And So it Grows

Checking in at the Sunflower Academy, some of my most eager seedlings have now surpassed the one foot mark, and still not quite a month old. I'm so proud. I'll be happy to get these guys outside in the some real sunshine and let them see what they can do.

With such a good start out of the gate, I think we stand to be impressed.

Not far from the sunflowers is this easter cactus. I bought it as just a small plant as a gift to myself when I moved into my Provincetown apartment. It's never bloomed for me, though grown considerably in the ten years since.

This week, I'm seeing for the first time, a few hot red flower buds. Woo woo!! Don't underestimate the power of a south-facing window!

The rains were heavy overnight and continued for a while this morning. If there were thunderstorms--I don't think they materialized--I slept through them (not an impossible scenario).

But the quantity of rain itself was a good test of the new level of the garden...and I'm happy to say, it seems to have passed admirably. The rain water still pools outside the garden, but doesn't spill through the rocks and flood everything...meaning the water is in the perfect place to feed the garden residents, without washing them away. And that's good enough for me just now.

As you can see, the rain's done a world of good for a garden already thriving, and the shades of green seem so much richer today against the dark wet colors of the dirt.

A few of the very full young hyacinths flopped over under the weight of the rain, which is not a sad thing...since I'd been thinking about cutting a few to bring inside.

I'm a big fan of their scent, and it's kind of fun to have it wafting through the indoors, as well as the garden.

Sunday Garden Report

Off the back porch, this bleeding heart plant just gets prettier every day. I've always enjoyed the uniqueness of this particular plant, the sentimental look of those dangling hearts.

The bleeding heart is joined in that location by an assort ment of older hyacinths.


There are fewer flowers on these than the younger, pink ones out front, but these blossoms are considerably larger and just as sweetly scented.

Here, it is complimented by the purple-blue flowers of money plant, so named for the silver dollar seedpods it forms as summer comes on. It's also known as lunaria, or moonwort...or honesty. Whatever the name, I like the simplicity of those four-petal blossoms. And those seedpods are pretty cool, too.

The star-gazing last night was phenomenal. To the east, some low clouds were backlit by the late-rising moon. But overhead and in all other directions, the skies were crystal clear. It was chilly, to be sure, but it was one of those nights when you can see the pulse of the stars' light and really understand what the first person meant who suggested that a star could twinkle. I even saw a shooting star, which is always sort of thrilling.

Clouds moved in during the night, however, and this morning there was a dull grayness to the sky. I was pleased to see that we are very likely (100% chance, they say, which sounds like a guarantee to me) to have rain tomorrow and Tuesday, which isn't a bad thing at all. Watering with a hose just isn't the same as the rain that falls from the sky.

April showers, after all.

To take advantage of that forth coming natural boon, I planted some white and purple allyssum seedlings this morning. I've put them along the outer edges of the front garden, being careful to work between the just-emerging allyssum seedlings I scattered seed for a while back. Eventually, they should all grow together and create nice drifts of tiny sweet blossoms to carpet the front edges of the bed.

It was very quiet this morning, save for the insistant clucks and tuts I've come to expect from the blackbirds in advance of weather changes. There was a brief outburst of activity from the house sparrows, and the distant sounds of other birds but it was generally still.

In the distance was a dull roaring sound which is easily mistaken for the sounds of distant traffic. Only after a while do you realize that it's actually the ocean. Even after ten years, this never fails to surprise and delight me.

(An unrelated sidenote here: speaking of delight, Amy Lemen, where are you? I hope you Google yourself and find this blogpost. I miss you!)


There was a brief shower this afternoon (in Orleans, anyway...) and some of the brighter stars are still visible through the thin cloud cover overhead tonight. Our temperature's at 45 now, which is actually the warmest it's been all day.


Meanwhile, another variety of cherry tree has begun blooming outside of work.

Earth Day Weekend Garden Report

The violets of our old house are not numbered amongst the plants who made the trip with us. I was just starting to feel a little badly that I hadn't brought at least a single clump of them...when these pretty little things suddenly began blooming out in front of this house.

