6/30/08 WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST?

Monday, 7:45 AM. 57 degrees, wind NW, calm to light. The channel is calm, the sky is blue and the barometer predicts sunny skies.
No one else is up and about and after I have my coffee I will start getting some breakfast out. I have already cooked up some sausage on the grill. The young crowd stayed up late talking and I hung in there, but on the periphery, or actually, on the porch. I had the distinct feeling that I was at least a generation apart, as they talked about technical and social issues concerning which I have little experience and less interest. Probably time to pass the baton. It’s rather like when my folks used to talk about life on the farm; which I found mildly interesting but pretty irrelevant. What goes around comes around, as they say.
The coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) are blooming along the roadsides…great wild flowers and very adaptable to the garden.
The Longs (Serril, Loyce and our daughter-in-law Leslie) are going kayaking this afternoon and should have good weather and a good time.
Oops! Ronnie, the little Jack Russell terrier, just got up on the kitchen table and gobbled the sausage. We have been eating too much meat anyway. He looks like an anaconda that just swallowed a goat. He probably shouldn’t be fed for a couple of days, and kept outside.

6/29/09 TRADITION, TRADITION!

Sunday, 6:50 AM. 52 degrees, wind NW, moderate with gusts, the channel is wrinkled. The skies are mostly cloudy, and we got one-eighth of an inch of rain last evening. The barometer predicts sunny weather, and this will probably blow out soon. Everyone arrived in time and good spirits by dinner yesterday. The church is decorated with garden flowers, and daughter Eva and Godparent Graham have practiced their songs for the service. Everyone is due for breakfast at 8:00 and at church before 10:00 AM. It promises to be a fine affair.
Later: all went well, it was a beautiful traditional service, with lunch at the parish house afterwards. Most of our guests took the ferry to Madeline Island for the afternoon, and we will have dinner about six. If nothing else, everyone will be well fed and watered during their stay. I am cooking beef tenderloins on the grill, and Joan is working on three-bean salad and potato salad. Andy and Judy are joining us for dinner. The kids will get to roast marshmallows after dinner. I like mine a little crispy but not charred.

6/28/08 FLOWERS AND KENNELS

Saturday, 7:30 AM. 56 degrees, wind NW, moderate with stronger gusts. The channel is crawling. The skies are partly cloudy, and the barometer predicts rain. We had a strong shower yesterday evening that brought three-quarters of an inch of welcome rain.
Sailboat race week starts today, and unless the weather turns severe it should be perfect for sailing.
I met Barb Spencer walking her dog this morning and she had what looked like wild carrot, or Queen Ann’s lace, Daucus carrota, in her hand. I told her she should be careful with anything that looked like carrot, as many plants in the carrot (Umbelliferae) family are poisonous, either if touched or ingested. I didn’t look closely at it, but when I got home she phoned and said she looked in her wild flower book and thought it was poison hemlock (the “hemlock” that killed Socrates). I will look at it where it is growing on 8th street, and if it is that, I will have it sprayed.
The American smokebush, Cotinus coggygria, is in bloom in the yard, it has very delicate panicles of red-yellow flowers, which when gone to seed are masses of smoky-gray seeds, quite attractive. It has nice fall color as well and can be an effective background shrub in the landscape.
The Longs, the baby’s other grandparents, and the House’s, the Godparents, arrive today so we are all scurrying about, getting ready for more company and for tomorrow. My job is to do the floral arrangements for church, and otherwise as I am told, or at least to keep out from underfoot, along with the dogs. If I do not behave I may have to be put in my kennel.

6/27/ FAMILIES

Friday, 9:30 AM. 67 degrees, wind W, calm, cannel calm. Skies are partly cloudy, and the barometer predicts rain.
Dutch, Leslie and baby arrived yesterday from Texas, and we are all involved with family activities.
The birdhouse on the porch housing the wren family has been chaotic, several fledglings out of the next and flitting about, but evidently more are still in the nest, as the parents are still bringing bugs. We all watched two nestlings “earn their wings” yesterday afternoon. They were very tentative, jumping in and out of the nest many times before actually flying unsurely about the porch and environs. I can empathize with the parent birds, as I am spending a great deal of time feeding our own offspring, all together in the nest again.

