With the mild winter and ample rain in April, 2012 is shaping up to be a great year for clematis. Several gardeners have told me their clematis are blooming much earlier than usual. My clematis is the kind that blooms both in spring and in late summer. Called ‘Bee’s Jubilee’, it climbs the pergola in the backyard. I bought this…
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I was putting some mulch under our white pine Sunday when I noticed that the robin who had been around our yard lately seemed to be hanging quite close to me. Soon, I discovered the reason why — a nestful of almost ready to fly baby robins. The parent robins built the nest in the crotch of the pine, which…
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I haven’t planted anything in the straw bales yet, but something is growing! I have a big crop of mushrooms growing in straw bales. The mushrooms are growing in one bale and a smaller crop of grass is popping out of some of the other bales. Both of these are expected events, though still a bit surprising to see mushrooms…
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My hand is tingling as I type this because yesterday I pulled some stinging nettle without wearing gloves. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I usually make this stupid mistake once a year. I see it in the garden, I grab without thinking, and I tingle for a few hours. So far, it’s been 20-plus hours of tingling, but the antihistamine I took…
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I’m not sure if the warmer temperatures yesterday were the main factor or if decomposition is afoot, but my straw bales garden is starting to heat up. Yesterday, I detected definite heat from the bales and one of the bales registered nearly 100 degrees F on the old meat thermometer I am using to check the temps. That was a…
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