As the Full Frog or Planter's Moon made our evenings glisten and gleam this weekend, grape hyacinths have begun springing up along the outer edges of the front garden. Here, a pair of them frame a columbine plant and one of the pink Dutch hyacinths.

In fact, all of the Dutch hyacinths I planted in the fall have turned out to be pink, which makes me grin. I'm a bigger fan of the purple/blue ones, but these smell as lovely.

This weekend, Somewhere Joe pointed out that spring has made me prolific, and the season is certainly inspiring. Not only are new green things appearing in the border daily--old friends like moonbeam coreopsis and purple coneflower and assorted phloxes--but I also have a lot to get done when spring arrives. It's the nature of my job that I'll be busy at work when June begins busting out, and I like to head off to work in the mornings then knowing that all's well in the garden.

Toward that end, each morning this weekend I've been working on finishing off a little more of the front garden bed. Particularly, the far end where I wanted to get a nice big birdbath installed. We have so many birds around that I know it'll be popular...and it's always fun to watch them.

I had dug out this bed and broken all the sod into squares back in the fall, but had run short to finish the project then, with the moving and winter bearing down on us. So at least that tough part of the job was done...all I had to do was seperate all the dirt from the clumps of grass, which were just beginning to green up again.

By late this morning, I'd finished off the bed and was ready to embed some stepping stones and also the birdbath itself. Yah, I know the path of stones isn't exactly level, but they are reasonably secure, and water won't pool on them on very rainy days.

Here's a close-up of the birdbath, which you'll recognize from last summer in the old orchard garden. The stones in front are mica-flecked or have crystals in them, so they really catch and play with the sunlight.

They look a little stark here, but I hope soon to have them planted with some dianthus and creeping phlox, which ought to thrive on the spillover water from the birdbath and the full sun.

I'm glad to have this section finished off. It will be at least partially a vegetable bed, with some tomatoes and another go at the Three Sisters Garden.

Here's my next target: the section around the lamp-post. It will be slower work here, owing to both underground electric (danger Midnight Gardener, danger...)and an overgrown clematis vine I don't want to damage. But I imagine about the time I've finished that, the lilies should have begun to emerge, and then it will be safe to install the soaker hose throughout the whole layout.

Not all of us were hard at work this weekend. Em just loves to lie in the sun and bake her head, occasionally looking up as I dash past to the shed for some tool or other. It takes quite a bit of coaxing to convince her to come inside when its time to head off to work.


Owen's also been busy around the house, not only scraping off old exterior paint and re-glazing windows, but also replacing the old landscape timbers that line the backyard gardens with some of the new rocks we recently acquired.


It was while he was on a ladder working on the former project Friday afternoon, when he overheard two of the neighbors talking about us...one of them's a bit deaf, so it wasn't difficult. The reviews are good, though: sounds like they are very impressed with the work we're doing to clean up the place...but he also heard one of them refer to me as "the young one."

It's not untrue, four years seperate us in my favor, so I got a bit of a giggle from it all. He, on the other hand, is taking it a little more seriously. Meanwhile, Em's trying to convince him that they might think he's younger if he also took her for a walk around the block every day.

I was out examining newly sprouted things when this robin came bobbing along to inspect the new garden. I was happy to watch him try out the vantage point from each of the taller rocks in the edging, before hopping up to survey things from the fence. The sun was already sinking, so I wasn't disappointed that he didn't visit the birdbath. I imagine it was a little chilly. But I'll be watching for him in the morning sun.

Sunny Monday

At the feet of the arbor vitae (I think that's what it is...I'll look more closely in the morning) by the back yard gate is a nice spread of creeping myrtle, or vinca. Over the past week, blue flowers have been quietly unfurling from its carpet of shiny green leaves. Here they are in the early morning sunshine.

