Two For the Price of One

The semester has ended. Next week is finals week, so I still have work to do and then freedom. I am quite behind on both blogging and reading. I have had plenty to do to finish up school. Tonight I am posting two blogs. So get a cup of tea and settle in for a long story that I will tell in collages.

Daffodils--at last

Spring finally arrived as the old snow melted, leaving behind lots of moisture, but with another storm on its way, so I took photos of my lovely daffodils that survived the last storm. Then I cut a healthy bouquet so that I could enjoy them inside. 

Ponding

Our pond project finally got started. Removing lilac stumps was challenging, but as hubby learned how to use the mini backhoe, they came out. Let me tell you, a man in a backhoe is a dangerous thing!

Digging

With the backhoe work done, it was time to work the back. We had good help: Jennifer dug in, Heather scooped out, and Jacob got his first lesson on how to use a shovel. And even better lesson we hope: That it is better to work your brain rather than your back.

We, of course, are not done. Next the sides of the pond have to smoothed out and the liner put in place. Perhaps this week.

Boys and Men and Big Toys

All little boys need grandpas who live in the country. I have taught Jacob how to drive the EZ-Go, so he loaded up the lilac stumps to dump in the dump pile. He has learned his driving lessons well. He is one of those city kids who loves his video games. What grandchild doesn't ask grandma "Do you have any chores I can to earn some money?" He got more than he bargained for, didn't he? He really wants a  particular video game. I think he should read. So I told him that I would pay him for book reports. He has to read 10 pieces of literature and write a 100 words book report for each one. His mom says he is reading. We will see if he keeps his end of the bargain. 

And then there is Nathan. He is his mother's little helper in the garden and boy did he love helping grandpa run the backhoe digging holes for the two new trees that will replace the Russian olive. Like I said: Men and backhoes: a dangerous combo.

Really? More Snow. Come on. It's May Day! 

Percale for you. Flannel for you. And lucky you, you get the 300 count.

And then it snowed--again. This time around we were warned to cover our plants, so we covered the two peach trees and the North Star dwarf cherry tree. They were just ready to bud out. We put the box that our freezer came in around the peach trees and then covered them with sheets. Good thing because it did snow--lots. May 2nd Colorado set a record as the coldest night in history  For us it was 17. 

Who wants cake?

And Finally. A finality. I have known all year that this would be my last year teaching. The English office ladies had a wonderful celebration not only for my retirement but for one of my colleagues who had been at UNC for 42 years. She is a noted Margaret Atwood scholar and really quite deserved the accolades. I was--am--year to year contract. So there was cake and flowers and hugs and tears and wonderful sentiments and a beautiful clock to help mark the time. 

I will really miss my friends with whom I have worked for eighteen+ years. I started graduate school in 1989. I was 43 three years old. Heather was in 9th grade, Jen in 6th grade. I had been out of school for nearly 20 years when I decided that I wanted to teach again after being a substitute teacher and a stay at home mom. After grad school, I taught at Aims Community College than went to the university. I never expected the job would last for so long. I can honestly say that I never once dreaded going to work. My colleagues were the best; the students were the greatest. I will say my final good-byes to them next week. I don't think that I will tell my students that I am retiring because I probably wouldn't be able to do it without a few tears. I may go back in the fall to tutor in the Writing Center, but I want my time to be mine now. I want to sew and scrapbook, travel, spend time with my own little ones, take pictures and, yes, spend lots of time in the garden with the head gardener. And of course blog about it all the while. 

Keep reading. Last week's blog follows. I'll be back to reading blogs and writing when I have my grading done and my grades posted for one last time at the end of next week. Grading--the one thing that I will not miss. Oh and getting up at 6 AM and driving to work in the snow. Won't miss that at all.

Now read about Asparagus. 

Signs of Spring

The snow has melted, replaced by signs of spring. The early spring bulbs like the daffodils and the tulips took a serious beating, but some survived the freeze and are bringing some color. Another of my spring favs alums struggled with the cold, but I noticed today that their bloom stalks look strong and healthy. The grass is starting to green up and, yes, there are sure signs of spring, finally. The last couple of days have been gloriously warm and sunny.

I am, however, behind in blogging about the goings-on around here. I'll start with last week-end in between storms.

