Spring in Full Swing.

4-23-25 SHORT HILLS: Our trip south was a little slow, but we shared the driving. I need to amend the last post to add blooms, yellow primrose and hellebore. There, conscience clear, no flowers should feel slighted. Also I saw two turtles sunning themselves, a school of fish in the big pond and lots of frogs in the upper pond—the frog opera has opened and is heard nightly.

From VT we traveled into the future in our Subaru time machine and ended up in NJ. It’s shirt sleeves and shorts weather here with lots of new blooms. I have been doing more trimming and pruning. The lawn guys have been here a few times to mow. One of the sick ash tree seems to have responded to the tree feeding we did, but two others not so much.  

Here we are both very impressed by the quince, which is loaded with flowers. The blooms open white, and after the bugs come by and pollinate the flower, it turns pink. Probably a signal to the other bugs that this flower has been taken care of. 

It’s very dry here, and the ground is dried out and cracks are forming. We need rain, and it’s predicted for Saturday. The sprinklers get opened next week. 

New blooms: saucer magnolia, barberry, blueberry, apple, Kwansan cherry,  Chinese snowball viburnum, yellow lamium, clatonia. 

The quince by the back door, covered in flowers.

Pulmonaria is doing a big show this year.

We have two saucer magnolias this one is densly packed in purple and whte.

Here's the yellow primrose. There will be lots more, but they will be done by the time we're back in VT in mid May.

While working in the driveway in front of the house I saw a big bird on the top of the dawn redwood, which is in back of the house, but the top is visible over the roof. I took pix with max zoom and got a decent one before the bird left. Red-tailed hawk.

April in Vermont.

4-20-25 VERMONT: We’re here for what is basically a long weekend. We did get a lot done. Hiliary and Matt were here to do the clean up, clearing tons of dead fall. The exterminators were here the same day and sprayed the outside perimeter of the house. 

We have had cold weather and snow, warm days and windy days providing  a gamut of weather experiences. Speaking of snow, there are still piles of snow under the eaves on both sides of the house.

There is a wash out of the upper pond dam and waterfall, about 18 inches deep and a foot wide that will need a big repair. 

I did some apple tree pruning to remove part of the tree that grew over the blueberry bushes, and parts of other tree that grew into the pasture fence. I did some fence repair to leaning posts. There is always more stuff to be done, but we go back to NJ tomorrow. 

I forgot to mention in the last post—we loved “Pirates”. The show has emigrated from Penzance to New Orleans, which means that jazz has a place in the new production. The Major General is still a Model of Modernity.

The snowdrops are out all over the yard. I originally brought a hand full from our yard in NJ and planted them here, but now they are everywhere in the yard. The Rose-of-Sharon I transplanted here from NJ seem to have survived the winter.

New blooms: crocus, snowdrops, maple tree, elm tree. 

Song sparrow welcomed us back.

Crocus and snowdrops remind us that spring is on the way, even in VT.

Game cam from January. A fox crossing the upper pond in the snow.

Game cam from a week later in January, three deer crossing the upper pond dam. The fox tracks are still visible.

Game cam from this April with ice still on the lower pond in a snow storm.

Snow piles in front of the house.

Snow pile on the deck duriong snow flurry.

Snow piles still present.

Getting Warmer.

4-15-25 SHORT HILLS: The house painters have finally finished, and I did some clean up around the outside of the house. They broke some branches on the foundation plantings, but no major damage.

Today was beautiful, in the seventies and sunny. I emptied the tomato pots and the herb pots, dumping the soil into holes the dogs have dug. We’re ready for new plants for the new season. I cleaned the driveway drain with Judy’s help.

VT tomorow.

New blooms: bleeding heart, trout lily, dandelion.

Robin, hard at work looking for a bug in the grass, which probably means they are already feeding chicks.

Saucer Magnolia--beautiful.

A Magnolia flower.

Trout Lily, named for that single mottled, spotted leaf. They bloom as the forsythia are dropping flowers and are easily overlooked as a fallen bloom.

PJM rhodo and vinca minor.

Marsh Marigold is another spring ephemera. Not only do the flowers disappear after a couple weeks, but the foliage also vanishes until next spring, but they have spread all around the yard, so their system works.

It's Cold Again.

4-8-25 SHORT HILLS: the past two days have been windy and cold, but not below freezing. The plants don’t seem to have minded it as much as I did. 

House painters have been here for a week. While I concede that the structure might need attention. The process is traumatic-to-fatal for the foundation plantings and ground covers that I have planted and fretted over. 

We haven’t done much of anything, but we will see the new production of “Pirates” this Saturday. We are going to the matinee and sitting in the mezzanine. 

New blooms: Yoshino cherry, pulmonaria, marsh marigold, squill, violet, boxwood, pear, PJM rhodo.  

Forsythia defines yellow.

PJM rhodo. Very early rhodo puts some color in the yard.

Pachysandra flowers are easy to overlook.

Saucer magnolia about to explode.

Quince will put on a show this year.

Another daffodil.

Spring Parade Marches On.

4-2-25 SHORT HILLS: We had one day in the eighties, a fore-taste of June, followed by more rain, wind and cold. I have continued to remove deadfall, but every windy day brings more of it down. The new pool cover pump works well, I plug it in after every rain and then unplug it when the water is gone. 

Lily and Danna were here for a visit over the weekend, and I had lunch with Bill a few days ago. This house is getting painted, which is causing the usual chaos. 

Snaps for NJ Senator Cory Booker for his long, record-setting speech.

New blooms: forsythia, spice bush, daffodil, Okama cherry, pachysandra, pussy willow. 

Daffodils. Always a welcome sight for winter-weary eyes.

Forsythia brings more yellow.

Spice bush also says yellow.