PIN CHERRIES AND CREEPING PHLOX

PIN CHERRY...

CLUSTER OF BLOOMS

CREEPING PHLOX IN OLD CEMETARY ON HWY. 2...

...IN LAWN ON 11TH AND WILSON AVE.

Saturday,  8:15 AM.  52 degrees F, wind SW, light with some moderate gusts.  The sky is mostly overcast and hazy. The humidity is 83% and the barometer is trending down, now at 30.11".  It looks like Sunday and Monday will be rainy days, which is not all bad, as droughty soils are starting to dry out and the newly planted trees will benefit as well.

   Wild cherries are blooming now along with the Juneberries.  We have the pin cherry, the choke cherry, and the sand cherry, all shrubs or small trees, and the black cherry, a large tree of the deciduous forest.  They are edible but seldom used except occasionally for jams and jellies, but all make excellent wild life food.

   The pin cherry, pictured above, is a familiar small tree of woods edges and roadsides.  Its red, sour cherries have a single stone, and ripen in July or early August. An easy way to distinguish cherry blossoms from other white flowers is that the yellow, pollen bearing stamens are held high above the petals of the flowers.  Close up, Junebrerry (Amelanchier) and cherry flowers are quite dissimilar, but from a distance they can be confusing, in spring all blooming together on the edge of woods and fields.

   Creeping Phlox, Phlox stolonifera, are blooming now in gardens.  Native to the eastern US, it is known mostly as a garden plant. Occasionally it will escape into a lawn, where it will survive mowing and look spectacular.  One is very lucky when it does so, as it is next to impossible to establish it there on purpose.

A REALLY COOL CRUISE

LEAVING BAYFIELD...

CAPTAIN EDWARDS AT THE HELM...

NAVIGATING THE ICE FLOWS,,,

...AND OCCASIONAL ICE BERG

RASPBERRY ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE

Friday, 8:00 AM.  49 degrees F at the ferry dock, much colder on the back porch.  Wind westerly, light.  The sky is mostly clear with a few wispy high-altitude clouds. The humidity is 88% and the barometer remains steady, at 30.19".  It looks like a repeat of yesterday's weather.
   I breathed a sigh of relief as the last of Bayfield's new street trees were planted yesterday afternoon.  The oaks were still dormant but the little-leaf lindens, the flowering crab trees, the mountain ash all were leafing out and needed to get into the ground and be watered in.  The weather has stayed cool, so all the trees should transplant well.
   Last evening Joan and I had the opportunity to get out on the water.  The Chamber of Commerce "After Hours" get-away for members was hosted by the Apostle Islands Cruise Service, with Bayfied's newest restaurant, The Fat Radish, providing  food and All Sister's Winery serving its apple wine.  It was a fine outing, the food and drink excellent and the cruise flawless.
   The evening was chilly but the sailing smooth.  Our neighbor, Captain Sherman Edwards, was both pilot and tour guide.  It was the first time we had sailed on the new glass-bottom tour boat,  a smooth, powerful, relatively quiet ship.
   We got up close and personal with a few remnant ice bergs, just for fun.  There weren't many between Bayfield and the Raspberry Island lighthouse, our destination, but had we travelled south from port rather than north we would have encountered a lot of them, and the trip might have been uncomfortably reminiscent of that of the Titanic.  The presence of the ice all depends upon the direction of the wind and currants.  The icepack is still thick out in the open lake and will be there for some time to come, as the water temperature is only thirty-six degrees F in most locations.  It was, as they say, a really cool cruise.

JUNEBERRIES ARE BEGINNING TO BLOOM

JUNEBERRY BLOSSOMS..

...JUIST BEGINNING TO BLOOM IN THE GARDEN

Thursday,  46 degrees F, wind NW, calm at present.  The sky is cloudless, the humidity 89% and the barometer is steady at 30.19".  It is a fine morning.
  The Juneberries are just beginning to bloom, very late again this year (as they were last year).  My data suggest that they can bloom anywhere from mid April to Memorial Day, depending upon the severity and length of the winter.
  There are at least a dozen species of the genus Amelanchier in North America and they hybridize readily so it takes some exact taxonomic knowledge and a lot of work to accurately identify them.  Suffice it to say that those that are mostly shrubby are represented in Wisconsin  by the species canadensis, and those that are more tree-like by the species laevis. There are a number of horticultural selections on the market as well.  I have written a number of posts on Juneberries and I may be contradicting myself.  Use the blog search engine for a lot more information on Amelanchiers.  I consider them the iconic spring flowering woody plants of the Northland, and admire them greatly.
   We are planting the rest of our Bayfield street trees this morning (with perhaps a few left over for next week) so I am quite pressed for time and energy.

