My helper friend was here and we went right out and started on the tree area. I made 3 more berms before the masonry heater contractor showed up, finishing the fruit trees. I’ve just got the 5 forsythias to do.
My helper friend finished moving all the sods and laying them down and feathering them in. They had done half the area that needed raising.
Then he moved a lot of the dirt piles over to the topsoil pile at the end of the woodshed. When the masonry heater guy left, I was too cold to stay outside any longer, so I finished the cleanup and put the fences back up.
It looks like a lot of the wildflowers are starting to come up.
3rd Fence garden: L – R: double daylilies, white iris, sedum in front of daffodils
I went out in the evening when the sun came out and got some photos around the gardens.
Daffodils in full bloom along fence gardens
It is bizarre to have lilac buds in mid April.
When I was growing up, lilacs flowered around Memorial Day, the end of May.
By the time I got married in 1987, it was touch and go whether the lilacs would be flowering on May 9th. I’d used them, and lily of the valley, in my bouquet. Looks like it won’t be a problem this year.
We’ve had some nights in the 20’s but it doesn’t seem to have affected the buds.
I noticed the McIntosh apple tree was just sending out tiny buds, well behind the crabapple that is half leafed out, and the magnolia with its frosted flowers.
Wednesday my intern is here. It’s to be cold, in the 40’s and high winds, so no outside work at all. But the seedlings she and I started a week ago have almost all come up and they need thinning, and attention. I must also update my notes, so there’s plenty to do inside.