Something New

Cardinal Flower has been with us for many years.  As a native plant that grows abundantly both to our north and south, why it is rarely seen in the Catskills remains a puzzle.  Perhaps the early spring weather here that features Alabama hot days followed by Arctic bitter freezes is what kills this plant.  Each year we pot up evergreen plants that look great when the snow first melts.  These plants are carried into the basement when a hard freeze is forecast.  72 plants made those in and out trips this year.  They are individual plants that will produce but a single flowering stalk this summer.  We always recommend that at least three plants be set out fairly close together to improve the presentation that these plants will make but their natural growth habit does far better than that.

Having more potted plants than are needed has never been a problem before but now we have several still waiting to be set out.  We decided to place one plant in each gallon pot.  They will be left in the ground to see how well they grow.  If they grow and flower normally, we will be able to lift the pots and carry them inside next spring.  By then each single stem will have produced up to six daughter plants that will grow out next summer.  Six flowering stems growing close to each other is the natural habit of this plant and they will look tremendous.  The cluster in the upper left corner of the photo has held that spot for several years.  More than one dozen flowering stalks will appear there this year.  If this method of potting up Cardinal Flower is successful, we will discontinue late winter potting up.  What will we do with all of that extra free time?

Each year we buy a ten cubic yard truckload of reground hardwood bark mulch.  Today saw these tiny orange mushrooms beginning to grow in the mulch pile.  Their growth should be rapid so we will have a chance to both watch and record just what grows here.  Kidney damage is a frequently listed risk for eating mushrooms taken from the wilds so we simply steer clear.  We will watch them grow and take their pictures but will not eat, smoke or otherwise ingest any of them,

Old age has taken from us our ability to work outside on hot clear days.  We started work in the garden early today but rather soon felt the need to get out of the sun.  Our retreat to the developing shade garden allowed us to work outside until nearly noon.  The white field in the background is how our camera records grass in full sunlight.  Actually the bright green grass just beyond the stone lined path continues to the tree line.  Our primary task here at this time of year is to remove grass and weeds from soil that will soon grow mostly native shade loving plants.  Today stones were set to define the paths that will make walking among the plants without stepping on them possible.  More stones are needed here but they will be collected only during the cool of the day.  This will likely be our last new garden so there is a strong desire to create a special place here.