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| Norma A. Boeckler |
We had some rain today and more is coming, but our friends around the US are shocked we have such warm weather. As Mrs. Ichabod said on the way to the reunion, "It is a long way north to Moline, Illinois."
Another benefit we have is having the worst storms go north of us (bound for Joplin and St. Louis) and south of us (Ft. Smith and Little Rock).
The first green I noticed was a weed poking out of the mulch. Next the daffodils emerged from the mulch and in the mulch. I pulled pine needles from among the flowers we had on the altar yesterday. Mrs. Gardener is enjoying them now.
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| Grape Hyacinths are not grapes and are not hyacinths, but they bloom early and smell sweet. |
The only other bulb plants in flower now are the grape hyacinths.
The roses began to leaf out a few weeks ago. They are surprisingly hardy plants and scoff at the cold. Now their leaves are green. The first order of bare root Easy Does It is already in the front yard, and now I wish I had the second order in as well. But I learned that ordering a lot of roses is much easier than digging them into damp clay and maple tree roots.
The dripping rain is good for the canes of the new bare root plants. The inches of rain coming will speed up the renaissance in the soil - bacteria, mold, protozoa, earthworms, moles, and many more soil creatures. Tons of nitrogen fertilizer will fall from the sky - as rain - and green up the newest plants and restart the perennials.
I now have more crepe myrtles, with a bargain shipment last year. I gave away four of them to our lawn crew and our daughter-in-law. Still I will have them growing along the Gardener fence and the Wright front yard. They are late to start, late to bloom, but steady in flowering the rest of the summer.
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| The Mother of All Crepe Myrtles was almost upstaged by two crops of Buckwheat. |
I dumped wheelbarrows of leaf fragments from the street at the base of the Mother of All Crepe Myrtles. Each year I dote on it and get rewarded with a stunning display, often a second full bloom. I piled organic matter up to see if the pyramid would flatten out again. For that to happen, the soil creatures must pull down the flakes of leaves and digest them. Earthworms and mites do most of the work. The pile is already flattened and should be a normal blanket soon.
Caladiums will grow under the myrtle, their color protected by the shade.
Many bushes are leafing out now - Elderberry, Butterfly, Gooseberry, Spice Bush. The mints are just starting to wake up. I saw some green in the Cat Mint. Parsley was the last to go dormant in the fall and is now the first to green up.