I found this tiny spider in the box of dryer sheets and shook him out into the garden this morning. I'll probably need a clearer shot for identification, but I'll see what I can find out and get back to you.

Here are some of the chewed tulips. It looks like they've not begun to show their flower stem, so perhaps that's not been short-circuited. I have some fresh ideas about how I might go about discouraging this. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, you can see the daylilies towering over the nibbled tulips, with some sword-shaped siberian iris leaves shooting up near the feet of a rose bush. I'm not entirely sure from this vantage what that unfocused stuff is, sweet William, maybe.

Don't be too sad about the tulips, though. Many more things are being spared by the mystery muncher(s). The hyacinths are coming into bloom finally and adding a nice splash of color here and there in the border. Some of the crocuses are still doing their thing, too...and I spotted the first signs of some grape hyacinth flowers poking up.

I met up with Mom and Dad for dinner again tonight and we enjoyed some great Chinese take-out, before enjoying a walk down to the beach and back. We were a little late for full-on sunset...but the angle from that particular beach isn't quite right for it, either. Still, it was nice. Very peaceful.

Too peaceful, in fact, to only tell you about it.

I dedicate this to anyone who's Monday maybe treated them poorly, or anyone who's looking to find a moment or two of serenity as they make their way through the week.

Take a deep breath, make sure your volume's on...and enjoy!

Sunny Spring Saturday

Saturday brought some heartening signs of the Spring. I just love the way robins behave...they way they stick their heads up in the air, standing still and listening, and then lowering their heads to dart forward, running across the grass.

I watched this robin this morning doing just that in the front yard, and then, when he got to the edge of the garden, he just stopped and sort of sat there. No doubt, he was soaking up the sun's warmth, but I also believe the robins had fled for southern climes when I created the garden here last fall...so he might've been taking stock of the changed landscape, too.

I suppose there's a slight chance that he was admiring all the little clusters of crocus foliage which are coming up here and there at the front of the beds. I think we'll see our first blossoms in the coming week!

Here's a hyacinth, just emerged from the warming soil. Although it was still a bit breezy today, the sun was nice and warm in sheltered spots and generally, it was a great day to be outside.

As it turned out, my schedule for the day allowed me to take a few breaks here and there to accomplish assorted non-work stuff. Around noontime I found myself in Eastham to do some banking.

I couldn't resist a drive-by the old place, and was happy to see that all the recent rain have done wonders to restore the pond to its former levels. I'm sure our old duck pals are quite pleased. I wonder if the buffleheads showed up again this spring.

I saw this swan as I drove by the Herring Pond and stopped to take his picture, and also to peek into the herring run to see what sort of activity there might be. Though the herring haven't yet made their appearance, there's an abundance of small fry darting through the shallow waters...and sometimes getting sucked over the little waterfalls made by the old wooden ladders.

Happily, my late afternoon appoint ments wrapped up in time to visit Skaket Beach for the sunset, before dashing about for a few Easter-related items.

This evening I boiled and dyed a couple dozen eggs, which I decorated with the names of everyone who'll be working serving and waiting for the madness which is Easter Brunch Buffet tomorrow. I hid them all over the restaurant, which will hopefully make working on the holiday a little more fun. The eggs came out looking pretty great, and I was sorry to realize later that I'd forgotten to take some pictures of them.

Well, here was a nice change of pace, when the new rental provided a pleasant surprise this morning, in the form of this unexpected hyacinth.

I think it's a hyacinth, anyway, but the leaves do seem odd somehow. I'm not sure if there's maybe some sort of miner bug inside, or if the chevron marks are just damage from pushing up from such a rough area. Until a week or so ago, the bunny cage was located here and so it was pretty high traffic spot.

Anyway, I'll keep an eye on it to see what it will be, and also clear out the area around it, in case it's part of a larger garden grouping that wasn't visible in the fall when we landed here. I think I see a few money plant seedlings in there, too.

I've mentioned the bird song in general before. It's just amazing how it suddenly increases as the days grow longer and it's time to find a nestmate and all.

