LEAPS OF FAITH

A DAMP, FOGGY MORNING

PORCH HANGING BASKETS, LOOKING SOUTH

PORCH HANGING BASKETS, LOOKING NORTH

Friday,  7:30 AM.  44 degrees F, wind NE, calm with light gusts.  The sky is overcast and it has been quite foggy, which appears to be dissipating. The humidity is 96% and the barometer is more-or-less steady, at 29.96".  We received about one-third of an inch of rain last night.
   We have a lot going on this morning in Bayfield; it is Bayfield in Bloom Kickoff, with Wisconsin Public Radio's "Garden Talk" live broadcast from the Pavilion.  The show is a weekly production from somewhere in Wisconsin, and this is the twelfth B in B broadcast.   Hosted by radio personality Larry Mielor, it has a great following.
   I have been a guest on the annual Bayfield show since, I think, its inception.  Myself and Don Kissinger, a State Urban Forester and Jason Fischbach, Extension Agent, form a "panel of experts" taking questions from the live audience and the radio listeners (definition of an ex-spurt: an old drip that traveled a long distance to get here). It is always fun, and between the three of us and the show's host, we usually can field most any question.  The radio show is from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, CDT.  Local horticulture based vendors and environmental organizations man booths before and after the show.
   We will also have our annual Arbor Day tree planting at 9:00 AM.  Fourth graders from Bayfield Elementary help plant the tree, and the Mayor will read his annual Arbor Day proclamation.  The flowering crab tree will be planted at the City Marina.
   Wisconsin's official Arbor Day is already over, but we are so far north we delay the event for several weeks to be sure we are not planting the tree in a blizzard, which sometimes occurs anyway, despite the precaution.
   I may be rushing the season a bit, but I purchased hanging baskets from Bailey's wholesale Greenhouses on Whiting Road several days ago, and after hardening them off in the garage, I hung them out on the porch yesterday.  This year's baskets are a colorful mix of Geraniums, Petunias and Begonias.  I decided to mix colors and varieties up a lot for this year's display, as things were getting pretty staid and overly formal in appearance.
   I hope the weather does not get too cold and I have to take them all down and into the house.  The night time temperature is predicted to be in the forties for the next week or so, and that should be warm enough for the baskets.
   I guess answering audience questions on the radio, putting out hanging baskets this early, and planting a tree today are all "leaps of faith,"but that's what life demands.