Spring

November 17, 2024

Japanese Maples Fall Color

'Skeeter's Broom' is the most colorful maple in our garden. I have just returned from a 2-week trip to Japan. This was my first ever trip outside the United States. It was an amazing experience and one I will never forget. Japan was wonderful - they really have their act together and I think the U.S. could learn a few things from them. There was one disappointment on the trip - the fall color had barely begun there and was really just beginning as we left. That is okay because the gardens were still spectacular, and I got a nice shot of fall color when I got back. 'Ryusen' I missed a few things - our ginkgo had just turned a glorious color the day before I left, and the leaves were gone by the time I got back. 'Sango-Kaku' I came home to many leaves on the ground but still a lot on the trees. 'Osakazuki', a beautiful red maple always changed color very late and therefore doesn't usually last long. When I left there was no color but a few remaini

I feel like the new season really begins the day I uncover the water features, uncover the garden statuary and the patio furniture.

I didn't get all that done today but I got the water feature going which took me several hours because I'm plugging it up through the garage this year. I run the extension cord through a PVC pipe underground so I had to reposition that and dig a shallow trench. I worked all afternoon on it after working this morning in someone else's garden. It was beautiful and sunny today after previous days of cold and wet.

I noticed today that plants are budding out.

The grass in the front looks great -

In the back, not so much -

More pruning to commence after the bins are emptied on Thursday -

This morning on my Facebook memories, Camellia 'Bella Rossa' popped up as blooming one year ago today. I checked it and it has 3 blooms. More to come I'm sure as last year it was covered with blooms -