Planting Season Has Begun!

At the last minute, I added one more rose to my order from High Country Roses. This time it was a climbing, continuous bloom, hardy, shade tolerant rose called Darlow's Enigma:

And I began cleaning up the mesh from the outsides of hay bales which had been too frozen to separate out during the winter. I'll clean up the moldy hay later:

But despite our warmer weather, there was still ice beneath many clumps of hay which still clung to the mesh. We will need more warming before I can get it all:

  Remember the old fashioned rose which I found trying to grow in the middle of the lawn? I let it grow and it had become a giant bush, with many canes too woody to produce flowers:

So it got the same treatment as the Rugosa roses. It will now have plenty of room to grow and flower:

I bought a healthy looking pink Hydrangea:

And planted it beside the Magnolia and red Hydrangea:

  Alas, right after planting, we got several days of rain and more very cold temperatures. The poor little Hydrangea wasn't prepared for such rigors and now looks dead. But it is a hardy variety and I won't give up hope yet:

The cows and horses are happy and relaxed, enjoying the sunshine and freedom from flies:

They are still getting hay, though I'm almost out:

Life is good:

The Daffodils are up and buds are swelling. We are later than most places, but such is life in the north country:

What The Thaw Revealed

After an early, snowy and frigid beginning to winter, we had a surprise thaw, so I went out to see what the snow melt had revealed. This is my Blue Moon Wisteria. It's not much taller than when I planted it, but it's sturdier and has already survived one harsh winter, so I have high hopes for more growth this summer:

 The pear tree produced so much fruit that branches began snapping off and falling to the ground. Even after letting the neighbors take all the pears they wanted, there were still plenty of them on the ground:

 And I could tell that the cottontails had been eating them. I see their tracks each morning when there's snow on the ground and sometimes I see them scurry away when I turn on the back porch light at night:

 There were windfall apples too:

 I thought the Coppertina Ninebark bushes were unchanged by winter's cold - until, that is, I got a closer look. The leaves were dry and dead, despite retaining much of their coppery color:

 The Iris and Asiatic Lilies (and all their little weed friends) were asleep for the winter:

 And, on the other side of the house from the main apple grove, the Golden Delicious tree had dropped fruit. I could see that the rabbits had been eating them also:

 The Variegated Weigela and Magic Carpet Spirea looked dead, but they are hardy enough for me not to worry about them:

 The peonies had lain down for a long winter's nap:

 But the Tree Hydrangea will keep its dried flowers all winter long:

 The Mandarin Honeysuckle is in its first winter here. The last one I planted didn't make it through its first winter, but this one grew much better - and they are reportedly Zone 3 hardy:

 The Red Hydrangea and hardy Magnolia were dormant, and I could only hope they will survive this winter. This is the Magnolia's third winter here but, as you can see, it hasn't grown very tall in three years:

 My biggest surprise was the Morden roses. When they told me they were super hardy, I guess they weren't kidding. They still looked like they'd bloom again if we got some warmer weather:

 The Rose Mallows were done for the year. I'll cut them down to the ground in the spring:

 But the Rose Mallows had a surprise for me - pods filled with seeds. I tried planting some last year without success, but I saved these seeds and plan to try again in the spring:

 Another surprise, an Eastern White Cedar seedling growing in an ancient tree stump beneath the big clump of Lilacs. Alas, I won't be able to let it grow there because of the Lilacs:

 And speaking of Lilacs, they too had seed pods, not to mention green buds, all ready to burst open in the spring. Our surprise thaw was short lived. It's now fully winter again:

Around The Farm, The All Botanical Version

The fence line is a jumble of wild plants and, in some places, quite beautiful. At this spot, the Wild Cucumber vines were in full bloom and Goldenrod added color to the jumble of wildflowers. The gravel road and north field were in the background:

A few of the Tall Garden Phlox, which I thought had all died, have sprung up and bloomed after all:

The wild Day Lilies bloomed:

And so did the new red Hydrangea:

The Mandarin Honeysuckle I planted last year died, so I planted another one this spring. It has taken off and is growing happily, the secret being to keep it well watered:

Though apples aren't abundant this year, there are still more than I know what to do with. I occasionally pick up a windfall and bite into it:

But I have learned never to do so after first eating the super-sweet plums. The apples are not sweet enough to follow the plums:

The Tree Hydrangea is putting on quite a show this year:

And so it the brand new Morden Sunrise rose bush:

The pink Rose Mallows began to bloom in late summer and were just getting started when I took this picture. You can see the abundance of buds:

The pink variety blooms earlier and has bigger flowers than the red variety:

I have a problem with English Sparrows in my hay loft. They are breeding in there and causing quite a disturbance. They were also gobbling up all the Elderberries, so I quickly snapped a photo before there were none left at all:

Summer On The Farm

I was just walking to the house when I saw the herd coming in for water at the stock tank. I thought it would make a good photo of a peaceful scene I always enjoy seeing:

I also enjoy walking out in the pasture. I passed by Gracie, who calmly watched me go by. Sometimes I'll pet the friendly cows (like Gracie) as I go by. They don't like the top of their heads touched but a scratch under the chin is usually enjoyed:

Blue and Remy are always happy to get a bit of petting, In fact, Remy rushes toward me so fast that I often have trouble snapping a photo of him. On this day, they just kept grazing:

While I'm outside working, the five dogs lounge about in their fenced yard. Their favorite spot is the ramp. It's not soft, but it has nice shade and they can see the back door from there:

Indoors, they nap in the kitchen corner or, as in the case of Fergus and Seamus, on the yoga mat behind my computer chair:

 

The new Frans Hals Day lilies are putting on quite a show. They truly are even more brightly colored than in the picture:

The red Hydrangea I planted last fall is alive and flowering. I guess that's all I can ask of it this first year:

I have a few wild type Day lilies. They are so gorgeous that it amazes me anyone wanted to breed them in new colors:

I thought all my Phlox had died, but one brave plant has sprung up and begun flowering. I missed them - and so did the Hummingbird Moths (Clearwing Moths) and Swallowtail butterflies:

The fantail pigeons are healthy and producing new babies this summer. I can't clean their room now because there are babies all over the floor. Well, at least that makes a good excuse:

That pigeon in the back is the baby, just a couple weeks old. The bird in front is one of its parents:

The little hens are laying fewer eggs now. That's a blessing for me as I don't have to hard boil them so often, but the dogs will sure miss eating the eggs when the laying season is over: