5/18/12 OPENING SALVOS IN A NEIGHBORHOOD SIGN WAR

FIRST SHOT...

...RETURN FIRE

OLD APPLE TREE IN ABANDONED ORCHARD

Friday, 7:30 AM.  60 degrees F, wind W, calm at present.  The sky is clearing after a pretty good thunder storm last night, the first in a long while.  We got some rain, which was very welcome.  It is hazy and the barometer predicts more rain, but I would guess not before late afternoon or evening if then.
        All the plants arrived yesterday from Northwoods Nursery in good shape but did so late in the day, so today will be a full one.  However, all of the holes have been dug for city trees and other advance work has been done as well so it should all go relatively quickly if the weather cooperates.
        I did not fire the first shot in the neighborhood political sign war.  The good folks up the block did, by putting out their “Barrett for Governor” sign.  The recall election is June 5th, which is coming up pretty fast.  I had resolved to keep my powder dry, so to speak, and not put up my “We Stand With Scott Walker” sign if the neighbors remained neutral, or at least mute. 
        We live in a pretty congenial part of town, so I am sure we will all be on speaking terms once the election is past, regardless of who wins.  But we will all surely lose if Walker is recalled.

5/18/12 PLENTY OF WORK; AND DON'T CALL ME A CONSPIRACY THEORIST

MAYBE, MAYBE NOT

'WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE"

Thursday, 7:45 AM.  Wind N, light.  The sky is overcast with high gray clouds and the barometer is down, but the humidity is as well, so we may or may not get rain later today. 
        Yesterday I took the proverbial bull by the horns and began to renovate the perennial garden.  I started by taking a digging fork and lifting as many of the grasses and weeds as I could without disturbing plants that are about to bloom, such as tall Iris, lilies and poppies.  After each species blooms I will lift the plants, get rid of the weeds, divide them as needed and replant.  The Iris are a problem, as they really need to be planted in their own bed rather than scattered about in the garden.  There's a lot of work ahead, but "well begun is half done."  And it doesn't even look too bad at that.
        Today, around noon, a very large delivery of plants from Northwoods Nursery will arrive.  Trees and shrubs for several landscape jobs, plus city trees, will arrive.  It is a fairly large task just to get the potted and balled and burlapped plants unloaded, sorted out and delivered to several sites,  Then all must be planted, watered, and mulched.  So blogs will be pretty minimal ‘till all is done.
        Did you see where an Ohio Catholic college has dropped its student health care program because of the doubling of costs due to Obamacare, and the conflict over mandatory coverage for contraceptives?  Look for many additional institutions, including private businesses, to follow suit. 
        The Obama administration must have anticipated this reaction, even welcomes it, as it is yet another convenient wedge issue to divide and weaken the opposition.  Remember that the first step in their coming “revolution” is to cause confusion, and eventually chaos.  Every seemingly illogical or self-destructive position taken by this administration is, I believe,  part of their plan. 
        We can look for more such seeming anomalies, more and greater confrontations, and a lack of progress in solving political and social problems.    Don’t call me a conspiracy theorist, as they are simply following Saul Alinsky’s playbook for revolution.  It is what the President taught at Harvard.
       

5/16/12 GROWIN' OLD AIN'T FOR SISSIES

I'M FINALLY GETTING MY OWN GARDENS CLEANED UP!

NANNYBERRY...

