Surprises!

  • Post published:05/11/2010
  • Post comments:6 Comments

The first unpleasant surprise was frost!  The 7 am temperature on our thermometer on the north side of the house, but in the sun, said 42 degrees and I rejoiced. But my husband brought in the cat’s frozen water dish from the welcoming platform. The first shock. Then I went out to open our ad hoc cold frame and the inside was all frosty. I’d better mark this frost date in my Journal.

Jewel Black Raspberry

The second, and final, unpleasant surprise of the morning was finding one of the 10 newly planted and mulched black raspberry plants dug up. Who would do that? The deer have munched the hostas, but there’s not much to eat on a new ‘black cap’.  I will have to rush out and replant this, but I fear the roots may have dried out beyond reviving.

Rangoon rhododendron

Fortunately there was a pleasant surprise. The Rangoon rhododendron’s buds are preparing to open, as are the buds on Boule de Neige.  A tiny red primrose was also blooming this morning. I haven’t been paying very much attention to this bed next to the Cottage Ornee, but I got here in time. Buds of the tree peonies are swelling. It won’t be long.

Beauty of Moscow lilac

The reason I bought Beauty of Moscow is because the fat pink buds are just as beautiful as the big double white flowers. I bought this lilac locally from the Shelburne Farm and Garden Center several years ago.

The lovely blossoms on this ancient apple tree next to the Cottage Ornee are no surprise. The Cottage was sited to nestle between, and almost under, this apple tree and a large high bush cranberry (virburnam), both of which suffered terribly in the Ice Storm of 2008. Yet it still blooms, full of grace and determination.

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Oh you poor thing. Frost is yuck this time of year. I hope you discover what is digging up your raspberries. Dang it.~~Dee

  2. Pat

    Dee – I thought we were safe from frost – if only because of the constant wind blowing it away.

  3. Jean

    Here in Maine, too, we’ve been having the combination of early spring and late(ish) frost. Temps here went down into the twenties the past two nights. I didn’t see much frost, though, especially compared with communities closer to the coast. I think maybe the air was too dry here for frost to form.

  4. Wasn’t it crazy weather on the weekend. We had snow flurries, luckily it didn’t stay. Crazy to look outside and see the snow coming down, with a gorgeous pink crabapple in full bloom behind it.

  5. Pat

    Jean – At least the sun is shining this morning and we are supposed to have days of warm temperatures.
    Deborah – May is no time for snow flurries, but here in Heath we once had snow during the Fair in August!

  6. Carol

    Pat we had patches of frost here too… in the high twenties! Walking in my garden I can see plants here and there that took a hit… a definite frost path exists in my garden. My beloved Magnolia’s blossoms turned brown too… luckily she is still producing buds. I love… love your ‘Beauty of Moscow’ … the perfect name! Do you know if it is still sold locally? It is amazing what our plants and trees endure during our winter months and still give us joy in blooms!

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