6/26/08 "HAPPY DAYS" REVISITED

Thursday, 7:30 AM. 58 degrees, wind NW, calm. The channel is smooth, the barometer predicts rain, and the sky is mostly blue and hazy. We are having what is for us, summer weather.
Yesterday the big dogs swam in the lake, enjoying retrieving in the icy water.
At noon we (minus dogs) all piled into two cars and drove the 50 miles to the Delta Diner, taking paved forest road 236, one of my favorite drives anywhere, about half of that distance. Joan and I put the top down and the grandkids got wind blown in the back seat and we all got too much sun. The burgers and authentic malted milk shakes were a real treat. This is a place not-to-be-missed when hereabouts (Google Delta Diner). It always takes me back to high school days in West Allis, Wisconsin, when a bunch of us guys would pile into my hot rod wannabe and go to Trudy’s drive in to watch the car hops in their short-shorts deliver our orders to the car window, much like in the "Happy Days" TV series of some years ago. On the way back from Delta we saw a doe with a tiny fawn by the roadside.
There is a much maligned tree blooming now that I have always liked, contrarian that I am. It is black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, a native of the southern states and considered invasive elsewhere by many. It is a legume, so can exist on sterile soils. It blooms beautifully, with huge panicles of white pea-like flowers that smell like lemon meringue pie. It was popular among early settlers because it grows fast, and the hard wood is rot resistant and excellent for fence posts. I think it would make a good street tree.
Dutch, Leslie and the baby will arrive in time for dinner today, and there is a ton of work to do before Sunday.

6/25/08 GUN DOGS AND ROSES

Wednesday, 7:30 AM, 63 degrees, wind NW, calm at present. The channel is lightly wrinkled. The barometer predicts rain, and skies are mostly overcast with high, thin white and gray clouds. It is quite humid and we will probably have some showers, which are needed.
Greta’s dogs are performing beautifully, Atticus very workmanlike and dependable, and Raven. even though still a puppy, looking very fast and flashy.
Nick fell off his scooter and got all scraped up and is wearing a bunch of Bandaids like little medals.
The strawberries are ripening in Bayfield gardens, and the kids can pick them at the berry farms by the weekend. The blueberries will soon follow.
The boat is getting cleaned and readied little by little and hopefully will be in the water by the weekend so we can ride along the shore and around Basswood Island looking for eagles and loons.
I have an old fashioned ‘Harrison’s Yellow’ rose in the front yard which has survived a couple of moves and finally is happy . I think this is also ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’ of story and song, very appropriately blooming for the arrival of our Texas contingent.

6/24/08 KIDS, DOGS, NO HORSE

Tuesday, 7:15 AM. 57 degrees, wind W, calm. The channel is lightly wrinkled. The sky is pretty much overcast, but the barometer is up, predicting sunny weather.
Daughter Geta arrived last evening from Columbus, via Cleveland and the UP, with her two dogs. Atticus is a 5 year old yellow lab who just qualified for the Master National Hunt Test, and Raven is a year-and-a-half old flat coat retriever starting her training. So the house now holds two very large dogs, a very small dog, and Lucky who just sits and rolls his eyes at all this activity. The grand kids are reveling in all the commotion and the adults are somewhere between amused and shell shocked. Dutch, Leslie and the baby arrive on Thursday or Friday, but left (thankfully) their Australian shepherd and horse in Texas. We could accommodate another dog in the house, but the horse would be too much. More company arrives for the Sunday christening on Saturday, but they will be housed at the Sea Gull Bay Motel.
Kattie has her left arm in a cast but that doesn't keep her off the skate board.
I have to go to Ashland today and get the boat registered, and then ready for the water.

6/23/08 THE MYSTERIOUS LUPINES

Monday, 7:30 AM. 57 degrees, wind NW, calm. The channel is patterned with large glassy areas interspersed with lightly wrinkled areas, very pretty. The barometer is up, predicting sunny weather, and the skies are currently clear with some haze on the eastern horizon.
The garden peonies will open today, and lilies are blooming as well. Roses will bloom in a few days.
The lupines (Lupinus perennis) are in full bloom all around the area and the earliest to open are now setting seed. Lupines get their genus name from the latin name for wolf, lupus, because early settlers thought that because they grew in sandy barrens the plants must “wolf” the soil nutrients, which they do not, but are rather an indicator of infertile soils. They are a real show, and could be a major tourist attraction if their annual blooming date was reliable, which it is not, but can vary by a couple of weeks depending upon the weather. Our lupines look like they are mostly the native lupine but local heritage says they were introduced from the Ba yfield flower farms early in the 1900’s. I think the story is more complicated than that as the wild lupine is common in Bayfield County in the oak barrens, and may have migrated from there over the years, and possibly these plants have mixed with horticultural selections of the native lupine grown by the flower farms.
In any case it is a complicated history, and the USDA and the Wisconsin sources are not particularly helpful. Our plants are mostly deep blue with some white and pink individuals and some flowers with white throats, and the native plants have pretty much that range of color variability. Ours may have been horticultural color selections that escaped back into native populations, enriching their color palette. I have seen these plants all along the southern Lake Superior shoreline and northern Lake Michigan dunes, from Duluth to at least the Mackinac Bridge, so if it isn’t native it might as well be considered such. But, native or not, they are beautiful, dependable, and a joy to see. I have seen the Texas bluebonnets in full bloom (also lupines but much shorter) and I think ours are every bit as much of an attraction.
If I were more of a botanical sleuth I would try to really figure this conundrum out, and maybe I will get into it in greater depth at some future time. Photos really do not do the lupine display justice, as they often occur in huge fields which don't seem to have much of an impact in a photograph, and they usually appear in patches large and small along the roadside, like pearls on a string, or more like charms on a bracelet, so their aesthetic impact is much greater than that depicted in a picture. Right now they are in bloom along Hwy 13 from Ashland all the way to Red Cliff and and beyond along the south shore.

6/22/08 BAD MINTON, GOOD TIME

Sunday, 7:30 AM. 55 degrees, wind NW, light to moderate. The channel is crawling. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are that at present.
No walk this morning, as I am suffering from a badminton injury (can you believe) and am hobbling around with a cane. What happened to the once-tough guy? Outside of that, all’s well with kids and dogs, and current occupants of Chez Ode are having a good time, but some activities may be attenuated.

6/21/08 LET THE SUMMER BEGIN

Saturday, 7:30 AM, 55 degrees, wind NE, moderate. The channel is wrinkled. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy weather, and the skies are now clear, with some haze. We had showers yesterday, some with winds and hail, and got one-half inch of rain total (welcome rain and no damage).
Eva, Nick and Katie and new dog Ronnie arrived yesterday at dinner time from Denver. They had a good trip, skirting the Iowa flooding. Their pup is a Kansas tornado rescue dog, maybe he should be named Toto?
American cranberrybush or highbush cranberry, Viburnum trilobum, is in bloom, its flat-topped clusters of white flowers quite showy. It will develop persistent edible red fruits, but it is not related to the true cranberry. The genus Viburnum is one of the best for useful and decorative shrubs, and no landscape is really complete without its representatives.
We’re not going to do much today, mostly just relax with family. Joan and I didn’t run off to any wild Solstice parties last night, either…no dancing naked under the full moon (what a revolting sight that would be!), although I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear that something of that nature had occurred somewhere out in the Bayfield boondocks last night.

6/20/08 GETTIN' READY FOR COMPANY

Friday, 7:30 AM. 56 degrees, wind NE, calm. The channel is calm. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, which are at present hazy blue. We could use some rain (but one rain barrel is still full, good for days of watering baskets and pots).
I brought the the old Boston Whaler boat home from the Johnson’s barn yesterday late afternoon. It’s a mess and needs lots of work, and on top of that the registration stickers are expired, I never received a renewal notice. It may get in the water while company is here and it may not. Coming home from the Johnson’s I saw a little black dog crossing the road. Upon closer inspection it was a bear cub, maybe 30 pounds or so, certainly this year’s cub. When I stopped it scampered down a path so fast it raised a little dust cloud behind it. Mama must have been up ahead, whom I just missed seeing.
Still lots to do to get ready for all the company.

