New Plantings II.

11-3-09 SHORT HILLS: I finished the planting today, adding another five deciduous shrubs after another trip to the nursery.

Today’s list: Roses-1 Rosa ‘Blushing Knock Out’
1 Rosa x ‘Radtkopink’ PPAF
Abelia-2 Abelia x ‘Mardi Gras’ PP#15203
Sweetspire-1 Itea virginica ‘Sprich’ PP#10988
Cotoneaster-1 C. horizontalis ‘Variegatus’

The cotoneaster couldn’t go where I wanted to put it because the sprinkler system pipes ran through the spot, and they were to shallow to get the plant in. I put it next to the sunroom steps.

After the planting, I fence the area to keep the dogs out. Tomorrow—day off.



Here are all the happy plants in their new home. One might ask if too many plants are packed in there. After all, aren't they going to grow bigger. Well, they are, hopefully, but some may not thrive because it's too sunny or too dark, too wet or too dry, too acidic or too alkaline, too sandy a soil or too much clay or too who knows what. They could be spaced out allowing for their fully mature size, but then the spot looks sparsely planted until maturity three or four years down the road, and we want it to be attractive before then. If something seems to be unhappy there or crowded by a neighbor, I'll move it elsewhere.

New Plantings.

11-2-09 SHORT HILLS: I’ve been back here for about a week. The painters have finished painting the outside of the house, except for a few shutters awaiting replacement. I spent a day working on the gutters and leaders which had been removed by the painters for painting, but some not reassembled in quite the right way.

After Halloween, I started planting the big area from which I had removed all the evergreen trees under the living room windows. So far I have planted 15 deciduous shrubs, almost all will not be more than 3-4 feet tall. All the stock came from The Farm in Chatham Township. They are clearing roses, usually in the $40 range for $5 and the rest of the shrubs are 20% off. I have spent about $400, and I need about 5 more pieces. Their available stock is still plentiful and looks healthy.

Here’s the list to date:

• Spirea-1 ‘Snowmound’-Spirea nipponica
• 2 ‘Shirobana’ (S. j. ‘Shibori’)-Spirea japonica
• 1 Goldflame-Spiraea bumalda
• Abelia-2 ‘Little Richard’-Abelia x grandiflora
• St. John’s Wort-1 Hypericum x ‘Hidcote’
• 1 Hypericum ‘Mystical Beauty’ PP#13532
• Hydrangea-1 Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Lady in Red’ PP#15175
• Butterfly Bush-1 Beddleja davidii ‘Potter’s Purple’
• Pheasant Berry-1 Leycesteria formosa ‘Golden Lanterns, Notbruce’ CPBR#2318
• Roses-2 White Out ‘Radwhite’ PPAF
• 1 David Austen-Rosa ‘Crocus Rose’ [yellow]
• 1 unlabeled red rose

The weather has been seasonal, there was two inches of rain over the last two weeks. The planting has been a muddy job. I have had to cut and saw out a lot of roots from the previous occupants of the space.

New blooms: witch hazel.

Halloween-Garden Place.

10-31-09 GARDEN PLACE, BROOKLYN, NY: Halloween on Garden Place is almost as much fun as the big parade in the Village, maybe more. Many building on the street were decorated. Our base of operations was the stoop at Valerie’s co-op. Thousands of T or T’ers circulated on the street which was closed to traffic by the NYPD. The costumed hordes collected about 100,000 pieces of sweet. Probably 1,000,000 pictures were taken. Among the more inventive get-ups, among the many superheroes and supervillians, were a CO2 molecule, Dorothy Parker, Kate Gosselin, Lady GaGa, Fred, Chaplin, and a dachshund as a hot dog. Some of the bag toters were a bit on the oldish side. We thought one young lady might have been pregnant—a whole new implication to T or T.

Is It a Partridge in a Pear Tree?

Nooo...

Invasion of the Avian Apple Snatchers.

