The smaller of the two big oaks we had to have taken down is now split and stacked ready for next winter. That dog just won’t stand still!
Plants
Our biggest red oak tree is no more
We had it taken down last week for fear insect infestation had weakened the base enough to threaten the house. Two days of rain and mist followed.
Autumn
The dwarf Japanese red maple in the blue bench garden on Sunday morning. Also in this picture is one of our largest white oaks, directly behind the blue bench. Sadly, it’s so badly damaged at the base by boring insects that it has become a hazard to the house.
Mayapples in bloom
We’ve had quite a lot of blooms on the mayapple plants this year. Maybe last year when I could only see one I just wasn’t looking early enough or carefully enough.
Greening Up
After exceeding 90 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, the rest of the week saw a dramatic greening up. Even “up north” near Gettysburg, I saw a big change, having taken pictures both Wednesday and Saturday of the ridge to the west of the Shamrock Restaurant at Thurmont, Maryland.
Wednesday 10 April:
Saturday 13 April:
Winter’s last gasp?
About an inch of snow overnight, followed by a day of light drizzle mixed with snow.
Lonesome Pine
We have a number of Virginia Pines seemingly being crowded out by the predominantly oak competition.
Hurricane Sandy
Sandy and I survived Sandy. Lost power from about 9pm to 6am, slept in the basement for fear of the house being blown away (or bashed by the nearest oak tree). Outside things are quite wet and a little battered . . .
. . . but doggone, I need to get out with the chain saw to fix the back fence before the next time the dogs need to go out.
Hurricane Sandy weather statistics from near Heflin Road, a couple of miles from our house:
Mayapple
We have many mayapple plants now, but this is the only one we’ve seen with a flower so far. It’s on the path by our back fence, close to where I remember seeing a flower and subsequently a fruit photographed last year. Reference: Wikipedia
Our fringe tree is in bloom
This is Chionanthus virginicus, our only one, wild, in the woods, and at the back of Sandy’s woodland garden. I last commented on it back in 2008, and wasn’t able then to do any better showing the whole tree.
See the Wikipedia reference, where I’m delighted to see it’s also known as Old Man’s Beard. Ours blooms every spring, but we’ve never noticed the autumn fruit shown on Wikipedia.
