Late June Storm

/

We are still dealing with the aftermath of a late June storm. At our house, one of the two maples in our front yard lost some larger branches. It spilt in such a way that leaves it vulnerable to the next high wind event – likely to fall into the street. This was the first year that the daylilies I’d planted around its base have been numerous enough to look good. It is upsetting; we’ve accepted the arborist’s recommendation to cut it down. In preparation I’ve cut the daylily flowers and am going to transplant the rhizomes elsewhere. We aren’t going to grind the stump. Instead, I am going to create a native plant garden around where the tree was cut and incorporate a lower place where a tree was removed before we bought the house. It will include a small tree (maybe a serviceberry), a bush (maybe winterberry holly or ninebark)…and then some perennials; I’m looking for a landscaping company that can do most of the work…hopefully leaving it where I can maintain it. I’ve also requested the wood chips from the tree that I can spread elsewhere around my yard…keeping the nutrients on my land.

My daughter’s yard had damage too. One of her amur maples dropped a limb on the driveway and the other dropped a limb on a fence (but gently enough that it didn’t take the fence down. Her husband handled the branch in their driveway shortly after it fell. The tree service will take the limb that fell on the fence and the junipers that fell over at the side of her house. She had her trees trimmed earlier this season or she probably would have had more damage. She is contemplating what to plant once the junipers are gone.

There were many people that had more damage that we did and were without power for days. We are using the destruction of the storm as an opportunity to plant more natives in our yard!

Spring Miscellaneous

/

So much going on in April --- I’ve been out and about…noticing and photographing bits of springtime.

These first two are from my yard – two native plants I added 2 years ago: the fragrant sumac (a woody plant) that is putting up more stems and is blooming right now and the American spikenard (a perennial) that is coming up where I can see it from my office window!

On the Missouri State campus as I walked to my geology lab class: two maples that have produced samaras, sweet gum has small leaves and is beginning of seed formation, and some ‘carnation’ trees that have been added very recently are blooming at the edge of a parking lot.

There were some things I noticed at my daughter’s house as I waited for the tree crew to arrive: hostas coming up (she could easily divide these to supplement the few that are growing under her southern magnolia), a bed recently cleared of a bush honey suckle and other invasive plants…and there is some good stuff that survived underneath), Carolina silverbell in bloom, an azalea with a few flowers in deep shade under the hemlock,

Leaves unfurling on the oak leaf hydrangea, and

I like the garden gate on the shady side of her house. It’s idyllic looking but in previous years not a place to sit…because the mosquitos tend to like the area. Now that the redbud is gone, the area will get a little sun…maybe make it a pleasant place for a chair and small table.

Back at my home, the front yard has been mowed, and I made the decision to put mulch under the Asian dogwood tree. I cut the grass that had come up there very short with the weed eater and trimmed off the lower branches. I had enough cardboard to put under the mulch. The day was windy, so it was a bit challenging to keep the cardboard in place before I got the mulch on top. I used about 1/3 of the mulch I got from my daughter: a big blue bin and then a smaller bin. I used the snow shovel to move it around on top of the cardboard pieces…was pleased with the results. I am already planning the projects for the rest of the mulch – waiting to accumulate enough cardboard!

Springfield Botanical Gardens – March 2025

/

There were signs of spring at the Springfield Botanical Gardens last week when I made a short visit.

The daffodils were beginning to wane.

The grape hyacinths filled some niches in beds otherwise still bracing for winter.

The maple trees had new samaras – still colorful. There must be several different kinds of maples based on the different structure and color of the samara clumps.

The most dramatic were probably the deciduous magnolias. I always like photographing them. The most of trees that I found were very young.

I found some tulips as I headed back to my car. It was a little disappointing to not see more of them. They did not appear to be as densely planted as in previous years – or maybe a lot of them just didn’t produce for some reason.

The redbuds were blooming….making a haze of color in the gardens! This is a great time of year to visit botanical gardens frequently to see the transition from winter to spring to summer.

First Frost and a Comet

/

The first frost at our house was on 10/16; the low was 29 degrees, but ice crystals only formed on part of our yard…and I went out shortly after sunrise to capture the event. Some of the crystals seemed to outline the leaves (and their holes) while other leaves seemed to be more thoroughly dusted. There were no crystals on taller plants.

The freezing temperature did not last long enough to wilt vegetation. The violets outside my window are still mostly green…with a few yellow leaves. The maples still have most of their leaves. Our area has not had much rain recently so we are anticipating that the fall color might not be as vibrant as usual.

On another outdoors note…we have been viewing Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas (A3) from our front sidewalk!