Warm for April.

4-18-26 VERMONT: We came north yesterday through a T-storm in Mass. It’s almost as warm here as it was in NJ. Spring is quite advanced here for April, which is usually deep mud on the road and dirty, icy piles of snow under the eaves. The yard and gardens have already been cleaned up. There is no mud and no snow.

I put away the snow shovels, ice scrapers, driveway reflectors and ice melt, hopefully they will not be needed again this year. I took out one of Judy’s carts. I filled some dog holes. I will need dirt to fill others, an excuse to go to the nursery. One rose might be dead. 

The upper pond is full and draining and very clear, and the brook has lots of forget-me-not and primrose just starting. The lower pond is not as clear, but has fish, crawfish, newts, tadpoles, but no turtles seen as yet. 

Robins and white-throated sparrows are working the lawn, and Phoebe are in the air hunting bugs

New blooms: red maple, sugar maple, blood root, daffodil, crocus, snowdrops, pachysandra, hellebore.

White-throated sparrow looking for lunch.

Sunshine and blue sky.

Hellebore, also called lentan rose.

Daffodils starting here, almost finished in NJ.

Last of the snowdrops.

Blood root amid daylilies.

Back in the Heat.

4-15-26 SHORT HILLS: Now it’s July, but the end of the week looks like March. However nothing stops the parade. 

I saw a brown-headed cowbird and a tiger swallowtail butterfly this week but no pix of either one.

We had dinner with Bill and Lynn last night. Lynn is just back from Argentina and was in Egypt last month.

We had 0.1 inches of rain recently, and things are getting dry with the heat, but the sprinklers are on. The fence repairs were also done yesterday.

New blooms: redbud, dogwood, Kwanza cherry, apple, barberry, trout lily, clatonia.

Another ephemeral, clatonia has a pretty little flower if you can get low enough to see it.

Kwanzan cherry is another pink.

Dogwood is just opening.

Redbud also came out on pink week.

The quince is still making new flowers as the older ones turn from white to pink. This change is a signal to the pollinators that that flower is done.

Return of the Frost.

4-9-26 SHORT HILLS: April is being April. After warm days, we had freezing temps the last two nights. It got up to about 50° during the day. 

I did some work on the pool cover and on overgrown flagstones by the house and dumped the dirt in dog holes. My back told me how hard it was the next day.

We had dinner with Alan and Nancy, and lunch with Elaine and Richard later in the week.

Did I mention, we bought a new Subaru Hybrid Forester last Friday.

New blooms: saucer magnolia, quince, pear tree, PJM rhodo, violet, dandelion. 

Here's a better picture of the Yoshino cherry tree.

Pear tree. along the highway between here and Morristown, these trees are everywhere, self seeded.

Saucer magnolia, the frost nipped it in the bud.

Quince may also have been frost bitten.

Violet is little and tiny, but not a spring ephemeral because the foliage lasts all summer.

Cherry Blossoms.

4-2-26 SHORT HILLS: Today is cold and rainy, yesterday was warm and sunny. I was outside doing more pruning, trimming and snipping. Yesterday was warm, T-shirt warm, and the breeze felt good, today needs a sweater and jacket and fleece cap. 

I got the pool cover pump working and the winter’s melt water is gone. The gardeners were here and the clean up is done, or mostly done. 

I put the rain gauge out just in time for last night’s 0.15 inches.

New blooms: Yoshino cherry, Okama cherry, march marigold, pachysandra, spice bush. 

Okama cherry is our earliest, a few days ahead of...

Yoshino cherry.

Pachysandra dewy from the rain.

Marsh Marigold appears around the yard now, blooms, and disappears for eleven months.

Spice bush has tiny flowers in yellow at the same time as forsythia, daffodils, marsh marigold, trout lily, crocus also in yellow.

Speaking of forsythia, what's more extravagant.

Hot Yesterday, Cold Today.

3-28-26 SHORT HILLS: Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold. Yesterday I was outside doing some more clean up, removing dead fall from bushes and shrubs. There was, and still is a lot. Today it’s cold and windy. New leaves are slowly opening, and new flowers are popping. 

We have had lunch or brunch or dinner with Paul, Helene, Bill, Bette, Lonnie, Danna, Lily—at different times, of course. 

New blooms: daffodil, pussy willow, squill.

Pussy willow purring.

This is our first daffodil. They're open all over town.

Siberian squill just about ready.

The Parade is Underway.

3-21-26 SHORT HILLS: ‘It’s Spring again.’ We’ve had gentle showers. The plants are back on parade, a slow parade. The sky is deep blue. The birds are pairing up. Bugs are flitting about. I have been outside without hat or gloves. 

Yesterday I did a couple hours of clean up, and today I’m sore and achy. Blanca passed her re-certification exam and is good for pet therapy for another two years. 

New blooms: elm, red maple, forsythia, andromeda.

Crocus among winter debris.

And another one.

Andromeda has thousands of cream-colored bells.

Looking upwards, I see pussy willow buds.

And our elm tree covered with flowers.

And red maple flowers. My nose told me these were open before I saw them.

The last drop of a massive snow plow pile on the first day ofspring.

Back in Winter.

3-13-26 SHORT HILLS: The summer days are over and we’re back in March. The thermometer hit 80, before crashing. It was T-shirt weather, and when the wind blew it was a welcome respite from the heat. 

This morning was 30 and windy after two days of rain and snow. The snow all melted on contact with the ground. One big plow pile still remains, although it much smaller than it was.

I did some pruning of broken branches while it was warm, and started on broken bamboo. There is so much that I will need to have the yard guys do most of it. I’m pleasantly surprised by how little damage we got to trees and shrubs.

Buds on the early shrubs are swelling and starting to open, but the cold wave put a freeze on it all.  

New blooms: crocus, vinca minor.

One crocus, lots of others are biding their time.

A few Vinca minor have opened.

One forsythia flower and many buds, waiting for a few more warm days.

A viburnum is ready.

Quince with tiny leaves and tiny flower buds.

Spice bush has round flower buds.

Hydrangea also getting ready for the ball.

Daffodil looks eager.