10-25-09 VERMONT: Yesterday we had a torrential rain, probably more than a inch. The streams are full and some overflowing. Otherwise the weather has been fine, not too cool to work outside comfortably. I completed all the bed clean-ups and hauled away many cartloads, did some pruning, and some hole filling, thanks to Gus. The dead pine came down on Tuesday, and the chips were dumped in the pasture near a mud hole between the barns. I spent most of Wednesday spreading them on the mud. Chippers, the tree company, did a very nice job on the pine tree by not letting the cuttings fall on the rhododendrons at the base of the pine.

About half of the turkeys were back this morning for more apples. They were up in the apple tree by the corner of the deck. That tree, loaded with fruit, has been home to lots of songbirds, especially robins, since the apples ripened, but turkeys? Even Sam the dog ate an apple this afternoon.


It started small, with the robins.

But before you know it.....

There's another turkey in the middle.

Here's how the tree looked in May and why there are so many apples now.

Turkey Day Is Early This Year.

10-19-09 VERMONT: Today was warmer and sunny, yesterday was densely overcast. There has been no rain here in spite of all the storms in the NY metro area. I have been dutifully cleaning out the flower beds for next spring and summer. I have done three days work, short days to be sure, and have about one more day or two. The job consists of cutting down the dead stalks, raking them out of the bed and hauling away the debris, about eight cartloads so far.

If you clean out the beds in the fall as time permits, you don’t have the urgency of rushing to get it done in the spring. The snow melts more quickly in sunny spots in the spring. The shadier parts of the beds, against the walls or behind the house or under pine trees are the last to be snow free. As soon as the snow melts, shoots sprout, so the back of the bed is snow covered and the front is busy springing forth. If you try to clear that bed in the spring, you injure the growing stuff in front and can’t clear the frozen parts. You do have to be careful, in the fall, not to harm the hollyhocks, foxglove, valerian and any other biennials, or they won't be there next year. Do it in the fall, enjoy the leaves and the wildlife.


The happy, clean beds waiting for their long winter's nap.

Oh yeah, wildlife. Yesterday afternoon I saw flock of about 18 wild turkeys in the pasture in front of the barn. I rushed for the camera to get a snap before they ran off. I got 99 pix as they marched up the pasture in front of the big barn and then the little barn, under the fence into the yard, then between the house and the pond to the apple trees above the pond, then behind the pond to the apple trees by the fence. They ate apples at every stop. The favorite tree was the Lily tree. If one bird found a tasty morsel, others would rush over to share, try it and then rush to some other piece that might just be better. One or two birds were always on the look out. After every one had enough, they walked back to the woods. I took pix through the windows and then snuck out the front door and snapped from the deck. The dogs slept straight through.


Wild Turkey, undistilled.

There are 15 or 16 birds in this shot.

This afternoon the dogs, in the house after dinner, went crazy. I didn’t see anything so I let them out and went out on the deck to see what the deal was. I got a two second look at a gorgeous, big red fox with a big white tipped brush of a tail.

Two nights ago, Sam, the night prowler dog, came in about midnight with a touch of skunk aroma, not a blast in the face, just a delicate hint of the fragrance. The next day the scent was hanging in the air by the roses by the fence.

The dead pine tree by the road comes down tomorrow.

New blooms: witch hazel.

Early Fall.

10-16-09 VERMONT: We arrived yesterday, escaping the rain in NJ, for overcast skies and cold. It was below freezing last night and tonight 22° is predicted. The leaves are past peak, but there is occasional color. The reds and oranges are gone and yellows and browns remain. There are small piles of snow under the eaves. The puddles and ponds had a little ice around the edges this morning.

We still have flowers: asters, roses, cimicfuga, chrysanthemum, fever few, monks hood, foxglove, sedum, helenium, hollyhock, phlox, hydragnea, turtle head, lobelia, lamium, spirea.

There were ducks on the pond this morning and a bit later turkeys in the pasture. Mt Lafayette and Mt Moosilauke have a lot of snow.

I had a busy day, I started closing up the gardens. I pulled all the flower supports and stakes and most of the garden barriers.


Moosilauke with snow. The colors are drab.