...FLOWERS

Wednesday, 8:30 AM.  51 degrees F, wind W, light with moderate gusts.  The humidity is down, the sky is blue, and the barometer predicts the same.  It is a “perfect ten” day.
    We had a first yesterday morning…a Baltimore oriole landed on the hummingbird feeder.  It couldn’t perch there for long but it tried to drink and finally flew off.  My reaction was to immediately run down to the hardware store, purchase an oriole feeder, fill it with feeder solution (From my Google search I found that oriole food is six parts water to one part sugar, a little less sweet than hummingbird food at four to one, so I watered down some of the later and assume that will be close enough)and hang it up, along with orange slices in a wire suet feeder.  So far the bird has not been back but I have high hopes.   
    The nannyberry, Viburnum lantana, in the front yard is in full bloom, its creamy white, flat-toped flowers will be followed by reddish-orange fruit which gradually turns black by fall.  The genus Viburnum is very important, with many species, including American highbush cranberry and arrowwood, that are much used in landscaping and for attracting wildlife.
    I am finally making significant progress in cleaning up the gardens: the rose hedge has had all the encroaching sod removed and new mulch put down; the little herb garden is weeded, planted and mulched; and, today I will pull weeds and clean up the perennial border.  I am amazingly stiff and sore, but gratified by the results. 
    As Oly, my Bayfield barber says, “Growing old ain’t for sissies.”

5/15/12 LILACS AND SCARED HORSES

COMMON AND HYBRID LILACS...

...COME  IN MANY COLORS

BE SURE YOUR SELECTIONS ARE FRAGRANT AND WILL LAST AS CUT FLOWERS

Tuesday, 7:45 AM.  59 degrees F, wind WNW, breezy.  The sky was somewhat overcast earlier. But the wind has cleared the clouds out, with only haze at present on the eastern horizon.  The barometer is again low, but so is the humidity, and it appears we are in a typical spring drought.
    Lilacs are bursting into bloom everywhere now, in colors from traditional lilac to deep purple and pinks and reds and whites.  One would think some yellows would have been bred along the way, but that color is evidently not in the Syringia gene pool.  The traditional old fashioned common lilac is S. vulgaris, in the olive family.  It is native to eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Afghanistan.  Selections have been much hybridized over the centuries, the most famous being the French hybrids.  There are at least another ten species of lilacs from all over the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, and there are too many selections and hybrids to mention.  The only true tree species is S Japonica, which we have been planting in Bayfield as an ornamental street tree, and I am quite pleased with it.  It is hardy, relatively trouble free, and is spectacular in bloom with its large panicles of creamy white flowers.
    Lilacs are best planted as background shrubs as they can get huge (except for a few dwarf varieties) and rather rank in growth habit.  They all need to be properly pruned to bloom well, and even occasionally rejuvenated, but they are very long lived.  Be sure you want them where you plant them, for that is where they will stay unless you rent a bulldozer.
    When choosing a lilac to plant, do some research to be sure the blossoms are fragrant and will keep well when cut and put in a vase…I see no point in growing lilacs that aren’t and won’t.
    Bill Clinton was touted by the media as “the first Black president,” and now it is claiming Barrack Obama as “the first Gay president, ” with his picture on the cover of Newsweek with a rainbow halo over his head.  President Obama “evolved” rather recently to favoring gay marriage.  This may or may not garner him some votes, but in so doing, and being celebrated in the media for doing it, he has stuck his thumb in the collective eye of millions of American voters who are not willing to abandon thousands of years of Western cultural tradition and hundreds of  years of US law defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
    My own opinion on the subject of homosexual liaisons can be summed up in the words of Queen Victoria, who famously said; “I care not what the common people do, as long as they do not do it in the street and scare the horses.”  Well, if not the horses… certainly millions of voters are pretty scared right now. Best hang onto your own horses, Mr. Gay President.

5/14/12 MOTHERS DAY DINER, AND TOP DOWN THROUGH THE BARRENS

DON'T BLINK, YOU'LL MISS IT

A REALLY, REAL DINER

THOSE SCANDIHOOVIANS ARE A HOOT!

BARREN STRAWBERRY IN BLOOM

LOTS OF BEAUTY IN THE BARRENS

BUDDY LIKES TO DRIVE FAST, TOO!

