Mushroom Tour

It's a gorgeous day here, after having rained yesterday, and while walking in the garden, I noticed a bumper crop of mushrooms appearing! The variety--shapes, colors, textures and sizes--is so stunning that I thought you'd like to see them too. So, I've taken some photos and videos and here they are.



By the way, I have no idea what kind any of them are. I know they're simply here briefly, not something I can hold in place or start growing like other plants. So, I'm enjoying this moment in time, while it lasts, and sharing it with you. Hope you enjoy it too!


P.S. There is a third, middle, video but it was too large for the blog apparently. Still, I think the two here, along with the photos, offer a sense of the collective mushroom appearance today. It truly was a special garden day.

Common Renovation Expressions That You Wish Weren't

Getting back into blogging gear here, I thought I'd post something else I wanted to share last year! Ha! Anyway, great thing about some fundamental renovation wisdoms, they're perennial! So, for your interim enjoyment--and forewarning...!

After a few weeks of renovation, and definitely after a few months, you might notice there are questions and comments you're saying a lot. Here's a sampling:

1. Who are you? (The person or persons showing up for the job are not the same ones you originally met--and thought you were hiring.)

2. The whole thing's wrong. (How is it possible, after months of planning, careful drawings, painstaking ordering and a million consultations and advisories, involving everyone and his brother, when whatever-it-is being done/delivered/installed appears, it does not match what it's supposed to be? I should add here another common comment, i.e., "Why do we have to do everything twice?")

3. When are you coming back? (Need I say more?)

4. Not again! (Ditto above commentary. By the way, this one is frequently followed by, "Never again!")

5. When will it be finished? (You get my drift.... Case in point. My wonderful neighbors across the street just had their roof done. When the roofers arrived and, as a side note, the crew parked the dumpster in front of our house--see # 6 below--they worked for two hours then left. Huh? Same thing for the rest of the week--except, when the owners got upset with them for parking the dumpster in from of our house, they moved it--to their driveway. Uh, yeah. What a concept. Anyway, then the roofers disappeared for a full week, during which time the weather was beautiful, of course, ideal for roofing. They finally came back yesterday (it was drizzling) and I think they finished. At least the front roof is done. Who knows what's happening, or not, in the back of the house? By the way, for a more prolonged example of this phenomenon, see my first post It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better. Also note that the above roofing story applies equally to # 3 above.)

6. On top of everything else.... (Because it won't be just one thing that doesn't go as planned. Believe me. It will be many! I even made up a song for this comment, due to its mind boggling frequency.... "on top of everything else... on top of everything else!!")

So, if (or should I say "when") this begins to happen, that you start asking these questions/uttering these statements, know that you have entered Home Improvement Hades. Is there a way out? Well, let's put it this way: There are not shortcut exits. You get out at the end of the ride.

Fall Bulbs: Dig It

Ok, I said I was going to talk about planting bulbs. Admittedly, I said this last year. But, hey, the month is right--albeit a year later! :-)

Anyway, I did plant those bulbs last year and I now have a box more to plant this year. Why does it seem like a good idea to get all these bulbs when you get the catalogue (and get seduced by the alluring photos), and then, when you actually get the 50 plus bulbs you ordered, you wonder what in the world you were thinking? Anyway, that's how it is for me. Still, you can't beat the feeling when you see emerging leaves and flowers in early spring in New England, just at the point you've reached your "cabin fever" limit after a long winter. That's what I think about as I dig my bazillioneth hole in the ground while planting bulbs. Does that help? :-)

Here's some "how to" thoughts that work for me when taking on this Fall gardening endeavor:

1. Have a placement plan--or don't. It's hard to go wrong with bulbs. I mean, who's going to complain about less than ideal garden aesthetics when something, anything, pops up out of the snow that looks like a plant come winter's end? Nonetheless, I think it's nice to have colonies of bulbs in "drifts" or in places where they can "naturalize" (multiply over time, forming pleasing expanses, big or small, of the same bulb; this works well for crocuses or some daffodils, for example, scattered around what might later be your lawn; after the flowers are spent, don't mow the leaves until they start to yellow, or better yet disintegrate, because the leaves bring food back to the bulb for next year).

2. Choose bulbs that little critters, like squirrels (which I love but they can prove to be worthy opponents in various aspects of gardening), don't like to eat. Again, crocuses have worked well for me and squirrels don't touch my grape hyacinths or snow drops either. Also, if you want, there is stuff you can soak or spray your bulbs with as deterents. If you go that route, please consider non-toxic choices to keep the environment, and associated wildlife, in good order. Now that there are so many "green" gardening options, why not choose those? It also keeps things safe for humans, including kids. There are also little cages you can buy for your bulbs that thwart critters' advances, if you are so inclined. Personally, I go the lazy route and just get bulbs they don't like. Come Fall, my gardening energies don't tend to be at their peak, especially since there's the rest of the garden to clean up, etc.

3. Maximize one hole. Hey, if I'm going to dig a hole, I'm not just putting one bulb in there. So, I just make the hole a bit wider and make a nice bed for the little bulbs, scratch in some bulb food, lay the bulbs down, giving them some space between each other, and back fill the hole. Done!

Oh yeah. Don't scrimp when you buy your bulbs. As with other plants (unless you're performing a rescue), spring a few extra dollars and get some good, healthy bulbs. Really. You'll be glad you did!

Hope you enjoy/are inspired by these photos. They're some spring blooms from last year's bulb planting which I never wrote about--until now! Grape hyacinths (muscari) amidst barren strawberry ground cover (waldsteinia), crocuses "naturalizing" in the soon-to-be-lawn and mini irises (iris cristata) emerging from the otherwise stark landscape.