Saturday, February 28, 2015

Good Bye February



Good Bye February

I'm sure my friends and family on the east coast will say good riddance to February but it has been MARVELOUS DARRLIN' in the northwest.  I have a whiteboard on my desk that I track important things on.  Since the beginning of the year it has been a countdown to spring but I haven't been very good at keeping up with it.  Probably because it has been spring for the last month.

A few weeks ago I walked toward the front door coming home from work and was hit with the smell of sweet perfume.  I went to investigate and around the corner was my daphne beginning to bloom.  The next day I clipped off a twig and took to our mail room lady; she and I were just discussing it a few days before and she was lamenting that she didn't have one at her new house.  Every morning and afternoon it greets me.  On Monday I snipped off three clumps and took to work.  The smell filled the office and they were still fragrant (but a little brown) when I threw them away yesterday.




A few days ago I posted this photo on my Facebook page.  
I'm sure they had been in bloom for several days before I noticed (how did I miss them!?).



Last week while walking around the yard I noticed that my evergreen Apple Blossom Clematis was ready to bloom.  This was what I saw from my bed this morning
 (of course I had to get up and open the door since I didn't sleep with it open).  








And this is the view from my desk.  Hope I can get some telework days in the next week or two so I can enjoy them while they are blooming.


I put up the cages for my peonies last weekend.  They were starting to peek up.  I am usually late with that and they are all droopy before I get around to it.

Even the lawn care guys think it is spring.  I came home last Friday to a freshly mowed and edged yard.   

  And what a difference a tree makes, well actually the lack 
Taken 4 years ago and
it was much bigger when
cut down in November.
of a tree. 
 I had a love hate relationship with this tree.  It was a   Giant Sequoia, It was beautiful, it had no business being planted alone in an urban backyard! Looking back at old aerial photos I’m guessing it has been in the ground for less than 15 years.  The house has only been here for 22.  

 I thought about "limbing it up" so you could at least walk under it but realized that it wasn't in its natural habitat and was endangering me and other.
 Giant Sequoias NEED each other.  They have shallow roots and probably even more shallow where it wasn't having to search for water having sprinkler heads surrounding it (and the usual high volume of rain here).  In nature they grow in clumps with their roots intertwining to support each other.  With the winds we have here hardly a big blow goes by that huge trees aren't toppled, even deciduous trees lose large branches or give way.  I planted two new trees in the yard that will provide shade and animal habitat but hopefully won't kill anyone.
 I have a guy coming to cut some "stools" and some rounds for the garden and haul away the rest...then I'll have to tackle the stump or
figure out a way to make it a garden accent! I know have it carved into+ a hedgehog (John) and an owl (Andrew) leaning on each other!


I told John I wasn't going to any more home shows because it makes me want to do things, spend money, etc.  But the Yard, Garden and Patio show is this week and Joyce, working for us temporarily from Walla Walla talked me into it.  That is where I got my Apple Blossom Clematis three years ago..maybe I'll find something else interesting OR a passion flower plant to replace the one I killed last year!  I have learned that daphnes and passion flowers don't like to be moved. Unfortunately for the passion flower it was after I moved it and fortunately a landscaper told me NOT to mess with daphne.

That isn't all I have on my mind right now but it is enough for the moment.


Miss V    



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