It's the Solstice!

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The earth has made another circle of the sun…and today is summer! Hope everyone has a little bit of a celebration today. At least the celestial forces are behaving as they always have…can’t say much for the terrestrial ones! The one constant where I live is getting up to another project. This one is done! (well the construction part, at least.)
Today saw the completion of the backdoor decking…it’s a job I’m happy to have finished. Never saw the excavator again…so I went out with my trusty shovel and cleared the area that I needed to level for the deck. The frame took longer to paint than it did to assemble and we used the 5/4 decking that is pressure treated to resist rot and the timbers we painted with a good exterior paint instead of buying the poisoned wood. We had no choice in the decking as it doesn’t come any other way. The top needs a coat of weather seal…and we’re still looking for a patio set to complete the project. Barbeque needs to be cleaned and transferred. Have plans for a couple of trellises and will be planting up the two huge terra cotta planters that made it thro the move unbroken!

This morning’s tour held four surprises:
1. The dahlias from Wales are coming up. I planted them so late that I was concerned for them. Put them in the bed at the front steps where we pulled out the huge rock!… Mandy bedded down on them once…and it’s been necessary for me to hook up the hose and water recently..and still not much moisture in the forecast! Lovely things are emerging from the soil…Thanks Arlene!

2. My hastily planted clematis are starting to blossom! This is Warsaw Nike, the other two plants are still poking along…but not worried. hope to strengthen them for the coming winter and perhaps will pot them up for storage. Still toying with the idea of keeping them in the basement.

3. Over the winter I’ve looked at the sihouettes of the trees and shrubs that were already here and wondered how they would fit with my plans for the garden…two trees in particular I was not familiar with…one is in the family garden area at the back of the house and the other is in the front yard…One of the locals said they were Elms (Ulmus) but I knew by their shape that they were mature and certainly not Elms. Considering the other trees in the vicinity (one is a young Red Maple) I was toying with the idea of removing the largest one. When I raked beneath the trees earlier this spring I saw that the leaves were small and arranged on long spathes…hmmm…. looks like a sumac…no too large…then I found a squirrel’s cache and it all became clear! They are black walnut. Juglans nigra…and the previous owner had made a perennial bed under the largest tree in the front garden! (in the picture of the deck you will see the other black walnut in the background) This tree is quite tall and it’s dripline circumference takes in a lot of territory…but what’s more puzzling is the fact that there is a line of extemely tall balsam spruce in line with it and two young trees (maple and spruce) within 20 ft. of it.
Looks like they are going to bear nuts…check this out!

4. Another area which I was planning on clearing out was the Hazel thicket …but looking at them I realized that there are nuts forming on them too! Glad I was delayed in getting to the area. Sorry that this photo isn’t as well focused as it should be…old eyes, I guess.

Today’s walk was really worthwhile!

The following are a few little extras that popped up…one of them is a pic of wild geranium…

UPDATE: Libet gets a gold star because she observed that the flower in question looked like an echium! It is, in fact, Viper’s Bugloss, Echium vulgare…a wild echium quite different from the echiums of the Canary Islands…but an echium all the same!
Found a lovely surprise …check out the colour of the lovely spider on these little wild flowers… These blue flowers grow along roadsides, and yes, I’ll be updating when I’ve had a chance to get on the i’net and check it out.
The last is the excavated material that I have to level and turn into a garden and pathway…I’ve already planted a weigela and calla lilies…which are doing fine, touch wood…The plox and daylilies were already here and are up and growing well too. Where the most of the digging was done there were abundant stones from small ones to boulders! will be looking for uses for any and all…Rocks are the bones of the garden landscape…no wonder the Japanese name them!
Next blog will have photos of the greenhouse…oh please let it be so!!!

• 21 Jun, 2011
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