Sunday, May 03, 2015

How does your garden grow?


Kay (Brown) and I got together at the museum yesterday morning to watch Jim (Secor) dig holes --- or at least it might have looked that way now and then. Actually Jim dug while I unraveled root balls and Kay planted --- a star magnolia between the church and school and a river birch down near the creek at the bottom of the big hill. But Jim did do the heavy lifting.

The magnolia replaces an ash tree we took down earlier this year (a) because it had been planted too close to buildings and (b) because it, and ashes everywhere, are under threat from the emerald ash borer. The river birch went in --- just because we liked the idea of having a river birch. The trees were acquired through an Alliant Energy program.

But I didn't take the camera along in the morning, so went back late in the afternoon to record garden status as April turns to May.

The heirloom vegetable garden (top) is Jim's project --- and you can see that he's been busy planting (Kay takes care of the flower bed in the foreground).


I'm the official garlic planter, and this year's small crop is flourishing. 


We've all been surprised this spring by the enthusiastic growth of rhubarb, now in its second year. We'll not harvest any this year and some time before another spring will move some of it to alleviate over-crowding.


At the top of the hill, in Kay's flower gardens, I found a late-blooming variety of narcissus.


And the first of the early iris, heavy with moisture after afternoon rains.


Lily of the valley along the south side of the barn.


And lilacs still blooming enthusiastically --- with the pioneer log cabin in the background.

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