PLANTING A "STREETSCAPE" OF OAKS

FORGET-ME-NOT

PLANTING A STREETSCAPE OF SWAMP WHITE OAKS...

... ON 8TH ST., BAYFIELD

Wednesday, 44 degrees F at the ferry dock, 38 degrees on the back porch.  Wind variable, light.  The sky is clear with some haze, and there are some wispy stratospheric clouds.  The humidity is high, at 90%, and the barometer is trending up, now at 30.07".  It got down to the low thirties last night and around midnight I got anxious and brought all the plants in off the porch and decks.  They went back out this morning, and hopefully will not have to brought in again.
   The Forget-Me-Nots are suddenly blooming in roadside ditches and other odd places around town. Myosotis scorpioides, the true, or water, Forget-Me-Not, is of European origin but is  naturalized virtually  everywhere in North America.   It is weedy in a garden but otherwise harmless and very pretty, a pleasant little flower to encounter. There are a number of other introduced species and several that are native, but I will leave them all to experts in the Borage genus.
   We planted eighteen new city trees yesterday, half in a "streetscape" of swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor, along 8th St. between Wilson Ave. and Manypenny Ave. Swamp white oaks are very adaptable and are by and large excellent street trees. We have another shipment of trees arriving today, to be planted on tomorrow.

EVERYTHING'S IN BLOOM AT ONCE!

MARSH MARIGOLDS

STAR MAGNOLIA

GRANDDAUGHTER ALLISON AND P.J.M. RHODODENDRON...

...BRACE OF BLOOMS

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  46 degrees F on the porch.  Wind ENE, gusty.  The sky is mostly overcast at present.  The humidity is 75%, and the barometer is rising, now at 30.00".  It is much cooler than yesterday.
   We are planting city street trees, so it will be a busy, busy day.  Son Dutch arrived from Texas late last night.
   The marsh marigolds, Caltha palustris, gave no hint at all of occupying the roadside ditches, and suddenly on Saturday there they were, in full bloom, everywhere along the country roads.  The magnolias, some of which do pretty well here if they are close to the lake and in a good spot, are also blooming.  The one pictured is a star magnolia, Magnolia stellata, probably the cultivar  'Dr. Merrill'.
   The hardier azaleas and Rhododendrons (both are technically Rhododendrons, the azaleas being deciduous) do well also near the lake, the Rhododendron cultivar 'P.J.M.' being very dependable.
   We have had a few warm days after an exceptionally late spring, and everything's in bloom at once!

"IN GOD IS OUR TRUST"

THE WAR OF 1812 FLAG THAT INSPIRED "THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER"

Memorial Day, 9:00 AM,  62 degrees F, wind S, light.  The sky is cloudless but hazy and there is enough fog on the channel for the ferry boats to be sounding their horns.  The humidity is 57% and the barometer stands at 29.56".    Yesterday afternoon got quite warm, over 80 degrees and we got the convertible out of the garage.  It won't be long and the locals will be complaining about the oppressive heat and longing for snow and ice bergs.  Humans! Never satisfied.

THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Francis Scott Key, 1814

WEARING A PARTY HAT AND DRINKING BEER,

MYRON AND HIS RESTORED INTERNATIONAL FARMALL TRACTOR

LOTS OF PARTIERS, INDOOR AND OUT...

...COMPLETE WITH ROCK BAND...

...AND LOTS OF GRILLING

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  57 degrees F, wind SSW, light.  The sky is cloudless with some haze, the humidity is 67% and the barometer is trending down, currently at 30.05".  It will be another beautiful day, with perhaps a shower tonight.  The south wind has driven the ice  in around the Madeline Island ferry dock and it had to be cleared before the ferry could land this morning.
   Friend Myron's 80th birthday was celebrated in grand style yesterday evening with a big party at the Town of Russel Community Center.  Hundreds of well wishers attended, including Joan and myself. Music was provided by The Lords of Baltimore, "The Finest Rock Band in Cornucopia,"(population 98).  Sorry, no polkas or waltzes for the old folks.  One hundred pounds of chicken and ribs were cooked on the grill, and tables were laden with pies and cakes.   I have no idea how much beer washed it all down.  And to top off the evening, we saw our first bear of the spring on the way home.  He was wearing a party hat and drinking beer.