Monday, 7:30 AM.  66 degrees F, wind NW, light with stronger gusts.  The sky is blue, and terre is some haze over he islands.  The barometer predicts rain but the humidity is less than 50% so it won't be during the day.
    Not being a cheapskate, I took Joan out for Mothers Day dinner, or rather diner; the Delta Diner, in Delta, Wisconsin, no less.  We shared a real chocolate malt and each had a hamburger.  Not much, you say?  Ah, but the ambience  was wonderful, and the weather amenable to putting the top down on the old Saab.  The roads are twisty and curvy, great for some spirited driving, and Buddy enjoyed the ride as well.   Look for Delta Diner in older posts using the Search feature.
    On the way home we drove through the Moquah Barrens, thousands and thousands of acres of mostly scrub pine and oak, where in addition to some turkeys we saw the (pictured)  yellow-flowered barren strawberry, Waldsteinia fragaroides, a member of the rose family.  It is a far northern spring ephemeral resembling the strawberry plant, but its flowers are yellow rather than white, and it bears no strawberry-like fruit.  In places they covered the ground, growing along with Canada mayflower which is not yet in bloom.
    The barrens are quite beautiful in their own way, and in many areas there were lots of Juneberries and wild cherries in bloom.  The Barrens is worthy of a lot more coverage than this bit, and I will try to do it justice one day.

5/13/12 HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

NICE MOTHERS DAY

ASPEN ARE LEAFING OUT

WILD APPLE TREES CAN BE VERY PRETTY

CRABAPPLE TREES ARE IN FULL BLOOM

Mothers Day Sunday, 9:00 AM.  68 degrees F, wind WSW, light with moderate gusts.  The humidity is 40% and there is a bit of haze in the air. The sky is almost cloudless but the barometer is down and I think it is a weak front.  We will eat breakfast on the porch.
    Yesterday being May 12th, the date the hummingbirds have been arriving in Bayfield every spring since we moved here, I got the feeder down from the kitchen shelf and made the sugar and water mixture (four water to one sugar).  As I was hanging the solution filled feeder on the back porch, a male hummingbird made a pass at it, and as soon as it was hung up he buzzed cautiously about it and finally sat down for a small libation.  I assume it was a bird that returned from last year since he knew exactly where to look for the feeder.  They are amazing little creatures, that lead lives filled with enough adventure to satisfy much greater souls, and are endowed with a zest for life that one cannot help but envy.
    Flowering crabapples will soon be at their peak, and the apple orchards are coming into bloom.  The orchard apple trees, which are heavily pruned, are not as floriferous as old neglected trees or those growing wild along the roadside, which are often quite pretty.
    The aspens are leafing out, the young silver-gray foliage looking almost like blossoms.
    It being Sunday there will be no political commentary.

5/12/12 RADIO SHOW A SUCCESS, BUT THERE GO MY POLITICAL AMBITIONS!

A GOOD CROWD FOR "GARDEN TALK"

LOTS OF EXHIBITORS

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LARRY AND HIS BIRTHDAY CAKE

Saturday, 8;30 AM.  56 degrees F, wind NW, light.  The sky is mostly clear, the humidity is low and the barometer is way up.  We are in for some gorgeous spring weather.  The hummingbirds are back, right on schedule, and I have to get the feeders up.
    The Arbor Day tree planting (later than the official Wisconsin date because we are so far north) went very well, the fourth graders were  attentive and well behaved and it was obvious they have been studying trees.
    The Bayfield in Bloom Kickoff and Garden Talk Radio Show was an unmitigated success, and if nothing else I added appropriate humor.  We had plenty of vendors and informational displays.  It was Larry Meiller's birthday as well as the tenth anniversary of Bayfield in Bloom, and the Egg Toss Cafe baked Larry a fantastic cake.
    Now I have to turn my attention to cleaning up my own yard and garden, before landscape jobs start with a delivery of plants from Northwoods Nursery next week.
    I see where Republican Mitt Romney is being castigated by the Democrats for engaging in a high school prank of some sort.  Well, shoot! There go any latent ambitions I may have had for running for office!