Our Paw Paw Tree has Flowers

....and flowers mean that there is a possibility of fruit.  

We are shocked because this is just year 3 since we planted the two paw paw trees.  Last spring and this spring we actually thought that they had died or were in the process of dying.  We will need to remember that they are late blooming trees.

One of the trees has 9 blossoms and the other has 17.  All the paw paw literature says that you need at least 2 trees for cross pollination.  Unless these flowers get pollinated there will be no fruit.   

They are great looking flowers, aren't they??  Can you imagine a 20 foot tree covered with these blossoms?  

I doubt that we will have any paw paw fruit last on the branch until it is ripe.  The fruit is quite large and heavy and the current state of the tree branches is more twiggy than branchy.

The blueberry bushes are blossoming, too.  The flowers are not as striking or showy, as the paw paw blossoms, but I know that these branches can handle the weight of the blueberries.

This is a Jelly Bean variety of blueberries.  It's a small compact blueberry bush with full size fruit. It is also a prolific fruit bearer and the perfect size for use in the landscape.

The only danger of fruit not lasting until harvest is from finger blight.  That is where you pick off and eat all the fruit, one berry at a time, before you have a chance to harvest.

Sometimes R and I walk around the yard during the summer and graze.  Then when lunchtime rolls around neither one of us are hungry.  Win win for me.

R loves when fall rolls around and he can sample the apple trees every day.  He found out that eating 3 apples in one day has an unpleasant effect.  I reminded him that the says is....an apple a day, keeps the doctor away.

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Tulips and Daffodils Bulbs

It felt so good to be outside in the warm air. This winter was a very dreary winter with a lot of snow and grey days.

R and I continued raking out flowers beds and areas of lawn that still had leaves remaining. We are really on the downward part of our raking. I need to seed a few shady areas so that those areas will be ready for the spring showers.

Saturday I had a little extra time (wow imagine that!) before I left for work so I popped into Kmart to see what Martha was offering this summer. I have no idea what she's offering as I never left the garden center. In the clearance bin were packages of tulip and daffodil bulbs. Normally by the time bulbs get to the clearance bin they are all shrivelled up. I flipped the clear packages over and was surprised to see them in such good shape. I was able to purchase 12 packages for 99 cents each, two larger packages of tulips for $1.57 each, and two large bags of daffodil bulbs (32 in each) for $3.97 each. Then it was off to work. Martha.....I'll have to check you out at a later date.

On Sunday we planted all the bulbs and two pink peonies root clumps. All the peonies we transplanted last year have sprouted, so I know they survived. Now I just hope we planted them at the right depth.

The 22 various lilac bushes we planted last fall, all have buds. I can't wait for them to get about 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. R and I decided that this next fall we are going to plant additional lilacs on the other side of the fence. That should give us really dense coverage when both sides grow in.

Tomorrow I'm going to plant the 2 Paw Paw trees that have arrived so far. I have two more coming from a different grower. Today would have been a great day for planting but as usual I scheduled an appointment for today before I had to leave for work at 3pm. I can predict the weather 30 days from now by scheduling an appointment for my nails, massage, or hair. I can guarantee that those days will have fabulous weather. Some day when I'm retired it won't matter if it rains because there is always tomorrow.

Gardening season started today...

Despite the very cold weather, R and I started our spring clean up. Enough snow fell last night that they had to plow the roads. By the time we started cleaning up at least 75% of the snow was gone. Hopefully by tomorrow, it will ALL be melted away.

Here's R using the blower to blow the leaves out of the lavender plants and rose bushes. He assured me he DID NOT step on any tulips. LOL While he used the blower, I trimmed the rose bushes back.

We also checked on the sycamore and tulip trees we planted last year and they all have buds. The fruit trees also all have buds with the nectarine trees having the largest buds. I also trimmed all the fruit trees of any dead twigs or ill placed spurs. I think they have finally gotten to the point where I can really start shaping them.

I have 4 Paw Paw trees coming the first week of April. I hope the weather is warm enough to plant them at that time. The ground is still frozen in the area where I want to put them. I bought 2 different varieties and from two different growers.

I decided to grow poppies out by the street along the fence. I've tried roses but the salt spray from the road kills them. I thought poppies would be a good choice since they are a large flower and will easily reseed. I've purchased about 10 different varieties in the white, pink, purple, lavender, and blue. I'm really looking forward to seeing the blue poppies bloom. The photo shows it as a very vibrant blue.

Tomorrow we have to pick up all the piles of leaves we raked up today. We did notice that we were rewarded this spring because of the good fall clean up we did last year. Those blisters were not wasted.