WET DOGS HAVE A VERY DISTINCT FRAGRANCE

BEACH BUDDIES

Saturday, 8:00 AM.  47 degrees F at the harbor, a few degrees warmer on the porch.  Wind SSW, very light.  The sky is clear but hazy, the humidity is 84% and the barometer is trending down, now at 30.18",  It is a cool but nice morning.  The channel still has a lot of ice, some of it in packs, a lot of it chunks just floating at random.  I haven't heard much about fishing, but I think it must be difficult trolling.
   The weather has turned nice, and with the better weather comes more yard and garden work and all the activities of the holiday weekend, but we found time to go to the beach yesterday, a happy place for kids and dogs after all the ice and snow.  Allison and Buddy enjoyed themselves running on the sand and splashing in the still-frigid water.  Buddy got off into the swamp and was very reluctant to answer the whistle.  Riding back in the truck we were reminded that wet dogs have a distinct fragrance.

STANDING IN A FIELD OF DAFFODILS

DULUTH HARBOR WITH ICE BEYOND

LESLIE AND ALLISON IN THE DAFFODILS

Friday, 9:15 AM.  46 degrees F at the harbor, 52 degrees on the porch.  Wind NE, light.  The sky is clear, the humidity 83% and the barometer has risen to 30.28".  It is a gorgeous morning but a bit cool.
   We picked daughter-lin-law Leslie and granddaughter Allison up from the Minneapolis Airport shuttle in Duluth yesterday afternoon. Going over the harbor bridge we could see the lake, still covered with ice, in the distance.  The big boats are all busy now,  being loaded with grain and coal, none of them in dry dock any more.
   We got back to Bayfield in time to take photos of our visitors standing in the field of daffodils on Highway Thirteen at the north end of Bayfield.

READY FOR A PARADE

FOG RISING OFF THE CHANNEL

VIEW OF CHEQUAMAGON BAY AND ICE FLOWS FROM BAILEY'S GREENHOUSE

BAILEY'S GREENHOUSE AND NEW SOLAR PANELS

ALL READY FOR A PARADE

Thursday, 9:00 AM.  53 degrees F, wind NW, light with moderate gusts.  The sky is mostly cloudy.  The humidity is 77% and the barometer is rapidly rising, now at 30.16".  I'm staining the porch and hopefully will get it finished this morning if it doesn't rain.
   We are picking up our daughter-din-law Leslie and granddaughter Allison in Duluth later today, they are flying into Minneapolis and then taking the shuttle.  Son Dutch will arrive on Monday or Tuesday.
   The continuing ice and fog conditions are becoming a Bayfield fixture.  The evening lighthouse cruise was curtailed Tuesday because of hazardous conditions, and the ice pack is still causing the ferry problems.
   Despite everything else on my agenda yesterday, I managed to get to Bailey's Greenhouse, a wholesale grower located on Whiting Road off Hwy. 13 a few miles south of town, to pick up our hanging baskets and other annuals.
   Bailey's must be the most beautiful location for a greenhouse anywhere, located on a high bluff with magnificent views of Chequamegon Bay and several of the Apostle Islands.  The ice flows were very impressive from that vantage.
   Bailey's has installed a large array of solar collectors that now provides their electricity (but not their heat).  Bill Bailey says the system has a predicted life span of thirty five years and will pay for itself in eight years.  He is very satisfied with the investment, the solar energy feeding back into the grid when it is not fully used by the business.
   The pickup looked like it was ready for a parade after it was loaded.

