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
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] .
