Spring Garden Photos for 2017
by Jim Gerrish

The warmth of Spring 2017 arrived very early this year. On February 24th, shortly after Winter Storm Niko, it was warm enough for the tulips and daffodils to begin poking green sprouts up in my front yard garden on Sanford Street in East Orange.

On March 2nd, the first batch of crocuses peeked out from the dry leaves of Autumn surrounded by still developing tulips. Last year, the crocuses didn't arrive until March 9th, as recorded HERE. The leaves will remain in place until we are sure that there will be no more frosts this Spring, then they will be gently raked away from the growing plants that are waiting just beneath them.

March 18th - 4 days AFTER Winter Storm Stella Dumped 6 inches of snow on us, tulips and daffodils in my front yard are still determined to grow and bloom.

March 19th - A bright sunny day makes the snow melt away. More flower leaves begin to pop up above the receding snow.

 

March 20th- The First Day of Spring. Blooming is definitely about to happen to the daffodils.

March 27th, the first daffodils finally bloom on Sanford Street. The stems need a little help in standing upright after all the cold temperatures and wind they have been through. They are lucky to still be blooming, and we are glad to help out where we can.

04/16/17 - Easter Sunday - Tulip garden and white cherry bush blossoms in the foreground.

04/20/17 - April showers bring forth the flowers. This is from a Golden Delicious Apple tree, perhaps getting ready to produce its first apple(s) in my front yard this year.

 

ARBOR DAY REPORT 04/28/17

Earth Day (4/22/17) and Arbor Day (4/28/17) are good days to see how the garden is growing. Since Earth Day was rainy and cold, I didn't get out to photograph, but today, Arbor Day, is a beautiful sunny and warm day in East Orange, and perfect for sitting in the garden and photographing what is going on.

Since Arbor Day is all about trees, I'll start with my two 3 year old Pear Trees in the front yard. There is a good possibility that they will start producing fruit this year, and the first sign of that is some nice blossoms on both trees. These two trees (Bartlett and Moonglow) cross-pollinate well, so if I can get some bees to start buzzing, now that it is sunny and warm, we'll see what happens.

I showed a closeup of a Golden Delicious Apple Blossom on 4/20/17 above. Eight days later, the tree has several more blossoms and many more leaves. This tree is right by my front steps, and I am looking for the day when I can step out of the house and pick an apple to eat on my way to work in the garden.

My little Red and Golden Dwarf Apple Tree surprised everyone last year by bearing a single Golden Delicious apple in September. I hope it can do as well or better than that this year, and also help cross-pollinate the tall Golden Delicious Apple mentioned above.

Meanwhile, the grape vine is producing leaves and new stems and gearing up for another crop of Concord Grapes for late August.

The Left Front Yard Tulip Garden peaked during the rains last week, and the excess water began to break apart their cups. The daffodils are done for the year, but the ground cover violets are just starting to emerge.

The Right Front Yard Garden was recultivated and replanted with summer flowers, so only some of the previous ground cover plants are showing at the moment. The stepping stones are ready to permit harvesting of the Concord Grapes along the outside perimeter of the garden when they begin to ripen late in August.

The tulips along the front walkway have gone the way of the daffodils before them, and now we wait for the first day lilies to appear to brighten up the summer days ahead.

 

You might want to go back and review some Previous Arbor Day Photos - 2016 - 2015 - 2014

 

Cherry Blossom LIVE VIEW Web Camera

May Flowers

05/23/17 The Wisteria tree that intertwines with the Concord Grape vine has begun to produce its first blossoms this year. Besides getting along well with its neighbor by sharing the available sunlight on the southern gate, it produces fragrance that fills the Spring air while I'm sitting in the garden. Fred Goode is home from Cheyney University on a visit, and he helped me with a little vine weaving to make sure that each plant has its own space.

While Fred ties up the green seedless grapes growing on the northern fence near the rain barrels, I take a photo of the pink climbing roses on the western entrance gate, and a matching pink peony in the foreground.

I will continue to record the arrival of flowers, fruits and berries as Spring continues...

If anyone else in East Orange wants to share their garden photos on this page as their gardens come to life during the Spring and Summer of 2017, please feel free to send them to me at [email protected] .

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