HOW TO PLANT A POTTED TREE

1.  REMOVING THE TREE FROM THE POT, AND A GENEROUS HOLE DUG..

2.  GIRDLING ROOTS SHOULD BE CUT, OR SCARIFIED, WITH A SHARP KNIFE...

3.  THE ORIGINAL ROOT COLLAR MUJST BE EXPOSED AND THE PROPER PLANTING LEVEL DETERMINED...

4. BACKFILL, NORMALLY WITH ORIGINAL SOIL, WELL WATERED IN BUT NOT COMPACTED...

5.  ECESS SOIL REMOVED, MULCH APPLIED, STAKED IF NECESSARY...

6  NON-ABRASSIVE,  NON-GIRDLING MATERIAL USED FOR ATTACHING TREE TO TWO STAKES

Wednesday,9:00 AM.  57 degrees F, wind NW, breezy. The sky has a few clouds and it was very foggy early but has cleared.  The humidity is down to 57% and the barometer has risen to 29.9".  It is a beautiful spring day.  The pack ice is still migrating into the channel, and the last ferry was cancelled yesterday evening due to the ice and fog.  Pretty inconvenient for those caught on the wrong side of the water from their beds.  The larger ferries are running now, and I am told that their hulls are not thick enough to challenge the ice without the possibility of being damaged.
   The planting of the Bayfield Arbor Day Tree gave me the opportunity to take a series of photos on planting a large potted tree, and to write detailed planting instructions.
   Most commercial wholesale nurseries now grow their trees in pots up until they are  about 1.5" in DBH (diameter breast height) after which they are transferred to nursery rows.  From a practical standpoint, this means that trees up to that size are more easily grown, stored, handled, transported, and planted than ever.  Trees grown in pots can be easily drip-irrigated and fertilized, and are transferred into successively larger pots as they grow. Pots are, by-and-large, easier to handle than stock which is dug balled and burlapped or that is bare-root (bare-root trees are less expensive, but take more care to handle and plant). Growing trees in pots is practical and cost effective.
   There are, however, some drawbacks to growing trees in pots;  primarily that if a tree remains in a pot too long it will become pot-bound, with too dense and fibrous a root system and with roots that grow in a circular fashion at the perimeter of the pot, which can eventually girdle, or strangle the growing tree.  
Additionally, potted plants are usually mulched with wood chips or compost, and over time this composted material decomposes into soil, which if not removed builds up around the trunk.  These conditions can usually be remedied at planting.  Plant the tree as follows:
1.  Dig a generous hole, about half again as wide in diameter as the root ball of the tree to be planted.  The bottom of the hole should be firm, so that the tree does not sink when planted and watered.
2.  The depth of the hole is very important, and should be determined by removing the tree from the pot and finding the root flare of the tree, i.e., the support roots, like the  shoulders as compared to the neck of a person.  This is done by removing loose soil and mulch from around the base of the potted tree.  If fibrous roots have grown up into this loose layer they should be rubbed  or cut off.
3. Measure the height of the ball from the bottom to the root collar.  This is the depth  the hole should be.  Place a board or a level shovel handle across the hole to measure the exact depth for the tree to be planted.  It is always better to be an inch or two high than low.
4. Backfill the tree, being sure it is standing straight in the hole.  It is usually preferable to use the original soil, unless it is heavy clay, hardpan, or sand, in which case good topsoil or compost should be added.  Mixing the topsoil and subsoil excavated from the hole together, pulverizing it well, is usually sufficient.  Water the backfilled tree well enough to get all the air pockets out of the soil, while keeping the tree straight.
5.  Mulch the newly planted tree with wood chips or other compost, to a depth of no more than four inches.  Keep mulch away from the trunk of the tree itself.  The tree should be monitored for water, keeping the soil moist but not overly wet, as the roots need oxygen as well as moisture.  Trees grown in the nursery are normally pruned properly, and only dead or damaged branches usually need to be pruned at planting time.  Excessive pruning of healthy branches removes too many leaves, which the tree needs to produce energy to grow new roots.
6.  If a tree is stable in the planting hole and is not in a windy location it may not need to be staked.  If a tree is planted in a park or on a public street it should be staked to prevent children from pulling on the trunk, but trees actually grow better if they do not have to be staked.  If the tree is to be staked, drive the stakes into the ground outside the diameter of the planting hole.  Drive them straight and firm (there is a tool for driving stakes, or a sledge hammer may be used, with care) and to equal height, directly opposite each other.  Attach the guy wires to the tree using a non-abrassive material or plastic ties made for the purpose.  Do not use rope or other material that may rub the bark raw. Nothing should be wrapped tightly around the tree trunk as it will girdle the trunk as it grows.  Stakes and guys should usually be removed after the first growing season.  It is not necessary to fertilize a tree at planting, but it may be fertilized with a low-nitrogen, complete fertilizer or well composted manure the following growing season.
   Plant Trees!

AVOIDING AN AWKWARD SITUATION

PACK ICE IN THE CHANNEL, 5/19/14...