As a kid I grew up on a small farm west of Denver. My brother and I had free roam, spending many hours entertaining ourselves with little but our imaginations and the wonders of country life. One of my little chores was to collect wild asparagus along the ditch banks. We grew up eating the fresh, sweet spears. The asparagus was abundant enough that mom was able to freeze some for winter. We never saw it in the stores, so all I ever knew was the wild asparagus. No longer a delicacy, it's abundantly available and expensive. So I decided to grow my own. Last year late in the summer I bought two gallon containers on sale. The plants delightfully survived a dry winter and a cold spring. Two plants, however, are not enough to keep us supplied for the summer, let alone preserve for the winter to come.

On one of our early spring garden center tours, we picked up two packages of asparagus roots.On Sunday it had warmed up enough to actually do some garden work. It was one of those days: take your hoody off; put your hoody on.  The Head Gardener began to dig a hole to plant the first package of asparagus, while I began to read the directions: Dig a trench 12 inches deep and plant 20 inches apart? "What?" I hollered to him, "Hold on a second. There are 8 plants per pack. We have 16 plants." And so he began to dig, once we decided where to plant 16 asparagus roots.

He dug.

They watched

And he dug some more.

And they got bored.

EEEEEk! HAWK. DID SOME ONE SAY "HAWK"?

Digging done.

Spread out the roots, cover with 3 inches of soil. Water. (It snowed the next day).  Gradually mound soil around new shoots as they grow. Wait two years to harvest. 

The neighbor's horses had been confined to their round pen, so bored with their own existence, they watched.

Billy Goat Gruff across the way stared, too.

With the asparagus nicely placed, we went on to to other chores.

There is more to plant, but we will wait a bit longer, not get into a rush. We will plant garlic for the first time. I have been hearing that most of our garlic comes from China. Enough said.

Sooooooo. This post ends unceremoniously because I just didn't get it finished, as earlier explained. 

The Week That Was

Monday, April 15: Tax Day. And this is how the week started.

6-12 inches predicted. It was a very wet, heavy snow. Now resigned to the fact that our spring flowers won't be blooming, we now rejoice in the amount of moisture that the snow has left behind. It has all but melted as today was warm--in the 50's. Not only did we have snow, but we also had rain that then froze with more snow snow on top of the ice. The roads were horrible.

More snow continues to fall in the Colorado Rockies; we need the snow and moisture so badly, so these spring storms will help, but the state still is not out of the drought. We will see what sort of snow melt there is to fill the reservoirs. 

A regular winter wonderland out there.

The pine trees look larger, more magnificent with snow on the bows.

April ice cycles on the barn.

A sharp-shinned hawk feasting. 

Needless to say, the pond project got postponed. Perhaps next week end. We are beginning to really suffer from cabin fever, wanting so badly to get outside and dig in the dirt. 

Oh. more snow for Monday.

Week 14 of school. We have 2 weeks of the semester left, then finals week. Gosh it went by so quickly. I am ready for a break, ready for summer.

Hope you all have a great week. 

Patience

There are certainly times that try men's (and women's) souls; then there are the times that try gardeners' patience. There is a sense of order in life--the way things should be. Take for example the month of April. April is supposed to be warm, sunny, colorful. Mother Earth (at least here in Zone 5) yearns to absorb the golden, warm rays of the sun. The sleeping bulbs and spring perennials

are just beginning to awaken from a long, dry winter--if they survived. But then Mother Nature throws us a curve ball. I wrote last week about the the freezing cold and the snow, well this week I have pictures. 

I planted hyacinths in the court yard around the pond, pretty pinks and purples. They bloomed last spring and were so pretty and fragrant. This year nothing. The blooms are limp and black. Some of the daffodils didn't fare any better either. With their blooms just ready to open, the ice froze them, turning the buds black and the leaves limp. 

Not all of our daffodils were damaged, so some will bloom. In these last weeks of school, I like to take a few flowers to my office, the Writing Center, and the English office.










We have invested a lot in planting spring bulbs, so it is quite disheartening to see them wilted and damage. Most of the tulips have a lot of ice damage. The question is whether or not the buds were frozen. Some buds are earlier than others, so there is still hope that some spring buds survived.




The hydrangeas haven't ventured forth yet. I am out every few days digging in the soil next to them to see if there is any life. They can hold off for a while. They are well mulched and we have watered over the winter, so fingers crossed. I planted 3 new ones, determined to grow hydrangea! The peonies are just sprouting and they seemed to have weathered the cold last week. However, according the weather reports for the coming week more snow and temps as low as 9 degrees F. I will certainly have to cover some tender shoots. I do worry about the fruit trees, hoping that they have not yet budded. The rose were going crazy with new leaves budding, but I think they got froze too.

You can hardly kill iris, but look at this one. Last year we went to our favorite iris patch an bought six new colors. I really didn't expect them to bloom this spring, though I had hope that I might get lucky, but I am afraid that now most of their energy will have to recovering from a mid spring freeze. 