6/19/08 AZALEAS: USE WITH CARE

Thursday, 7:45 AM. It is 47 degrees, the wind E, calm. The channel is again like glass. The barometer is down, predicting partly cloudy skies, currently blue with some high, thin white clouds.
Some lilacs are still blooming, particularly the white ones by the back porch, but most common lilacs (Syringia vulgaris) and their hybrids are over. There are many crosses of Persian and other lilacs still to bloom, but to me they all lack the effectiveness of the common lilac…size of bloom, fragrance, and the ability to hold up as a cut flower. There are few things like the common lilac to bring the outdoors in.
Azaleas are blooming, and many do well in Bayfield and along the lakeshore. The most dependable are the recent introductions by the University of Minnesota, the “Northern Lights” series (‘Rosy Lights’, ‘Lemon Lights’, etc.) Many varieties of the flame Azalea are also hardy here. Botanically, Azaleas are classified in the genus Rhododendron, according to their flower characteristics, the real difference being that Azaleas are deciduous, and the Rhododendrons more or less evergreen. Azaleas and Rhododendrons are native throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and have been hybridized almost beyond definition over the last several hundred years. A note of caution regarding their use in the landscape: many Azalea (and some Rhododendron) flower colors are eye catching but garish, and unless you are a collector of this group or have some other special interest in planting them, caution is advised, as misuse can result in clashing colors and design concepts, and a busy and unattractive landscape effect.
The poppies are suddenly blooming in the garden this morning, and the peonies will soon follow, so the garden will be colorful again. I need to do some tree pruning this winter, as the garden is getting too shady.
I need to mow lawns today and get the boat out of the Johnson’s barn, as family will begin to arrive in a few days and everyone will want to get out onto the water.

6/18/08 ANDY'S CHICKEN AND PAUL'S HAWTHORN

Wednesday, 7:30 AM. 45 degrees, wind E, calm. The channel is like glass. The barometer predicts sunny skies which are now blue with some haze.
We went to the Larsen’s for dinner, they are living in their “winter camp,” a large multi-purpose room at the back of their metal barn. Andy is building an elaborate roofed tent platform that will house a large new Cabella’s tent, and will be a luxurious camping facility. Judy is anxious to be cooking outdoors in the cook shack, as she and Andy are truly gourmet camp cooks. Anyway, we had a nice evening with them and Myron, who lives up the road and probably smelled the chicken roasting. The ticks and mosquitoes are still fierce in the woods and it was just as well that we ate inside.
Coming home just about dusk we saw a yearling bear on Hwy. K and Lohman’s (Myron’s) road. He wasn’t shy and we got several good looks at him but I didn’t have my camera.
There has also been a big sow with cubs in the area, getting into things, and Myron says her tracks alone weigh over twenty pounds.
We have what I am calling a Bayfield signature tree, it is a Paul’s Scarlet English hawthorn, Crataegus laevigata ‘Paul’s Scarlet,’ an old fashioned variety. Probably the most beautiful of the hawthorns in flower, it is located in the little park on Sixth Street and Old Military Road. I would like to propagate it and plant it throughout the city.
Former Bayfield resident Howard Larsen had propagated some and planted them around town and they seem to be doing well. “Paul’s Scarlet’ is usually susceptible to all sorts of disease problems and is seldom used these days, but this tree seems to be resistant, either because of our Bayfield microclimate or in that it has evolved a true genetic disease resistance.
The dominant male hummingbird is driving himself crazy trying to defend (now two) feeders from interlopers, and I am tempted to put up a third and push him to the limit.

6/17/08 PORCHES AND BEACHES

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 52 degrees, wind NE, moderate. The channel is wrinkled. The barometer predicts sunny skies, which are a cloudless blue at present. The aspen leaves are flitering merrily in the breeze, and it is a “see forever” day.
Lucky and I hadn’t been to the beach in some weeks so we went this morning, I made a dozen casts in the Sioux mouth to see if a northern might be lurking there (nope). It is always amazing how the beach and dunes and sand bars change with the storms.
The sand cherry, Prunus pumila ( I believe that is what this small shrub in the cherry family is) is in bloom, and when it bears fruit we will look at it again. It is quite pretty in flower, and does its job of holding down the sand well.
The back porch is now a wonderful place to sit and eat or just relax, the lilacs providing an unbelievable fragrance. Family (lots) will begin arriving in about a week, so there is much work to do.

6/16/08 NOTABLE NATIVES

Monday, 8:00 AM. 50 degrees, wind NE, calm to light. The channel is calm. The barometer is up, predicting partly cloudy weather. The sky is mostly overcast with high gray clouds.
There are two native shrubs of note just beginning to bloom in the woods on Ninth Street; mountain maple, Acer spicatum, which bears upright spikes of whitish green flowers and has rather large palmately lobed leaves; and the pagoda dogwood, Cornus alternifolia, which has flat clusters of tiny dogwood blooms and is the only dogwood with alternate leaves and branches.
The mountain maple is a very handsome under-story shrub, not readily available in the nursery trade; the pagoda dogwood, so named because it has an interesting “oriental” shape, is available but is rather finicky to grow. Neither shrub is known by many gardeners, and both could be used more.
My Iris are not performing well this year, “mea culpa,” they need to be divided and I will have to develop a new bed for them somewhere. I made the mistake of planting Iris in with other garden perennials and if I divide them in place I will ruin a lot of other things, particularly bulbs. Iris are not good plants for the careless gardener!

