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May Trees

Redbud 'Flame Thrower' (Cercis canadensis) As May comes to an end, I thought I would share some trees that look good now.  First, the insanely beautiful 'Flame Thrower' redbud. I always hesitate to praise this tree because of their finicky nature. So far, so good on this one which is near our front door.  Snowbell and 'Wolf's Eyes' Dogwood in the background The Snowbell tree ( Styrax japonica ) has been spectacular for many weeks. I was up on the roof of the garden shed this morning and got an aerial view of it. It looks so much larger from above. The blooms are so heavy that the branches are bending down. A few years ago, I recall standing underneath it and the roar from bees buzzing around it was deafening. Last week, I was saddened to hear no bees at all. Fortunately, there are some a week later but not nearly as many as in the past. On the opposite side is 'Wolf's Eye' Dogwood ( Cornus kousa ) which always delivers. This is a small dogwood c...
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January Blooms and a birdhouse abuser

 


We are having a string of warmer and dry days this week. Just in time for a new deck (more on that later). I did a walk-about yesterday and noticed several blooms -

Arctostaphylos 'Sunset' (Manzanita)

Galanthus nivalis (Snowdrops)

 
Hellebore 'Merlin'

And something not so pleasing - I discovered a birdhouse that was just put up last fall now looks like this! -

This has happened before so I wasn't completely surprised. I posted this photo to a local birding group and got a multitude of answers but most of them stated that it is likely a squirrel. That makes sense as we have a lot of them. Flickers and woodpeckers was also a common answer. That would be a possibility but I only see flickers and woodpeckers at our feeders periodically so I don't know. I was advised to attach a metal ring around the hole.

 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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