Rainy Daze.

5-16-24 SHORT HILLS: It’s been rainy and cool all week. The plants seem to love it. All the house plants have left the house for the yard this week, and we have tomato plants and herbs outside that will go to VT when we go up for the summer in June. 

We were at The Farm to get the veggies for VT—Sun Gold tomatoes—and basil and rosemary pots. We also got two rain gauges, one for NJ and one for VT. The NJ one registered 0.5 inches in the last two days.

We ate at Lorena’s in Maplewood twice last week. Once with Bebe and Ronnie and the other time with Bette and Lonnie. I had different food each time, and it was all good. Excellent actually. 

Mother’s Day was here, Judy put out an amazing spread for Alison’s and Val’s families, except for Anna and Gardner and Emmett, who were in Wisconsin for Gardner’s sister’s PHD graduation. The day was cool and rainy, so we couldn’t be outside.

New blooms: chokecherry, Catawba rhododendron. 

Purple rhododendron, [Catawba rhodo] flower partly open.

Tree peony about to open. The plant is distinct and different from the usual, herbaceous peony. I wrote about the peonies last post, but I thought I should provide pix.

Peony, herbaceous looks a lot like the tree peony, but the flowers are different.

Itoh peony is a hybrid of the tree peony and herbaceous peony, created by Mr. Itoh. This one is back for its second year, but without flower buds.

The bird house surrounded by flowers. I think I'll use this at the top.