Today's Weather in Your Garden - 20

Pileated woodpecker.

Correct! My DH is so happy about him visiting these days...he says they were quite rare and now have come back.

And as beautiful as he is...if he starts drilling holes in one of my last remaining ancient apples, he and I are going to have a serious conversation.

I might even sic the pugs on him.

I love the pileated! They are so cool! the first time I ever heard them 25 years ago, it sounded like we had jungle animals! We have seen them excavating old tree stumps down below ground level. I think woodpeckers are probably the most interesting of birds. After the song birds. And water birds. And birds of prey.... etc.

WaterCan2, which broom is that? I like the color. Nice picture. I cut the last of ours that we planted in 1983 down this winter as they had gotten so woody and produced almost no green or blooms that they had had it in my mind. I will be planting more, hopefully before June. I will miss the blooms this year, but I want to get them planted asap. I have mixed feelings about the purple one.

daisygrrl, Love that you have a Plated woodpecker. I love to hear them almost as much as seeing them. It is such a primordial sound. I hear there is a new bakery in Rhinebeck. Any good?

The day began to clear and I hit the beds. Got some things planted and a did a bunch of tiding up. Dead headed many, many narcissus and tulips. I assume that is a good idea. But I don't really know. Help.

It then got very nice, I couldn't believe it. We loaded up the truck for a big dump run I moved a pile of rocks, but I know I will be moving them again soon. I have spent the last 2 hours working on my Journal and getting some more labels made.

Hoping for good weather tomorrow for us all. Patti

What a great photo, WC! It looks like it's on fire.

Today was a great gardening day though the breezes were a bit more than I expected. We had sunshine all day and, for the first time in a very long time, I accomplished all I set out to do. It took nine hours but it was worth it. Spring cleaning is now officially done and I'm ready to start planting tomorrow. Should be done in three weeks.

It was a bit breezier than expected. I got home from work around 4 and RAN out to cut the grass (which I love to do) and edge (which I hate to do) and then raked and swept. I then rewarded myself with some time in my "serenity chair" and my good ole Dex came out to sit with me and for the first time home since his surgery he laid down in the grass. We sat together with the trees swaying above us but just a touch of the breeze teasing us. Just a little lightness of being. What a beautiful afternoon.

Yes, it was a gorgeous day.

Thank you Victor, Donnie & pirl! ☺

bbrookrd its Cytisus scoparius 'Pomona'. First time I grow a Scotch Broom and it's a pleasant surprise! Loves the sun and they bloom throughout the day, about 1/3 of it bloomed today. - Cant wait to see what it looks like when it's completely 'on fire'. It's supposed to top off at 5' x 4', that should be a sight in a couple of years!

Venu that was a nice moment, thanks for sharing.

Temp 61.7°, Wind S 0.0. ☺
- a few stray sprinkles so far this evening but not enough to count.

WC2, we should all have those moments every day. Or at least recognize those moments. I love your Scotch Broom. They are supposed to be easy breezy in my zone and area, is this true?

Thanks venu, this is my first one but Anita here on LI said she had one and it just halted growth (and longevity) one season. I'm keeping an eye on this one and want to see if their demise is either age or environment related. So far so good in Sandy soil, practically no transplant shock and ample daily water targeted to the root system. I feel its too early to give fertilizer yet as I planted with about a tablespoon of gen purpose shrub pellet type mixed in with soil at time of planting, that should be enough till about sept /oct when I'll give it a little just to strengthen it for the winter. - only time will tell... ☺

(ps. I agree.) ☺

It's another beautiful morning here with our "wind" at 1 mph and temperature of 56. Rain coming in later so I can do some planting until it arrives.

My Scotch Broom got ripped out this year.....the last 2 years it has only had one green twig on it and no blooms.
Tags says good to -15 which totally explains things!

Meant to say yours is lovely WC!

This message was edited May 18, 2008 7:29 AM

I love that Scotch Broom, too. What a brilliant color!

Thank you for sharing the peaceful moment with Dexter. It was calming just to read it. What a precious moment!

On to the weather ... which is perfect right now.
Currently
52° and may reach up to 65° today.
Wind: W at 9 MPH and rather fragrant
Humidity: 64%
Dewpoint: 45°
Pressure: 29.38 in. and falling

Bright and sunny Sunday morning, then increasing afternoon clouds, with mid to late day showers.

Almanac
Normal High: 71°
Normal Low: 43°
Record High: 90° in 1906
Record Low: 25° in 1983

Sunrise: 5:19 am
Sunset: 8:05 pm
Sunrise Tomorrow: 5:18 am
Sunset Tomorrow: 8:06 pm

Moonrise: 7:12 pm
Moonset: 4:03 am
Moonrise Tomorrow: 8:16 pm
Moonset Tomorrow: 4:31 am

Love the broom. Mine is about 3'x3' after 5 years (pale yellow). 2 years ago it got winterkill which I cut out and this year it looks good. My iris (beardless) typifolia Caitlin's Smile is opening and my lactea has a few blooms. This fact was not lost on the iris society when they came to get photo tips yesterday. I was sick as a dog and slept from 12-2PM. Took some medicine and they arrived at 3PM. The weather was perfect! They seemed to have a lot of fun. One woman didn't bring a camera-she just sat happily in the adirondack chairs and told me 3 or 4 times how wonderful my garden is. Still feel like doodoo today-achy and runny and feverish. I am really glad I planted lots of new plants on Wed since it rains every night. I could live with this weather forever!

