Been Around Awhile, NFG Pgs. 65 to 70

Posted on June 12, 2011 by

 

About Garden Walk Garden Talk

Love to paint, draw, design, garden, and pass on a few tips and ideas that I learned through experience as a Master Gardener and architect. I am highly trained in my field and enjoy my work each and every day.
This entry was posted in garden, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, Weather and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

22 Responses to Been Around Awhile, NFG Pgs. 65 to 70

  1. One says:
    June 12, 2011 at 12:46 AM

    Hi! I’ve been here for a while, just admiring your photos and feeling a little sad with your rainy weather. Your foggy photo is marvelous and I love the rain droplets around the story.

    I cannot imagine the inconvenience in that sort of weather. Not that long ago it was snowing. Whatever the situation you seem to be able to bring out the beautiful side of the situation.

  2. Marguerite says:
    June 12, 2011 at 1:18 PM

    Donna, we are having the exact same weather here on PEI. Farmers were really struggling this year to get crops planted in time. They have until a certain date to plant or their insurance won’t cover the crops. The weather broke to a certain degree and many were able to get out but it still remains cool and wet for the most part with a few nice days thrown in here and there.

  3. debsgarden says:
    June 12, 2011 at 3:30 PM

    I am on the other side of La Nina! We have experienced unusually hot and dry conditions – how we wished for a little taste of your weather! Yesterday we finally had rain, the first in a month of 90s to 100 degree temps. Hot and humid is normal, but this felt more like August. Your ancient trees and plantings are a beautiful connection to the past. Plants, like old buildings, can tell a story.

  4. Alistair says:
    June 12, 2011 at 3:50 PM

    The weather is a great topic for an Aberdonian, we go on and on about it, probably because we can have four seasons in one day. Hope yours has a turn for the better soon. Peonies in the same garden for ninety years, now that’s what I call admirable, could never have imagined they would live so long. Your posts are set up beautifully Donna.

  5. Christine @ The Gardening Blog says:
    June 12, 2011 at 5:38 PM

    Stunning! Peonies that have been around for 92 years – mine has been around for 7 days :)
    On the subject of weather – we are having unusually warm weather here for winter. Its been like spring here this weekend.

  6. PlantPostings says:
    June 12, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    Neutral conditions, and La Nina is done. That is good news! Maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a nicer April next year. April this year in the north was a loser in my book. Although May and June have been spectacular so far! Thanks for the info.

  7. amanda says:
    June 12, 2011 at 8:18 PM

    Wow….that’s incredible that some of those plants have been around for that long. Amazing.

  8. Holley says:
    June 12, 2011 at 8:22 PM

    Amazing that plants can live so long, with all they have to contend with. Farmers are having a bad time everywhere – rain there, so delayed planting, flooding of the fields in other areas – doesn’t bode well for future food prices. I hope the crops they did get in the ground do well.

  9. Karin/Southern Meadows says:
    June 13, 2011 at 1:06 AM

    Weather is so fascinating to me! You are experiencing so much rain and stormy weather and down south we are exceptionally hot and humid and haven’t had rain since early spring! We get the occasional pop up shower but it isn’t enough to do any good really! Love your foggy photos…you’ve captured such great atmosphere & mystery. I hope your new neighbors appreciate the garden they have inherited and continue the historic tradition.

  10. Masha says:
    June 13, 2011 at 3:25 AM

    Beautiful pictures and great stories. I am so far removed from farming it rarely enters my thoughts. I know, of course, that farmers suffer when the weather does not cooperate, but your post somehow brought it closer. I am sorry for all the people who work to put food on our table and whose livelihood is so dependent on the vagaries of weather.

    Your pictures of peonies, spirea and weigela are wonderful.

  11. Kala says:
    June 13, 2011 at 7:45 AM

    Beautiful images of the weigela and spirea blooming.

