still enough to cover the ground. Roses are starting to bloom here, and our irises along the south wall. Ornamental pears peaked on March 12, red buds were fantastic March 18- April 1 (and still interesting looking for another week). Our flowering dogwood may be in full flower, but it is so sad looking I'm hopeful there is more to come. Crocuses appeared after the daffodils (perhaps because they were newly planted) March 15 (yellow then purple then white) and the tulips (also new) peaked April 1, so that I could combine them with lilacs and new golden euonymous growth in a gorgeous bouquet. Most oaks have leaves and pecans and walnuts have been flowering (big dangling catkins) for a week. Our sad, dry lawn is peppered with prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola) or a similar plant, shepherd's purse and Tragopogon dubious. It does not surprise me that our "freedom lawn" is a hotbed of broad leaf weeds, but I am surprised that the lactuca seems confined to our yard. What's happening in the spring where you are?
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6 comments:
Nothing but tulips here, as far as the eye can see.
The new backyard prairie is looking a little ragged. Terrible, actually. Still early, I guess. I hope.
Crocuses just finished, daffodils and Lenten rose currently in flower here at the house. Up on the USU campus I noticed manzanita blooming in a several year old pollinator garden. In the same garden the first few females of Halictus rubicundus have started digging their nests. Didn't see much else for them other than some dandelions.
About to send you a reply to your email!! :)
-Molly
Everything was looking quite dandy until Friday when the wind ripped the grass off at ground level, jerked the trees out by their roots, and blew everything not chained down into Oklahoma. Dandelions are doing especially well, cherry trees and strawberries are just beginning to bloom, asparagus is beginning to produce and lettuce is beginning to grow fairly well. If it ever rains we'll be in good shape---beginning to question when that is going to happen. As one ol' timer used to say, "It always rains when you need it; just that sometimes you need it more than others."
dad-in-law
Just saw that one of the dianthus left from last year has a flower on it. Reminds me of a very special person!
AR- Are the tulips actually blooming already? Will they still be blooming come festival time?
Yes, it is too early for your prairie to look good. There are a few things you can do to make it less ragged looking (trimming back some stuff or burning it and making sure that bad weeds [thistles and the like] are removed) but it won't really look good for at least a month, maybe longer.
There are a few dianthus around town blooming, but we don't have any in our yard yet. We will.
My first peony (along the future fig wall) opened yesterday. A peony April 17!
[New readers should probably be aware that this is the furthest south I've lived in my adult life, and ten years in Kansas and West Virginia only slightly modified what I think is normal, i.e. what happens in Denver. Peonies in Lawrence, KS are typically in full bloom on my birthday (May 19), in WV when we're gone after graduation (May teens) and at my parents' house the first week of June.]
snow. well and lots and lots of crocuses in our yard. And headless tulips thanks to the bunnies.
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