Wow, nice candles there.

Good in a number of aspects. Had a late frost that did some damage, but not as bad as average. Plenty of rain. Had a warm, dry spell when sycamore was leafing out, so it has no anthracnose this year. Native clematis-vine is absolutely rampant in my adjacent unmowed field, smothering everything, even grass and goldenrod. Really have never seen anything like it.....

As usual May is just a huge mass of greenery and snails, more so this year because of inordinate amounts of rain. Regale lilies are in bud two feet above my head.

mac, your garden is looking good

Very nice, indeed.

tj

Been a little too cool here but not that bad. No late frosts and everything came through winter just fine and is growing as good as can be expected.

We've finally had soaking rains a couple weeks ago with a few tenths coming in gentle showers every few days.

Yes, condolences to those who have endured the severe weather, hitting parts of the country.

Beautiful garden(s) maackia. :)

Any new conifer additions this year?

Your gardens are beautiful! It’s been nice so far here, with the right amount of rainy and sunny days.

Thank you for the kind words. Floral, didn't the UK have a nasty drought a couple years back? I didn't think you ever experienced drought.

Ben, are you referring to Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana)? Supposedly native to Wisconsin, but I'm not sure I've seen it in its wild state.

Bill, the first new conifer I planted is a small Dawn Redwood seedling that got zapped by a hard frost shortly after planting at the end of April. It was fully leafed out and currently looks crispy. I've also planted Burke's Red Variegated Japanese Red Pine and Elegans Norway Spruce, which replaced a Lanham's Beehive Norway Spruce.

Well thanks for the tour.

Is that second to the last picture a concolor?

Yes, it's a concolor seedling I bought in 2012 on my way back from a work trip to Mason City, IA. My focus was finding woody plants, but I also dabbled in insurance. ;)

maackia, clematus virginiana is it. Only redeeming quality is white flowers later for bees, tho they're not really showy. First pic is almost all vine covering the goldenrod/grass underneath.

maackia, 1st and 4th pics weeping white spruce?

Wow, I can see how that Clematis could be a nuisance. And can you imagine if it has pink flowers?!

Yes, they are both Weeping White Spruce. They're in opposite areas of the garden, so I hope it's not too much. Can you tell I really, really like this plant? :)

Wow, looking at the pics again, that's some kind of conifer mini-arboretum. The spruces, firs and pines.....

Beautiful, maackia, thank you for sharing these! It’s been a nice spring here outside of Baltimore, albeit a bit of a roller coaster with the hot and cold but that’s Maryland for ya :)

Looking good! Nice composition of plants and digging the undulating path through them.

Excellent new growth

So far, so good. No wind damage....yet. The last few years have been ridiculous with the winds. I'm not talking big storms, just...winds. I did make it a point to get out there early and support the perennials that took the brunt of wind damage in years past, but I had to replace a hydrangea tree that was badly damaged. I potted it up, it will eventually recover, but had to drop the bucks on a replacement for this prime view spot. What I'm not pleased with is things blooming 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule.

Maackia, I'm thinking this is a view or angle of your gardens you've never shown before? What a pleasant surprise! Extremely nice!

Al, thank you. I’ve been reluctant to post multiple views of the garden in one post for a variety of reasons. It is still very much a work in progress, but time erases a lot of mistakes. It’s gardens like yours that provides inspiration and motivation. I wish more would post pictures of their garden, no matter what stage it’s in. It’s all good.

Spring is in full swing here! finally

Al, every time I see a picture of your garden, I get the impression it's something out of a Fairy Tale or Fantasy Land. Such a manicured look and very beautiful!

Good job! :-)

I supposedly have Gold Drift, but after seeing yours, I’m not so sure. It lacks both the gold and the drift. Yours looks perfect. Is it still staked?

I dont have a thanks button on my phone app for comments or thumbs up...But thanks all

No maackia, no stake to hold it up. The tree is over 10' tall. There's 3 more ft of tree above the photo...

alley, gold drift is stunning.

After seeing all these beautiful landscapes, it's hard for a guy with no background in landscaping, that bought a clean slate of a yard due to storms that went through before I bought the place, to post my meager attempts at populating a bare yard with trees.

It has been quite entertaining to see what all you 'experts' and enthusiasts have done with the awe-inspiring works you've posted about here and in other threads.

I have actually grown in knowledge about all this and have had some successful side projects like starting trees from seed, rooting cuttings, etc. etc. So, thanks for all that. :-)

Here's a few pictures taken just to give an idea of what my now populated yard trees look like after beautiful April, May and June soaking rains like we haven't seen for a few years.

Middle of the South end of the back yard looking ESE:

With the rockpile for reference and looking back the other way (WSW). Utility ROW along the chain link fence and to the south of my row of trees.

Again, looking NW:

The bare area to the right is the wiffle ball field for the grandchildren and ggc.

Looking NNE:

A row of trees, some spawned by my seed starting projects.

Up close of NE corner of back yard:

Front yard: General view: The Arborvitaes on the corners were the only trees here when I bought the place.

East side of house close up:

I was going to wait until Fall for updates and still might do that with individual trees of interest.

:^)

^^ Bill everything looks so healthy! It's all going to fill in beautifully.

Agreed. Bill, has your passion spread to any others in the neighborhood?

I think so. The neighbor next door asked me if I'd show her how to plant a tree hydrangea (strawberry sundae?) she had bought. Because she said, 'You know what you're doing'. :^)

Bill, pic w/the tree lilac in center has a maple at right edge, Leaves look like a black maple?

It's Acer Rubrum.

A wild one I found in my woods nearing 10 years ago (2015?).

It was a seedling about 6" tall and the leaves were so red, I couldn't resist digging it up.

Its first season in the ground it grew about 10" before a rabbit snipped it back to 6" again. That's when I learned I had to protect trees from wildlife, even in town. ;-)

Fall of 2016:

Today 6-28-2024:

Don't ask me how tall, maybe 15'. :-)