There's a woodpecker who seems to enjoy banging on the side of our house in the morning. I've tried a few times to get a photo of him doing it, but he doesn't hang around long enough when I appear. Next time I hear him, I'll try to sneak out the front door and walk around.

The cardinal songs are especially notable, and easy to pick out from assorted other members of the Morning Bird Chorus. I seem to hear them everywhere, all happy and optimistic. I'm not unhappy with it as a soundtrack choice. (That said, I'm sure there's a gloomy Gus or two around who'll say they sound just like a car alarm. I do know from experience that it's a sound I love when I hear it in the Wild, but don't enjoy quite so much when it's created artificially from a Christmas ornament.)

We've got at least two pair of them in the yard in Harwich. This male cardinal, however, was singing outside the restaurant in Orleans as I left early this evening. I think I heard another one across the bank parking lot singing in response...or perhaps in competition.

Below is the view off our back porch around 7:30 this evening, looking through the sassafras branches. Isn't it funny how you just automatically hear the Theme From Tara in your head, or is that just me?

I hope the next image reads clear on your monitor. It's dark enough that any difference in settings between my computer and yours could mean the difference in it being kind of cool or a muddy mess. (I'll hope you think it's the former.)

I was a bit taken with the patchwork quilted look the clouds had overhead and since I had the tripod, I gave it a shot. The real trick was timing it to catch the moon's sudden reappearance through the cracks in the clouds.

For those of you pining for spring (and really, who isn't at this point?), MSN has a great article about garden tours and hidden gardens in a few different parts of the country. You can see if any are near you here.

A Rainy Friday

I woke up to the sound of rain on the roof and the sensation a cat climbing onto my back and settling in. This was all the encouragement I needed to snuggle in against my pillow a little longer. And before long, there were a few rumbles of thunder to seal the deal.

It wasn't really a day to sleep in, though, so before long I was up and seeing just how heavy the morning's rain was. We had two such storms to book-end our day, though the one which blew through around dinnertime was certainly more intense, as regards the lightning and thunder.

I always enjoy the first big boomer of the season, and this one was pretty impressive. Not only were there buckets of rain dropping from the sky, but lots of lightning strikes to thrill to, as well.

No other complaints about the rain. The trees certainly seem to be loving it, as they are all budding out with tiny new leaf shoots and flower buds.

Here's a picture of a tree I love near the parking lot of Seaman's Bank at Brackett Farm here in Eastham. I'm not exactly sure what the species is, and no one I've asked has been able to identify it for me. My suspicions are that it's a tulip tree, or perhaps a catawpa (but I'm not even sure I'm spelling the latter right, so there's the sum total of my knowledge on the subject..). Anyway, it's a beauty!

Another wild and untamed forsythia, with a nice big clump of yucca as a neighbor. These two make their home along Massasoit Road in Eastham.

Here's the foggy view to the southwest across First Encounter Marsh.

Cloudy Day

Here's a trio of those species tulips in the back garden, looking a little more formal and reserved today, in lieu of the sun's golden rays.

It was a pretty mellow day, all things being equal. We saw a lot of gathering clouds today, with little actual sunshine. Still, it was nice enough to get some serious stick-and-branch gathering and raking accomplished around here.

I like to make distinct piles of the many twigs, branches and large limbs the winter winds bring down for us, and then add the raked leaves and pine needles on top and around. I figure the process must create a reasonable dwelling for any one of a number of different creatures we see around here.

While raking, I spotted one of the Canada geese sailing peacefully around the pond.

I've noticed, too, that the water level in the pond is right up there, thanks to all our recent rains. It hasn't started to spill into the meadow yet...but it is raining again this evening, though it seems pretty light.

Those tiny daffodils are a continuing surprise, as they are putting out more than one bloom per stem. Their show just gets better each day. In the background here, you can see that our larger forsythia along the kitchen path has begun to bloom, as well.



Just couldn't resist another visit with one of our delightful hyacinths.