Hope you feel better, booj!

I just purchased a Scotch Broom recently which will have purple flowers. I love the orange and wish there had been one of those instead! Anyway, my neighbor dropped by last week, saw it and warned me that the deer LOVE it. She's never seen hers in bloom because it gets eaten. Nuts! And she spreads milorganite to persuade the deer to eat elsewhere (like my place).

Nice here so far, but rain is expected later today.

I would think location might make a difference. I have mine about 20' from the back door so the deer don't come down the hill that close. Of course the deer around here are not as competitive for food sources cause there's more woods and fields.

I was hoping to plant it up near the house by the garage and then cross my fingers! The pests are so bold that they come right up to the patio - but that's usually in winter. We have woods here too, but when they have all these wonderful tid-bits set out for them, why bother browsing in the woods?

Good point, Lynn.
So far we haven't seen any signs of deer. I wonder if it's because the power boats are running strong on the lake already.

Mamasita and Bbrook: thanks for the comments on the pileated. My husband and his family love birds, and over the year, I've grown to take an interest in them, too. It's easy when all you have to do is sit on the porch and see beauties like this one!

BBrookRd: Haven't gone to new bakery in Rhinebeck yet. This is the third separate bakery started in the same location. But 2 new places have opened that you might be interested in: Arielle, a three week old French restaurant which is decorated in Country French and has great food. No reservations, and there was a line outside last night, but it was Saturday after all.

And Bread Alone, one of our other bakeries has opened up a full restaurant in addition to the coffee/bread/pastry thing.

25 years ago when we moved here, you could barely get a decent cup of coffee. Now everyone serves cappucino, there are 2 sushi restaurants, and about 20 white table cloth restaurants in total!

Rhinebeck has become the "go-to" place in much the same way that Millbrook was and Beacon has become. It also reminds me somewhat of Cold Spring.

Interesting that there's a new French restaurant. Do they serve lunch, or dinner only?

We just got back from our walk and spotted two deer munching away on a neighbor's yard. One was heavily preggers and the other a yearling. We were so close to them but they did not spook! I tell you, they are bold as brass, and very destructive.

Right now they only serve dinner, but I suspect they will start opening for lunch in the summer, at least on the weekends.

Deer: grrrrrrr. They come to munch right up to the house.

I hear you, and share your pain!

Weeze - love your description of your special time with Dexter.....you are blessed with the ability to see the glass as half full!

Booj - hope you feel much better soon!

Louise---lovely story about Dex--very poetic--& those times you'll remember! Went to the farm today to see Grant--he woke after awhile & didn't look pleased to see a face that wasn't his Mom or Dad's! My son was like that--screamed at every new face--then became Mr. Social Butterfly. The day started out sunny & 60's--it is now rainy & 40's---lovely May weather! My plants are sitting in pots---however, the veggies are perky & the dahlias I planted early are up & growing! Will post pics soon. If I don't screw up!

Robin - Mr. Social Butterfly.....LOL Amazing how they can change like that, huh?!

Great to hear, Robin.

They are talking about it getting down to 38 degrees here tonight and 34 degrees here tomorrow night! I want to plant my tomatoes, they are growing out of their peat pots, but no way. grrrr

The full moon likes cold weather. Like tonight.

Even in July and August?

Yes unless your in the heated swimming pool.

Raining and lights out till tomorrow.

Yep.
Raining.
Last of the extended family gone.
Dishes done.
Hummingbirds fed.
I am so ready for 'me time'!!

Rain done here. Enjoy your time, Candyce! Have you seen hummers yet? I still have not. I'm sure they're around. 52 degrees.

Our hummers have been here for the past ten days, Victor. I think I said that they had arrived on one of these threads, but I'm not sure. Sorry if I missed doing that.

My hummers are back here at the farm too, Candyce. Do you have a feeder out yet, Victor? I only have one out so far, and we had a little guy buzzing around our patio door trying to remind me to get the others out. LOL

I think the rain has stopped here too. I have lots more ground to cover tomorrow to get more of my veggies in. I hope I didn't jump the gun in putting my tomatoes and cukes in today. Think I goofed???

I do have my feeder out but they usually hit all my flowers first. I just haven't spotted any yet.

No hummers here yet either - I put a new window feeder up.

None here yet either. I put a feeder out every year, but they never seem to show up until the Mimosa blooms.

We have had hummers here for at least a week. The feeder has been out for several weeks and the little guys make use of it, especially when it's cool.

Oh, ROBIN - I'm so glad to hear about how well Grant is doing!

The temp is dropping here as well, but I like when it's nice and cool for sleeping! The longer we can go without having to use either the air conditioning or the furnace is all right by me!