  12. Pam's English Garden says:
    June 13, 2011 at 9:54 AM

    Dear Donna, Very informative! With a small farm, we are very aware of the weather conditions that you describe so well. The farmers around here are saying they don’t remember a spring as bad as this one. One of my ‘best’ peonies was ruined when it’s bed was flooded. It has been around a long time, so I hope it comes back in good health next year. P. x

  13. Donna says:
    June 13, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    I just love the science and history you impart in your posts…boy are my veggies behind too…I love the old plants that still carry on…such great strength and character…I’ll be checking to make sure if I missed any posts I catch up…life is returning to the crazy normal instead of the crazy crazy that it has been…

  14. Cat says:
    June 13, 2011 at 3:15 PM

    Ha! Bring on El Nino!!! We are baking down here!

    The longevity of the plants you’ve shown is amazing. I like to think about their staying power and how they have the potential to delight for generations! Very cool.

  15. PJ | Home and Garden Decor says:
    June 13, 2011 at 7:53 PM

    Hello Donna,
    Like Cat already said, please send us some of the rain down to Texas. We are having an it seems endless drought and record temperatures for this time of the year. Houston usually has at least a short rain shower any other day but this year…Gosh, everything is so dry.

    Btw Donna, I love the header image!
    Paula Jo

  16. patty says:
    June 13, 2011 at 9:21 PM

    Your foggy photos are wonderful. I might be more enthusiastic if I wasn’t experiencing much of the same weather. Today overcast and friggin cold. This house has some old peonies too but I know they cannot beat the record of 92 years. Not even close. Another terrific magazine.

  17. Curbstone Valley Farm says:
    June 14, 2011 at 1:11 AM

    These days it seems all we do is bounce between El Niño and La Niña. I swear I’ve forgotten what normal weather is! The rain and cool temperatures have been wreaking havoc coast to coast, but I’m encouraged to read ‘neutral conditions’, we need some of that for a while. Even the poor bees are suffering this spring. I’m glad you ended on a positive note though, the spirea is just lovely, and the peonies are simply gorgeous!

  18. tina says:
    June 14, 2011 at 2:15 AM

    It IS amazing a house can have the same plantings for so many years. I change my gardens so fast I wonder if anything will ever have a permanent home. That being said those peonies sure love their spots. They are so pretty.

  19. Andrea says:
    June 14, 2011 at 4:41 AM

    Hi Donna, i second One’s comment! In my case i think i’ve been commenting here for quite a long time too! LOL. Your photos are always excellent, i love how you were able to project those foggy photos so beautifully. Your magazine job is my envy, hahaha again! Those century old trees seem to have small trunks yet, may i know its approximate diameter now? Thanks.

    • Garden Walk Garden Talk says:
      June 14, 2011 at 5:47 PM

      Thanks Andrea for the nice words. I did have to answer you on the tree’s diameter. It sits in a five foot wide strip of grass. The flare out exceeds into the sidewalk area and the sidewalk was cut to accommodate it. This tree is not the largest or oldest one on the street, that honor goes to a tree at the end of the block that is huge. If you judge the average tree diameter against the five foot wide grass, you can see that it is over 3 foot 8 inches in diameter. Pretty darn big.

      Plus, consider the poor conditions in which the trees are growing. This stunts growth. The bark tells the story as it is exceedingly thick for the tree variety, a result of an effort for water conservation. And a reason the lichen takes hold so easily.

  20. Rosie@leavesnbloom says:
    June 14, 2011 at 6:11 PM

    We’re in El Nino here in Scotland though in parts of SE England there is drought and crop failures. Weigela is a shrub that I remember so well from childhood – I was sure they were fully hardy but my 9 year old one didn’t make it through the last winter. I think your fog photograph is amazing.

  21. Julia@PolkaDotGaloshes says:
    June 14, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    Wow, the weather is CRAZY this year!! Your photos are amazing and those peonies are stunning…total peony envy here ;) Hope the rains and wild weather settle down soon for you (and the rest of the country) we are finally seeing spring weather here, I guess better late than never! Thanks also for stopping by my WW post last week, being away on a lazy vacation at the Oregon coast made me a little slack in the comment department…thanks again! Cheers Julia

Comments are closed.