5/03/12 RHODODENDRONS, ELDERBERRIES AND THE NEW TAMANY HALL

EVERYTHING IS COMING INTO BLOOM NOW

RED BERRIED ELDERBERRY FLOWERS

...SAMBUCUS PUBENS

PJM RHODENDRON STARTING TO BLOOM IN THE FRONT YARD

Thursday, 8:00 AM.  51 degrees F, wind NW, quite windy at times.  It rained hard for a bit before dawn but it is clearing now and the barometer predicts partly cloudy skies.
    Yesterday was a true spring day, sunny, balmy, the temperatures reaching into the low eighties.  Late afternoon we put the top down on the convertible and took a drive, and we ate dinner on the porch.  Everything will be blooming soon; the PJM rhododendrons in the front yard are beginning to bloom this morning, as is the red-berried elderberry, Sambucus pubens, a more northern species than the more common S. canadensis.                    
    The situation of the Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng remains murky; did he actually seek asylum in the US embassy in Bejing, and if so, why did he leave again? What was he promised, what was he led to believe? Was his wife and family threatened by the Chinese government, or not?  Did Hillary and the Obama administration “throw him under the bus,” as they have done to so many of their supporters and allies when their presence became awkward?  Was it whispered to the Chinese, "I'll have more flexibilliy
after the election in November?"
    We may never know whether this brave man was double-crossed or not, but knowing the history of the people he is dealing with, one tends to harbor dark suspicions.  But, “Politics ain’t bean bag,” as Boss Tweed once said and Mr. Chen is finding out.  And, the Obama administration is the new Tammany Hall.
    We are going south to Langlade, WI to visit friend Tommy at his cottage, and will pick up plants at Northwoods Nursery in Rhinelander on the way back, so there won’t be a blog for a couple of days.