About Green and Growing Things

That ice storm awhile back took quite a toll on the large white pine tree in our back yard. I estimate that we lost 20% of it in the form of broken and badly damaged limbs. It could have been worse, I suppose, but after sawing, trimming, and raking, we ended up with quite a pile of limbs that needed to be removed. I decided to haul them to the landfill, because they grind such yard waste into reusable mulch. Better than burning! It took two carefully packed truckloads to get rid of everything. Here was the first load, packed up one afternoon and ready for a trip to the landfill first thing the next morning. Ah, the joys of owning a pickup! Josey loves going along. She always assumes the people at the weigh-in window will give her dog treats. Little did she know that you can skip weigh-in when the load is yard waste.


With the warmer weather recently, our tulips started to show. This is always a signal to the deer that "lunch is being served." So, we have learned to quickly cover the tulips. Otherwise, we wouldn't have a chance of seeing any blooms. Over the years, I've tried all sorts of methods for covering. Eventually, I settled on the approach seen below, which is this years incarnation.


Finally, I have long enjoyed schefflera plants. When I was still working, I had a rather magnificent plant in my office. It was 4' tall and seemed to bush out more and more every time I trimmed it back. (When I retired, I left it for a future office occupant, rather than go to all the work of hauling that "tree" home.) Here at home, I have another plant that friends gave me when my mother passed away in 1979. It is starting to rival the one that I had in my office. The amazing thing is that it very recently decided to bloom. I've never seen a schefflera bloom before. Below are two shots of the blooms, one taken with flash and the other without. I don't know if they will open up more or what. Do any of you know? I'll post another photo if anything interesting develops.