I had a nice quiet day planned on Wednesday. Some work in the morning, sit in the sun at mid-day, and maybe even break out a swimsuit, it was supposed to be 80 after all. But once again I was surprised by large trucks and tree men swarming about. This time they attacked from the neighbor's yard because there just wasn't any way to get to the monster tree from our side of the fence. The bucket truck backed up to the edge of the house and the boss swung over from there. This photo is at the end of the job, he took the tree down from the crown a branch at a time dropping into our neighbor's yard:
Apparently cutting from the ground doesn't take as much skill as cutting from the bucket because an underling made the final cut. Two guys grabbed the fence and pulled it away so he could start from that side and then stood there watching:
Then the boss showed off another skill set by picking up the stump and taking it up over the fence in one smooth motion:
Did you notice that the log he's lifting above is rotted in the center? You can really see it on the stump:
Thank goodness they took the tree down before it fell on the house. They said it still had some time...but after the heavy rains of March, I'll bet the landlord is feeling really lucky. The stump is full of what appear to be Florida Carpenter Ants:
We moved a container so they could cut the tree down, which I think will go back in the same spot, but I don't think I'll be putting anything on top of that stump. And the landlord is considering using pesticide in the stump for fear that the ants will move over to the house now that the tree is gone. So now the shady side of the house looks like this:
The pots in that area now have a nice layer of wood chips on top:
All the better to see the amazing (and I think early) growth of the shade perennials:
The warm weather this week has thrown us into what appears to be May (this shot is not of my garden, but of one on our walk that I adore in the spring):
Back in our garden, the first tulip:
And the in-ground perennials are actually ahead of the containers this year (astilbe):
Just for comparison purposes, this is that same astilbe on April 10th last year:
The Branford fern (I haven't seen any fiddle-heads in the containers yet):
I could probably have divided this hosta, but I wanted to see if I lost any elsewhere over the winter and then use it to fill in, and now I've probably missed the window for easy division:
The scilla are almost done, which is good since a hosta in the Mother's Day garden is right smack in the middle of them:
The forsythia is actually past it's peak already and due for a big trim back to encourage new growth (lots of dead wood in the middle):
That's vinca's blue flowers beneath the marsh marigolds and their pretty yellow flowers:
It's been so warm and sunny that the seedlings have been spending most days outside:
I'm pleased to see the clematis came back, but I'm thinking it's not going to take over the trellis this year:
I forget where I read it, but someone suggested using nasturtium on a trellis. What a fantastic idea! I found a climbing type that will grow 6' tall. Perfect for the trellises in the patio garden. It might still be a little early, but I planted 4 seeds along the base of each trellis on Thursday:
The old pop-up shed is gone:
Now to get VPH excited about the project I have in the works for this spot. I bet you might guess what it is.
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