Christmas Notebook

Wednesday DH and I were able to do a little yard work. It consisted mainly of cutting up and carting off the pear tree and the broken limb on the mulberry. We also mulched a couple of beds.

The pear tree fell over after the ground became saturated from all the rain we’ve been having. It had been listing anyway.

We’ll have to move the hostas sometime soon. Not sure where we’ll put them yet. The ‘Squash Casserole’ (the light green one) really liked it here. I hope moving it will not set it back any.

The mulberry tree is very old and the large limbs sink a little lower each year. Thankfully, it is a male tree so we don’t get the mess of dropped fruit. This picture was taken in October of 2006.

Under this gnarled and twisted tree is a quiet shady place that stays cool even on hot summer days. There is a tiny spring that seeps up through the ground here, keeping things damp. With the limbs hanging down, it’s like a quiet green room. But this year, one big branch actually cracked in half and fell. It will change the look of the “room” for sure. DH spent some time with the chainsaw and we cleaned up the limb and all the resulting debris. I wanted this done before the annual church picnic which will be held here on Sunday.

The mulberry tree is home for a lot of hostas. Not sure what we’ll do if we lose the mulberry tree in the next few years. It will be a lot of plants to move.

‘Thunderbolt’ is one of my favorites.

‘Wheaton Blue’ was planted in 2006 and has really thrived here.

‘Radiant Edger’ was also planted in 2006. It is a smaller hosta.

I really like the coloration on the leaves.

I was sitting on the lawn tractor under the pawpaw tree while DH loaded cut wood into the wagon and looked up to see there are a few pawpaw flowers still hanging on.

The pawpaw tree has grown up against the mulberry branch, which has made it lopsided. Now that the branch is gone, perhaps the tree will fill out.

In other parts of the yard, the irises are just about at peak. I’m posting this picture in a larger size than usual so you can see the beautiful “black” irises. These particular ones are showing their first blooms this year, though we’ve had them since 2005. Not sure why they didn’t bloom before! The one in the foreground is ‘Wild World’ and has an orange beard. The one behind it (which we plan to move because we don’t want two black ones next to each other) is ‘Dark Passion.’ It’s beard is dark.

One of the work horse irises is this old yellow one. You can see it in the background of the above photo. Not sure where we got it, but it blooms and blooms and blooms. It may have the longest bloom period of any iris we have.

I don’t know the name of these but they are stunning. This picture was taken in the harsh light of midday. I should get another one in the evening to do the color justice.

The fenced garden is changing. Gone is the white of the candytuft and the pinks and purples of the columbine are now showing off. The peonies are just beginning to open. The large light green leaves in the right foreground (inside the fence) are hollyhocks.

‘Sorbet’ is my favorite peony. It’s so big and lush and I love the coloring with the little fluff of cream between the pink petals.

The hosta ‘Blue Angel’ is looking pretty good, though I’ve noticed some little holes…we may have a slug problem. We’ll have to look into that.

Next to ‘Blue Angel’ is ‘Paradigm.’

Spring is my favorite garden season. 🙂 ~~Rhonda