Before Man With Chainsaw

After Man With Chainsaw

The water feature project is really going to happen in this our 4th year at the Garden Spot. I am so excited.  For an old guy, the head gardener does a pretty good job of getting things done--when he is not off having coffee with his little social group. Oh don't worry. He doesn't read the blog.

So the lilacs are removed and the paving stones are gone. Next week will be very exciting. Heather and the boys will be up on week end to help. The plan is to rent the mini excavator to dig out the lilac roots and dig the hole for the pond. We are guessing 750-1,000 gallons. The one we had at the old house was 750 gallons, but here we have more room so I'd like to go a little larger. My water lilies are still living the horse tank. They have survived for 4 years in their make-shift home.

With all of moisture we are finally getting, hubby fertilized the hay field and the lawn yesterday.  

And he scoffed when I said, "We need a golf cart."

 Inside, the tomatoes are struggling. They got off to a good start, but I suppose being in the basement they got a little neglected. He replanted, and they germinated nicely, but then got too big, growing too close to the light. I had him move them upstairs where we can tend them more efficiently. Tomatoes are a hardy lot, so I think they will snap out of their slump. I told him to plant more seeds. We have time, since they will not go into the ground until Mother's Day. Our farmer friend Russ has a green house start his tomatoes and he does not plant until June 1. So we have plenty of time.

We had rain last night. Today it is cold and windy. I would like to be outside working in the yard. The darned weeds are coming on strong, but instead I am inside blogging about it all. 

I do hope that I do not sound like a whiner. I guess I am to some degree; however, I think I am just sad that after all the had work Mother Nature has to be contrary. Not sure just what is going on with our weather these days, but we just have to take it all in stride. Writing about the trials tribulations of garden provides so therapy, doesn't it?

Have a wonder week, everyone.

Blog It.

April Showers?

We begin our call to Spring mid-February, even sooner for some of us (you) who have had far too many Arctic Blasts that have left far too much snow. We make it through February knowing that Spring is waiting for the just right time. March brings much hope, but the damaging snows continue--in some parts of the country. Others such as Northern Colorado get great promises of snow and moisture only to be left out once again. The lawns are dry. The garden beds dusty. We see green grass beginning to emerge in the lawn underneath the brown stuff left from winter. The hay field begins to show signs of greening; the perennial weeds are coming on much too quickly to keep up with them. Who wants to be out in the garden waging weed warfare? Me. I do. But March disappoints because it is still very cold and even if there is strong sun, there is that nasty little breeze that whips through the trees, creating a bit of chill in the air. Too cold to work outside. Besides I have papers to grade.

And then the grand dame of Spring arrives: Lady April with promises of showers that will bring those gorgeous May flowers that we have yearned for all winter so badly that we pay $10. a bunch at the super market for a handful of daffodils or tulips just because we are sick of winter, aching for some spring color. But wait. Mother Nature and Lady April have a wicked sense of humor. While it's certainly not nice to mess with Mother Nature, I ask you, Lady April, "What did I do to deserve this:

We have waited all winter for the daffodils to bloom. I have lamented with my blogger friends in the UK my desires to see the 10,000 daffodils that William Wordsworth glorifies in his poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" where he describes a host of daffodils by lake's edge--Lake Windermere in Grasmere. Oh to see such a sight. So I plant a few dozens daffies, patiently await their arrival and this is what Lady April does: Spoils it all. 

The Hairy woodpecker will fill his belly with peanuts while the little Downy woodpecker prefers suet.  The chickadee waits its turn.

The flicker looks pretty cozy tucked away in the pines, belly full.

And the blue jay stops for meal. The birds need plenty of feed to store up energy for the long cold night. The bird feeders are a flutter of a variety of birds from the sweet little chickadee to the nasty old grackles.

We were well warned of the storm by the weather prognosticators: wind, rain, snow, ice, freezing temperatures, blowing snow, blizzard conditions, bad roads. We know the routine."6-12-14 inches in our area." Last night as we were preparing for bed we knew how bad the weather was in northeastern Colorado: tornadoes that did do some damage. Hail. Rain. Snow all in a few hours and well to the east of us.

 I was up at 5:30, deciding that I needed to leave for work early because the roads would be awful. I looked out expecting to see several inches of snow, but little to none. The radio guys said "Yeah it snowed about 5 inches in the night, but the wind blew it elsewhere." So I dressed and headed out the door. The road was indeed awful, but the sky in the east looked as though it was clearing, while the clouds in the west over the mountains looked purple and angry.

