Spring

Spring here is always lovely and sometimes heartbreaking. Last autumn we had a buck rub the bark off our Sweet gum tree. It was really bad and totally around the tree, so we replaced it with another sweet gum. This spring, the new sweet gum didn't even break dormancy and we knew it had died almost as soon as it was dug. So, we gathered all the paper work and took it back to the nursery and got another Autumn Purple Ash for back there. This one is in leaf and for the past week seems to be adjusting well to it's new environment. Of course there has been nothing but high wind and lots of rain. The rain is OK, but the high winds can be a problem. I really need to get out there with some of the systemic for bore for it. Then next month this time I will give it a second douse of the fish emulsion for the roots. Then it will be allowed to grow and establish for the rest of the season.

Every year I try to plant something interesting that we found somewhere. Three years ago I found a little rhododendron that was half dead from no care and sitting in the blazing sun in the middle of a parking lot at Walmart. I had gotten several plants that day, but this one looked interesting. It turned out to be a mismarked variety, was very, very weak but cost $1. Oh, what the heck, if it died, then it died. But for $1, I bought it. Today it is strong and healthy and gives me the most beautiful 'Roseum Elegans' blooms you could ask for.

Last autumn I was strolling through Home Depot looking for bargains when I ran across a cart that had a bunch of half dead plants on it. I checked out the plants closely than asked a clerk about the plants on the cart. She told me that they were headed for the "burn pile" and she would get me a manager if I wanted anything off that cart. When the manager arrived I had asked about a very tiny Threadleaf Japanese maple that had most of its branches broken off from the dry summer. So, for a few dollars, I brought home this small, sad looking maple that pushed out this spring and grew like it was completely happy. The original price tag was still on this tree when I acquired it. $79.95. This was quite the buy and I was able to save this little guy from the burn bin.

There are some things you will pay full price for but every now and again I do run across this wonderful acquisitions. This little tree has the makings to be a really beautiful, low, spreading maple which is what I want for this area. It came out nicely and is growing very nicely.