Daily Double and Trifecta.

5-31-22 SHORT HILLS: We drove down today in 90+ heat, but comfortable in the A/C. This will be a rarity of a post—a combo.

Yesterday in VT I put out supports for the ponies and delphiniums, dug up a bleeding heart to transplant in NJ, put out hoses for Addie to use, pulled up some filipendula that was crowding the helenium and planted it in front of the house. 

New blooms VT: pagoda dogwood, Wentworth viburnum, blue-eyed grass, lupin, blue star, jacobs ladder.

Here in NJ, it has cooled off after sunset, but the mosquitoes are very bad. There was three inches in the rain gauge. The peonies have flowers, the tree peonies have flowers and the Itoh peony still has a flower—a trifecta.  

New blooms NJ: peony, tree peony, Japanese snowball, holly, red spirea. 

NJ peony. I love these single peonies and the color is perfect. That red thing is the rain gauge.

This tree peony flower is way past peak, but still has it. [NJ]

In VT, a pair of Eastern Phoebes discussing the bug situation or maybe nesting sites.

A Tiger Swallowtail on the azalea. [VT]

Blue-eyed grass in the pasture. It's a tiny iris. [VT]

This is 'blue star', planted two years ago, but back. [VT]

If you look at the leaves, you might recognize a dogwood. This is a pagoda dogwood. It has an alternate leaf pattern, instead of the opposite leaf pattern usually seen in dogwoods. [VT]

One of the lupins I rescued from Shari last summer. It seems happy here. [VT]

Baltimore in Vermont.

5-28-22 VERMONT: The big, exciting news here is a visit from a Baltimore oriole. He spent several hours in the apple tree by the deck, and the next day, yesterday, he was in one of the apple trees by the fence. He is a striking bird. There was a cedar waxwing in the apple tree also. I remember a few years ago, maybe ten years, we had Baltimore orioles at the same time of year, in the apple trees. 

Otherwise, I have been doing outdoor chores slowly. Slowly is my only speed these days, except for stopped, which happens often between spells of slowly. I did get the two Itoh peonies planted with last year’s Itoh next to the hybrid daylily bed. It was a tough spot near a birch tree and a stone wall, which means there were lots of roots and rocks to slow the digging. I always say you can’t dig a hole without a saw. I did some pruning in front of the house, hauled away the pile, cut and brought some lilacs in.  

It’s been dry, and the ponds have started to drop. We’re supposed to get rain today. 

Last summer we set out bat houses on the barn and an owl nesting box up in a white pine. I don’t see any tenants in residence. I have seen only one turtle in the big pond. There’s a woodchuck living under one of the barns. Judy saw fox kits on the road. 

We went to Smith’s auction preview last Monday in Plainfield and saw a beautiful tall case clock that we left a low-ball bid on.

We had dinner at Tuckerbox in White River a few days ago, and dinner with Shari and Dave at Midva in Windsor the next night. 

John, Diana and Steve came to dinner last night. Judy did her usual, extraordinary job, I did the clean up, and in between prep and clean up, we all had a great time.

New blooms: Siebold viburnum, double file viburnum, creeping veronica, striped maple, columbine. 

Baltimore oriole eating something in the apple tree.

Great color.

The wing bars are the only white color.

And one more.

Cedar waxwing eating the white petals of apple blossoms.

The first hybrid daylily.

The azaleas is front of the house put on a show. There are four different colors in the mix.

Creeping veronica and forget-me-not. The smaller the flower, the longer the name.

May in VT.

5-3-22 VERMONT: We came up Saturday. It was in the nineties and again on Sunday incredibly hot. Sunday evening we had several warnings and watches for intense T-storms, but all we got was a brief sprinkle. Today it was in the fifties with a cold wind gusting from the west—shorts and tees were replaced by sweaters and jeans.

Addie, the garden assistant, was here this morning. We did a walk around and discussed her role for this summer. She will do one half day a week, and we’ll see how that works out. She already planted the four Itoh peonies and a primrose that we had brought up in April. The peonies went on the pond bank by the apple tree and the primrose went by the brook. 

The ponds are extremely clear so far this season. I have seen one turtle, fish, crawfish, newts and lots of tadpoles in the new pond. I did the first pond treatment, but didn’t use the dye that blocks sun from reaching the bottom. Eric was here to repair a defect in the new dam.

All the perennial beds are busy with plants roused from their winter naps, there are a few late sleepers that may turn out to be MIA.  

We went to Edgewater Farm on our errands and got four Sun Gold tomatoes, basil, parsley and rosemary. I potted them all to live on the deck. I also did some pruning of the honeysuckle by the steps, pulled up some garlic-mustard weeds, turned on the outside water and put out hoses, got the pasture gate out. Sunday Judy and I did the screen  doors in the morning before it got too hot. 

In bloom: lilac, Mohican viburnum, tea viburnum, honeysuckle, azalea, blueberry, apple, quince, burning bush, Virginia bluebells, ajuga, violet, trillium, forget-me-not, lamium, epimedium, bleeding heart, alkanet, geranium, Solomon seal [two kinds], wild strawberry, cowslip, lily-of-the-valley, spurge, tiarella, pulmonaria, celandine, jack-in-the-pulpit, sweet woodruff, golden Alexander, vinca, wild ginger, bane berry, star flower. 

Pretty sunrise, it was prettier but lost some color while I went for the camera. I have taken only a couple pix so far, more later.

Purple finch, female, discovering the filled feeder. We bring the feeder in at night because of the bears.