I came out of my 8:00 class at 9:15 to see the that the snow had picked up, falling horizontally as the wind blew it off course. I had students asking, begging to cancel class in the 9:30 class. Nope. I drove here, guys. We will Carry on. By 11:30 students were calling me in my office asking me if class would be canceled. Nope, I'll be there. Then another student called to say that the university was closed was class still meeting. "Well, I guess not," I answered. And I came home.

So the daffodils and the birds tell the weather story today. April 9th and it is 15 degrees, windy, snowing, and I am blogging about it. 

Wordsworth never says anything in his poem about snow crushing the daffodils; maybe someday I will write that one.

Heads up Robin, Judy, and Ann, and the rest of my dear friends east of me; the weather guys say that this storm will dance its way across the country, gaining speed and strength along the way. Will we be reading about your garden under a blanket of snow by week's end? 

Just Blog It. 

Stay warm and dry. 

TIMBER

I came home from work today to carnage at The Garden Spot. Oh, I knew what I would face, but I really didn't have a very good mental image of the damage that two men and chainsaw could do.

We have had a love/hate relationship with the two biggest deciduous trees on the acreage from the day we moved in. The Russian Olive at the back of the house shaded the patio. We liked that. It provided a nice landing spot for the birds that fly through the yard and stop at the feeders. I hung my suet cakes in its branches in winter for woodpeckers. A nuthatch discovered the suet cakes this winter. I could get great photos of the birds through my patio door. I liked that.

Yet the tree was a terrible annoyance. Russian Olives were first planted along ditch banks as a part of the WPA to put people to work. Now considered a noxious weed, the state wild life division hires legions of teens during the summer to cut down the olive trees along creek beds and river banks. They are water hogs, propagate prolifically, and make a mess. In the spring I fight the blossoms as they drop on the patio, requiring a leaf blower to clean the patio. In the fall, they drop long narrow, skinny leaves that pile up in the flower beds. So Good bye, old tree.

 Old and brittle, the branches have been damaged by wind and heavy snow, so it really isn't a very pretty tree anymore. We have surmised that the the tree seeded itself and was just allowed to grow, moving the patio bricks out of place.

 

I've always wanted a weeping willow. Unfortunately the willow here was unhealthy when we moved in and it only grew sicker and sicker, literally weeping sap. Our tree service suggested that it be taken out. So hubby got estimates to remove both trees-- about $700. a tree. Today our son-in-law come over today to help cut down the trees. Next we will call the tree service to see how much it will cost to have the lilacs that he took out last week and the trees chipped into mulch. Could be too expensive. At any rate, we have a mess.

Once cleaned up, though, the yard will be more open and cleaner with the sick and damaged trees gone. We will replace the Russian olive with two golden locusts at the back of the patio. Fruit trees will replace the weeping willow. It really is sad to have to cut down mature trees, but trees do grow old and outlive their usefulness. They will be replaced with healthy, new trees that while it will take years for them to mature, we will enjoy watching them grow and I'll love shopping for them in the coming weeks.

I haven't been reading my blogs lately and as I glanced through them before starting my post tonight, I guess some of you haven't been blogging much either. We have been all been busy. We had Easter dinner here with a scavenger hunt and Easter egg hunt for the kids. New kites were prizes, but no wind. We always have a breeze here. Always. But not when we want to fly kites!






Has your garden warmed up yet? It has been rather chilly here. Little moisture, windy, cool, so I haven't been out in the yard much. But I have been poking around in the mulch and leaves and soil to see what survived the winter. The tulips and daffodils are just moments away from blooming, the iris (you can't kill iris not matter what) are all greening up, even the peonies are waking up. I'll feed them this week-end. They will get a nice dose of rabbit pellets. Yes, rabbit pellets made of alfalfa. The lady who has the iris patch and raises peonies too said to give them rabbit food. Hopefully the cottontails ( who have been nibbling on the tulips) won't discover the pellets. I poked around the delfinium but it looks dead. I can't seem to keep them for more than a  couple of years or else it is too early. Nor have the hydrangea awakened. I am really nervous to see if they make it through the winter. What about your garden? What's emerging from its winter sleep in your yard?



We have 4 weeks of school left. WOW. Can you image how fast it has gone? It is at this time of the semester that I am just beginning to get to know my students and feel that we are now working toward the same goals. Their rough drafts for their research papers are due the 16th. Final drafts come in the 25th. I will have 50 ten page papers 15 five-seven page papers. I will be buried with work as we work toward the end of the semester.

