Friday, April 26, 2013

April 26 2013

It's a very yellow season here at this time of year, with forsythia blooming everywhere and daffodils as well. Here's our hearty forsythia, the same bushes that were crunched to the ground beneath the fencing after Hurricane Sandy - so resilient, and always beautiful.

Also a delight to the eye, our various daffodils and jonquils - here's a sampling, including some that surprise me every year because I forget about the double ruffles, that show up later than the standards.

And speaking of surprises, I already found one in the garden cage: volunteer kale, which is really odd because I know I never planted seeds or seedlings, and don't even remember buying kale in the grocery store to cook. For me it's a bit like chard, I'll eat it if I grow it, but otherwise why bother?

Brian is extending the garden cage to enclose his carefully planted potatoes, as we thought they wouldn't tempt the deer because some sprouted in our compost bin last fall and were completely ignored. But our neighbor said when he planted them, the deer did indeed eat them to the ground - and below! So we'll soon have an extra wing complete with chicken wire.

And now, for a bit of non-garden news. My two remaining, loyal calligraphy students just recently completed their second Hebrew alphabet. Here they are with their final projects, looking (I hope) pound and happy. I know I am certainly proud of them!

That's it for now. Soon the lilacs and lily of the valley will open, and they really do smell heavenly. Then the irises, followed by peonies, and everyone else. Right now the war on weeds is at least a good holding action, as the cold nights are keeping weeds from overcoming our carefully planted stuff. But I know by mid-summer the forest will reclaim at least part of the lower terracing. We'll just dig it back out next year! Hope all goes well with all of you.