6/15/08 NEW TREES, OLD ARGUMENT

Sunday, 8:00 AM. 55 degrees, wind S, moderate. The channel is wrinkled. The barometer predicts rain, but skies are mostly clear with some haze.
The scent of lilacs wafts wonderfully onto the porch. The poppies are opening, the Iris as well, and peonies in a day or two. Bird song fills the air. It is a fine day.
The newly planted red buckeyes, Aesculus pavia, ten in all, along Sixth Street are in bloom. They will be spectacular in a few years. These are hybrids of a southeastern US native. They are a grafted tree. They don’t get too large, perhaps thirty feet in height, and should not bear fruit, a boon for a street tree.
Many well-intentioned people think all trees and particularly street trees, should be forest natives…no foreigners, no hybrids, no grafts. Acceptable street trees must have certain attributes; pest and disease resistance, strong wood and branching, a minimum of plant parts that fall to the street, adaptability to city conditions, and beauty and interest. This process of elimination leaves fewer and fewer possibilities, and the arborist needs all the help he can get from the nurseryman. Suffice it to say that the argument between nativists and horticulturists, particularly as regards street trees, is unwelcome and impractical.
The Blessing of the Fleet concert, Baroque music of Bach, Telleman and others, was excellent as usual, and the Blessing at city dock is at noon today.

6/14/08 BLOOMS, BUGS AND BREEZES

Saturday, 7:15 AM. 52 degrees, wind S, moderate with stronger gusts. The channel is wrinkled. The barometer predicts rain, the skies are overcast, with patches of blue.
The shrub dogwoods are blooming, the one pictured here with panicles of small white flowers is, if I recall correctly, gray dogwood, Cornus racemosa.
The little Canada mayflower, Maianthemum canadense, is in bloom in the woods, also known as wild lily-of-the-valley, it looks somewhat like a diminutive version of the common garden plant.
Being Saturday and early, there wasn’t the heavy detour traffic on Ninth Street that has been altering our walking route, and we went all the way and through to the woods, where mosquitoes were fierce due to all the rain. It reminded me once again of the importance of channeling breezes when landscaping to minimize bothersome insects. We are seldom bothered on our back porch.
The Rhododendrons in Cindy’s yard are spectacular this year. They look pretty close to R. carolinianum, the Carolina rosebay, but I can’t be sure. For the best Rhododendron and azalea displays anywhere, visit Calloway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia, in April…you will not be disappointed.
The pickup and the garage are close to overflowing with recycles and garbage and a trip to the Recycling Center is imperative this morning.

6/13/08 FOG, BEARS AND SHRUBS

Friday, 7:30 AM. 47 degrees, wind E, calm to light. It was quite foggy an hour ago but the sun has come out and burned it all off. The barometer predicts rain but it is a bright , blue-sky morning. The channel is calm to slightly wrinkled.
A bear is active again in the neighborhood, having gotten into a garbage dumpster just up the street and leaving his calling card in the middle of the road. He was probably sitting in the dumpster at sunup. If I get ambitious I will have to get up earlier one morning, put a leash on Lucky, and try to get a photo. The Park Service has closed the Meyers’ Beach Trail due to an aggressive sow with two cubs.
There are some old-fashioned shrubs that are often used in our landscapes, some good, some not-so-good. Pictured are a pink cultivar of Weigela, along with a “snowball” Viburnum, and a honeysuckle, Lonicera tatarica. The only one worth growing, in my opinion, is the snowball Viburnum, which has good blooms and good fall color. The Weigela blooms nicely but is straggly and has nothing to offer in fall color. The honeysuckle is rather undistinguished and is extremely invasive and should not be grown.
Today is a lawn mowing day, as soon as things dry out a bit.