Tomorrow we head to Denver for little Nathan's 4th birthday. I cannot believe that he is already 4. He loves The Garden Spot and got ride grandpa's tractor. What a thrill for him.

Hopefully it will warm up this week and perhaps by my next post I'll have some daffodils to share with you. I want to get some things planted Sunday, but I think we have a really big job finishing this latest project. I also want to get the little water garden in the front started. And prune the roses. And clean flower beds. And shop for trees. And, yeah, grade some quizzes.  And Blog all about it.

You, too. Just Blog it.

Have a really good week.

Springing into Action

Happy Spring, Everyone, but you wouldn't know it. We have several inches  of snow on the ground and it was 11 degrees this morning, with more snow on the way. Did someone say it was spring? None the less, work here at the Garden Spot continues.

Weeping for Thee

There were some warmer days last week, so hubby was able to get started on some long over due projects. Our weeping willow had a rough winter and is indeed weeping. It is a very unhealthy tree and slowly branch by branch we are whacking away at it hoping to save it, but it will eventually have to come out. We keep saying "next year." With this main branch cracked, hubby had no choice but to cut it off before  wind or heavy snow brought it down.

Put a chain saw in a man's hands and you have a bare yard!
Adios Lilacs

Now, who would purposely remove lilacs? Well a man with a wife with a plan. South of the patio we had lilacs, an old stand that had grown leggy. Once pruned back, they didn't look too awful, but we have decided to to build our water feature here, so once again chain saw in hand, the head gardener cut down the lilacs. We had thought that we would save them and transplant them, but our arborist daughter said it would be easier to just buy new ones. Hubby will rent a mini back-hoe to dig the lilac roots out and dig the pond. Can't wait. We had hoped to have the lilacs totally out this week, but between the weather and too many other things to do, this project is To Be Continued. He didn't quit cutting with the tree and the lilacs; he also took out what we fondly called a crab apple bush--an old crab apple that had probably died back and then just sent up a whole mess of shoots until it took the shape of a bush. Now we have piles of limbs and branches to dispose of. Most likely we will have a tree service shred the limbs, giving a nice pile of tree mulch. The yard is now opened up. I can see the play set and the garden and the neighbors. I like the new view. I will love it when we get the pond going.

A Berry Good Project

Last fall hubby built the trellis for the blackberry bush, but we didn't get the canes tied up, so we finished that project. Some of the canes were over 6 feet long running along the gound. Now they are all tied up. The canes that we pruned off we just stuck them in the ground to see if they will root.

Because someone around here needs everything to be lined up in rows all nice and straight, hubby dug up the two raspberries and moved them in line with the trellis. And the rhubarb was out of line, so it had to be moved. It had just started to break through the soil; we hoped it would be okay to move it. But would you take a look at the root system that baby had. You can still see nubs of roots in the hole. Hopefully we didn't kill it. What do you think?

New Plants

My ranunculs came last week, too. I ordered them from Easy to Grow Bulbs.com. What nice people. They called to say that their system had gone done when I placed my order and failed to charge for shipping, so they were shipping the the bulbs for free. I'll order from them again. I haven't decided where to plant the ranunculus. They bloom in late spring, early summer. I may just pot them and see what I get. I ordered the rainbow variety so that I will have a nice array of colors--8 bulbs in total.

And I got my bleeding hearts. Last year at the plant sale I was disappointed that they were already sold out. So we bought the shoots to start our own. Cheaper. I wanted to get them out this week, but it was just too cold to work outside.

The Last Swan Picture (I promise)

The girls came to spend the night, so we had a picnic at Bittersweet and fed the swans. It was so cold, but the little girls didn't seem to notice. They sat so still and quite as the timid swans slowly approached the bread crusts that the girls threw to them. Their short little arms weren't quite strong enough to launch the crusts out very far from the shore, so I worried that the swans wouldn't come that close in to eat them. They must be used to being fed, so they were willing to come in pretty close. I was happy that the girls got to them so close up.

Spring Break is winding down. I have Monday off, so I go back to class on Tuesday. We have 6 weeks of school left. Semesters always go so quickly. For 18 years my life has been broken up in 16 week periods, semester by semester, a nice rhythm of life. I needed this break to get my batteries recharged so that I can go back full speed ahead.

The snow may be letting up, but I think the forecast calls for more in the next few days. All of this moisture will bring on the bulbs, which have already pushed through the soil, and the perennials weeds as well. Darn it. Well, I hope you have great week. If you have any special garden projects going,

Just Blog It. 

Cheers