...AND A FOGGY MORNING IN BAYFIELD 

Tuesday,  8:15 AM.  45 degrees F on the porch, 40 degrees at the lakefront.  Wind NE, light with a few gusts.  The sky is overcast and it is densely foggy, the fog horns blurting out their mournful dirge.  We received .8" of rain yesterday and last night and everything is wet.  The humidity is 97% and the barometer has started to rise a bit, now at 29.82".  In the last few days I over-seeded all the a bare or thin spots in the lawn, raked it in and top dressed the worst damaged turf.  This rain is exactly what it needed and it will sprout with a few warm days.  A lot of trees and shrubs are leafing out now; willows, mountain-ash, dogwoods, elderberry.  The daffodils are at their peak and lasting well, primroses are starting to bloom and Lilac buds are swelling.  Apples and crabapples are leafing out but not yet blooming.  It looks like it will be another late season for the apples, but it was last year as well and it was a bumper crop.
   Despite the relatively warm weather and the rain, ice still manages to migrate in from the open lake to the east, from beyond the Apostle Islands.  Yesterday I noticed the ferry plying its way between Bayfield and LaPointe on a devious path, and then realized that it was avoiding a large ice pack.
   The route of ice migration seems to be via the south channel, between Long Island and Madeline Island on an east wind, and then north in the west channel, propelled by a south wind.
   Sounds circuitous, but there's virtually no other way for it to get here, as the ice is completely  gone on Chequamegon Bay between Bayfield and Ashland, and it has little chance of getting past Madeline or the other Islands.   I suppose the ferry could plow through the ice, but then again I suppose it might get stuck...an awkward situation this close to Memorial Day!

THE DREAM GARDEN

A GARDNER'S DREAM...

AND TIME ...THE EVER- ROLLING STREAM

Monday, 8:45 AM.  57 degrees F, up from 52 earlier.  Wind SW, calm to light. The sky is beginning to cloud up and it is quite hazy, the sun now partially obscured.  The humidity is still low at 54%, but the barometer, now at 30.04", is beginning to trend down.   Rain is predicted by this afternoon, and it feels like it.
  A very large vegetable garden, all beautifully fenced and gated, was built a few years ago right on Highway Thirteen in the back yard of a home on the north end of Washburn.  I watched with interest as it was laid out,  trees cut down to allow adequate sunlight, sturdy wooden posts erected,  wire fencing and gates added...and finally the garden planted.  I had witnessed someone's garden emerge from dream to reality.
   I am not sure what the gardner's intent was exactly, but from the size of the garden and a frame next to the fence obviously meant to hold a sign, I suspect it was to sell fresh garden produce at the roadside.  A small dream by some measures,  perhaps, but far more noble than many others.
  So imagine my dismay when, last summer, I noticed the garden going to weeds, and as the tomatoes  ripened they were left unpicked, to rot on the vine; and the sweet corn  left to the crows and raccoons.
   What had happened to the gardner? Obviously something dire.  Illness?  Divorce?  Death?  I watched in vain to see someone I could ask, as I did not want to go to the door and seem to be prying.
   Then one day last week I saw a man loading wire tomato towers into a truck and I did stop to ask what had happened to the gardner.
  "Oh, he died suddenly, last summer."
  "The property is being sold at Sheriff's Auction today."
  "I bought the tomato towers from his widow."
   As he talked, I thought of my own father and his dreams; first of a farm that he and his brother lost during the Great Depression, and then of his purchasing land for a nursery thirty years later with the intent of being an independent businessman.  He no sooner had the venture well started than he died, at 57 years of age, quite young by todays standards.
   I have now lived twenty years longer than did he.  If I were to meet him today, as I sometimes do in my dreams, I would be the old man, and he the young.
   We are fortunate indeed if we live to realize our dreams, and it is perhaps tragic when we do not.
   But the greater tragedy is never to have dreamed at all.

OH GOD, OUR HELP IN AGES PAST

 (the old Episcopal hymn, 7th stanza)

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,

                                                        Bears all its sons away;

                                                        They fly, forgotten, as a dream

                                                        Dies at the op’ning day.

Lyrics by William Croft, 1719

 
 

SHOULDN'T WE USE ONLY NATIVE PLANTS IN GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN?

WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO AT THE PAVIOION

GARDEN TALK RADIO SHOW AUDIENCE

A PILIATED WOODPECKER AT WORK

Sunday, 9:00 AM.  52 degrees F on the porch, 48 degrees on the waterfront.  The sky is mostly clear of clouds but hazy.  The humidity has risen to 69% and the barometer is up slightly, at 30.01".  I took Buddy to the beach this morning for a run, and there were a number of small boats trolling off the mouth of the Sioux River, so the fish must be coming in toward shore.  They have to spawn sooner or later.  The lake was dead calm and we had a pleasant outing.
   On Friday I came across a piliated woodpecker busily reducing a tree trunk to wood chips.  I got quite close to him before he stopped his work and flew off.
   The live Garden Talk Radio Show, moderated by host Larry Miellor, that kicks off the annual Bayfield in Bloom season has become a tradition, and I have participated in it each of its twelve years.  It is a fun time, with questions from the audience and from callers around the State of Wisconsin and beyond.  The questions are mostly of the "how to" variety, and our panel of three (myself, Don Kissenger of the State Forestry Division and Extension Agent Jason Fishbach) normally field them pretty well.
   When I was asked what some of my favorite landscape plants are for Bayfield I thought a bit, and said that I appreciated the fact that we could grow hardy azaleas and Rhododendrons here along the shores of the big lake, since they added an extra dimension to our gardens and yards and were quite beautiful.
   Later in the show a caller asked why I was talking about non-native plants on a Wisconsin garden show.  It was such a straightforward, even accusatory question that I felt compelled to give this short, clear answer:
   "Although I have been a proponent of native plants ever since I did a graduate thesis on prairie restoration nearly a half-century years ago, gardening and landscaping, indeed all of horticulture, is not just about growing plants native to a given region."
   "Gardening, in the larger sense, is about growing plants for food, pleasure and other human uses.  Garden design is also about cultural history, beauty and artistic expression;  and using only plants native to a given region seldom provides a broad enough palette to meet the garden designer's
goals."

BAYFIELD ARBOR DAY

MAYOR LARRY MACDONALD READING THE ARBOR DAY PROCLAMATION

4TH GRADE STUDENT READING CLASS POEM ABOUT TREES

DON KISSINGER, STATE URBAN FORESTER DEMONSTRATES TREE PLANTING

PLANT AT THE PROPER LEVEL, CUT GIRDLING ROOTS

KIDS BACKFILL, WATER AND MULCH THE TREE

AND THE MAYOR PROMISES TO FLY THE NEW ARBOR DAY FLAG

Saturday, 8:30 AM.  48 degrees F, up from 42 earlier.  The sky is mostly clear with some haze.  The humidity is 38%, the lowest I have seen it since last fall, perhaps longer, and my joints appreciate it immensely.  The barometer is trending down, now at 29.99" presaging some rain on Monday.
   Yesterday was a busy day, starting with the planting of the Arbor Day Tree at the city marina.  The Bayfield Elementary School fourth grade class helped to plant the tree, a 'Red Baron' flowering crab apple. The class also wrote a poem for the occasion, which was read by one of the students.  The kids were well behaved and attentive, as usual.  It didn't rain or snow, even if it was a little chilly at the lake shore.
   The Mayor read the annual Arbor Day proclamation, and promised to fly the new Arbor Day flag at City Hall.
   The Bayfield in Bloom kickoff, with a live broadcast of Wisconsin Public Radio's Garden Talk radio show, followed at the pavilion, but more about that tomorrow.

BAYFIELD IN BLOOM (AT LAST)

DAFFODILS ON SOUTH HWY. 13...

...IN FOUNTAIN GARDEN PARK...

...TRIANGLE PARK...

NORTH HWY. 13

FORSYTHIA AND SPRING HEATHER

Friday,  7:30 AM.  36 degrees F, wind variable, calm to light.  The sky is overcast, with a hint of sun.  The humidity is 86% and the barometer is trending down, currently at 30.09".  Neighbor Jon says there are "ice cubes" floating around out in the Islands that are up to fifteen feet thick.  If that's the case, the big drink out there is going to be cold for a long, long time.
  Bayfield's daffodils are finally blooming, just in time for today's Bayfield in Bloom kickoff at the Pavilion.  The morning actually starts with the planting of the city Arbor Day tree at the city dock.  The fourth grade class always helps plant the tree, and this year they have written a class poem for the occasion.  The Mayor will read his annual proclamation and the cityscape will have one more flowering crab tree.
   The pavilion event will host a number of horticultural and environmental experts and displays starting at 9:00 AM, and the main feature will be the live broadcast of  Wisconsin Public Radio's Garden Talk Radio Show, from 11:00 to 12: 30.  Tune in if you can, it is always fun and informative.
   Bayfield is in bloom (at last).