6/12/08 "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT"

Thursday, 7:30 AM. 48 degrees, wind ENE, calm. The sky is overcast, and earlier fog has lifted. The barometer predicts rain.
We got a lot of rain yesterday, over an inch, and the ditches are running brim-full. It was a dark and stormy night, as they say, the dog nervous from the thunder and lightning and coming alternately to Joan and me for reassurance. No damage seems to have been done, and the lake level should be rising. The temperature has risen a full ten degrees since last night, when I was almost fearful of a frost.
The perennial garden got a passable weeding during the rain yesterday, and I will try to cut down some daffodils and further clean things up today. The wrens are protesting my presence on the porch but they will just have to get used to sharing.

6/11/08 GOLF, PROSE AND CONS

Wednesday, 7:30 AM. 37 degrees, wind NE, light to moderate. The barometer predicts sunny skies, which are presently overcast. It was very foggy earlier, but it has lifted. We are stuck in a cool, damp weather pattern, rather like an English or far northern European spring. Or, perhaps, Siberia? Anyway, it’s better than floods, tornadoes and heat waves. The plants and animals take it all in stride, and so should we.
The Bayfield Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Bureau “After Hours” event on Madeline Island was very nice and well attended. The Madeline Island Golf Course was designed by famous golf course architect Robert Trent Jones. I don’t golf but have a long association with golf course maintenance, and this one is a beauty. The last time I golfed I ended up caddying the last several holes for the foursome. I'll let your imagination run wild as to why.

6/10/08 A TALE OF TWO TREES

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 37 degrees, wind E, calm. Fog once again obscures the Island and the fog horn is bellowing down on City Dock.
The apple trees are at peak bloom, and driving through the orchard country it is apparent where trees are being pruned for production and where they are neglected, as the neglected trees have far more blossoms and are prettier. I prefer to prune apple trees, even if not grown for production,and pruned and sprayed, the old fashioned way…the top branches pruned out, and the whole tree pruned into an almost weeping shape. The structural character of an old apple tree is, to me, a far more important aesthetic than the blooms. Apple trees are very long lived, and can assume an ancient, gnarled character. The apple tree reportedly responsible for inspiring Newton’s ‘Principia,’ the theory of gravity, is still alive in England, and is well over three hundred years old. Now that there are dwarf varieties and trellised apple trees the old fashioned appearance is not as prevalent, which makes them even more important as a landscape feature. Such pruning must be done yearly, and it takes years to form the character of a tree, almost like doing Bonsai. I look upon it as an annual late winter ritual. I have only one apple tree, quite old, and I don’t spray it anymore except perhaps for a dormant oil spray, and the apples are good for little more than deer feed, but it is an anchor in the landscape.
We are going to Ashland today, and with gasoline prices what they are, we have saved up a lot of errands to accomplish at one time, so will be gone until late afternoon. We go to La Pointe by ferry for a Bayfield Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Bureau “After Hours” event this evening, and the captain may have to use radar, sonar GPS and perhaps intuition to get us there and back.

6/09/08 BAYFIELD, OREGON?

Monday, 8:00 AM. 47 degrees, wind SW, calm. The channel is crawling slightly, the barometer predicts rain and the sky is overcast. We had intermittent heavy rain last night and the rain barrels are full.
It is a noisy morning, as through traffic is being routed down Ninth Street, Hwy. 13 being closed to put a huge new culvert in from Seventh Street east across Sixth Street. There are also new culverts being installed across Eighth and Ninth Streets, a huge project. These culverts provide road crossings for one of the major ravines which dissect the town, and which naturally channel water from the bluffs to the lake. They provide a relevant lesson that just because something is natural it is not necessarily maintenance free. More at some other time.
Oregon Grape Holly, Mahonia aquifolia, is a shrub beautiful in flower, fruit, and summer and fall foliage. Its fragrant yellow flowers develop grape-like clusters of blue berries. I have seen masses of them growing in the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Our climate is rather similar and has been particularly so this last winter and spring, and they grow well in Bayfield.
I don’t think my apple grafts took, I need a sharper knife and more patience.
I need to mow the lawn today, if it ever dries out, and then on to weeding the garden.

6/08/08: PEAR TREES AND LOONS

Sunday, 7:00 AM. 53 degrees, wind NNE, calm. The channel is smooth as glass, the Island trees casting their reflections far out over the channel waters. The sky is overcast but the barometer predicts sun. Pear trees are in full bloom. They are hardy here, quite decorative, and generally trouble-free. Both wild and domestic strawberries and also blueberries are in full bloom.
Our back porch wren sings constantly, and there must be a thousand robins in the neighborhood. And, just now, the wild, lonely song of a loon wafts up the hill from Seagull Bay.