Bane berry, it gets striking berries, all white with red stems and black dots on the end, they're thought to be poisonous.

More Itoh Peony.

5-20-22 SHORT HILLS: We’ve had more rain, 0.75 inches with the last storm. Everything is well watered—I hope it continues to rain. This is probably peak time for flowering, azaleas still out, rhododendrons out, still have double-file viburnums and dogwood, and peonies starting.

The pruning tools are put away for now, because we are off to VT for our May visit and the holiday.

The birds have been very active at the feeders, but will drain them while we are away and then have to forage. 

New blooms: chokecherry, mulberry, wild cherry, Kousa dogwood, star-of-David.

Another pic of the Itoh peony flower, fully open.

Here's the whole plant, a dozen buds yet to bloom.

Carolina all spice always makes me think of a wood carving of a flower.

Bridal-wreath spirea. This is what happens if it gets sun. I have others, in shade, that are struggling to survive.

Chokecherry blooms a week of so after the white spirea, the foliage turns orange in the fall.

Wild cherry, a flower you have to look for, not like the drama of Kwanzan or Yoshino cherry flowers, but this tree makes fruit that the birds will eat.

Itoh Opens.

5-16-22 SHORT HILLS: I’ve been back on the shear and snip patrol, working my way around the yard. The yard looks great. Judy says I take pix of flowers, but not the yard, so she took a bunch that I edited down to fifteen nice shots. I’ll post some today.

We’ve had showers and everything stays well watered. The Itoh peony that I planted here put out its first flower. It had a head start on the peonies and tree peonies, which both have big buds.

New blooms: Itoh peony, purple rhododendron, May apple, lilac, Carolina all spice. 

Our first Itoh peony flower. It's not quite fully open.

Judy pic of the front corner with lots of different green shades.

Behind the house, Judy catches azalea, chestnut, pulmonaria, viburnums in bloom.

The side yard with a viburnum and young Japanese maple on either side of the bench.

Another one of Judy's pix showing lilac, bridal-wreath spirea, chestnut, azaleas and the back of the house.

Purple rhododendron is the second type of rhodo to open here.

Red-bellied woodpecker.

Middle of May.

5-12-22 SHORT HILLS: The weather has been gorgeous, warm afternoons and cool nights. We’ve dried out from the heavy rain. I have done more pruning, trimming and weeding, and there’s plenty more to do.

The house plants have moved outside for their summer vaca. The azaleas are at peak, their vivid colors contrasting with the whites of the viburnums. 

The feeders birds have been draining the feeders almost daily. I’ve seen starling, house sparrow, hairy woodpecker and red-wing blackbird lately and for the first time this spring.

We are having dinner with Lynn and Bill tonight.

New blooms: hawthorn, leucothoe, chestnut, bridal wreath spirea, tea viburnum, wood hyacinth.

All the house plants that moved out of the house for the summer have gathered together on the patio, leaving no room for the humans.

The entrance to the path through the woods with a double-file viburnum on the left, a Siebold viburnum on the right, a dogwood in the upper center and an red azalea next to the path.

A purple azalea by the house.

A crimson azalea.

A pink azalea. We also have white azaleas and coral azaleas.

Chestnut flower cluster with a pollinator. There are many buds yet to open, they will keep the flower going for a while.

Hairy woodpecker looks almost identical to the downy woodpecker except that she is twice as big and has a much more formidable beak. There are also some slightly different tail markings.

European Starling stopped for a snack on his way to his summer digs.

Mother's Day.

5-8-22 SHORT HILLS: The big storm lasted two days and ended this morning. We got 2.75 inches of rain, a lot for here. The yard is soggy and muddy walking around. Even though it was cold, blossoms are popping out. Trees are on the verge of making the yard shady, as is usual in the summer.

I have done more pruning and trimming, and there’s a bunch of  branches for me to clean up. 

We had Mom’s Day brunch with Lily, Val and Steve at Jane Restaurant on Houston St. in NYC. 

New blooms: honeysuckle-red and white, burning bush, rhododendron, azalea, deutzia, siebold viburnum, double-file viburnum, wild strawberry.

The first rhododendron to flower, the others will take a few more weeks to open.

Azaleas must be the most colorful of shrubs.

This clematis enlivens the kitchen door.

A female house finch is still drying out after the storm.

Mourning dove pair probably should be sharing a cigarette about now.

It's May and All's Well.

5-3-22 SHORT HILLS: We had a nice day after rain overnight, but it got cloudy in the afternoon. I did some weeding, and I planted an Itoh peony in the spot in the living room window bed where the failed crape myrtle had been. I moved the crape myrtle to a spot near the red-twig dogwood. The peony, Keiko, Paeonia [intersectional hybrid] x ‘Pink Double Dandy’, is about 1.5 feet in diameter and as tall with lots of big buds. 

The yard is looking good, the trees are about to leaf out, lots of blooms are on the verge of opening, the grass actually looks pretty good. 

There are open spots and spots where violets, dandelions, plantain, gill-over-the-ground, wild strawberries, and lots of other plants that don’t mind being three inches tall grow among the grasses—a freedom lawn. 

New blooms: acuba, Korean spice viburnum, nannyberry viburnum, sweet woodruff, clematis. 

The House Wrens are back in the bird house.

This is a quince, much smaller than the one by the back door, and the flower opened much later. I hope it gets as big someday.

The clematis by the kitchen door has lots of flowers this year.

Korean spice viburnum is the second viburnum to open and has a pleasing, complex aroma, but it makes no seeds and hasn't reproduced like most of the other viburnums.

White-throated sparrow in the lilac.