Every Blooming THing: Late June: About That Monarch Butterfly and the Cicadas

Grass still growing fast as it has been fairly wet and cool around here.

Regular daisies are blooming.  I have been planting a lot of geraniums (bought on sale for 50 cents) as well as begonias (also on sale).  This is the time I start buying flowers when they put them on sale.  Begonias take care of themselves so I like them.

The landscapers have been over here twice in the last two weeks and have trimmed off branches in the two pine islands as well as the Back 40 and arboretum.  And, then there are all those weed trees they've cut down and yews they've trimmed.  

Sadly the burn pile that I worked so hard on this spring to burn it has gotten even bigger than it was this spring.  I'll be busy in the fall when I can burn again.

On Wednesday I had to delay going somewhere when I saw a monarch butterfly flitting about the thirty or so milkweed plants I have growing in my driveway culverts.  I hope it tells its buddies about it.  I miss those beautiful things.

I still come across a cicada every day, but fewer than before, plus the din off in the distance is lessening.

--RoadCada

Every Blooming THing-- Mid May

Trees are all leafed out now.  The two front sunburst honeylocusts are with their bright yellow leaves now which turn green later.  But. quite the striking picture right now.  My Japanese lilacs are getting ready to bloom.

The main dandelion assault is over.

My wild tall phlox are blooming (at least a hundred of them) and my daisies are blooming and/or getting ready to do so.  The irises are blooming as well and the azaleas have more red on then than I've ever seen.

Last night I think I might have heard the first cicadas.  Even though my house is now 32 years old, we haven't had but a few before.  

The lawn tractor has developed a slow leak on one of the rear wheels.

And, yesterday I started trimming the burning bushes which are growing all over the place.  Today, I started transplanting plants I overwintered in the house.

--RoadDog

Every Blooming THing, Late April

 The daffodils and hyacinths are pretty well spent.  As are the Bradford pear trees.

But, the tulips, creeping phlox, a yellow perennial and the five crabapple trees are blooming.

I have another bumper crop of dandelions. No cicadas yet.  We're supposed to have both the 13-year and 17-year cicadas soon.

Grass is growing well.

I have the yard crew coming over Wednesday, weather permitting, to finish trimming trees and getting rid of weed trees.

--RoadFlower

Every Blooming THing: Mid-April 2023

As we shiver around here today.  Last week, we had four days with sun and temps in the 80s and higher.  This morning, woke up to about an inch of snow on the ground, snow flurries in the morning and temps in the upper 30s.  Like they say, if you don't like the weather around Chicago right now, wait a little bit.

Grass is green and I was smiling Saturday when the lawn tractor started right away.  Trees are budding out.

The Bradford pear trees are blooming big time white.  I have three of them.  The crabapples are budding out.

Plenty of twigs and limbs still to be moved from the ice storm a short time ago (we lost electricity for 17 hours).

Right now the daffodils and hyacinths are blooming and I have a lot of them.

--RoadFlower

Every Blooming THing, Mid June

The yard has been ablaze in purples and whites the last three weeks as the tall wild phlox and daisies have been blooming.  I must have several hundred of each.  I even have clumps of daisies growing in the yard in about 12 places.

In addition, the Japanese lilacs are now in bloom with those massive white flower bunches.  The peonies are also blooming.  Also, my Missouri primrose is blooming as is a perennial which has yellow flowers blooming on its spike (but I don't know the name of it).

I have started trimming bushes and will tell you sincerely that I planted way too many of the yews.  Plus, I have way too many burning bushes.  I have been and still am cutting down weed trees andother wild growth.

This past Sunday I talked with a friend at the McHenry Legion who has a landscaping service and will have him come over an do some serious tree trimming.  

When I started planting all this stuff in 1993, I was still a somewhat healthy 42-year-old and it never occurred to me that one day I might be getting too old to do all the work.  Well, it has now iccurred to me.  In addition, I spend way too much time on these blogs.

I am hoping that I will be able to continue cutting the grass what with gas prices around $5.80.

It's Getting Tougher, You Know.  --RoadDog

Gas Gouge Continues, a Fish Fry, Bars and Yardwork

FRIDAY, MAY 13

Sitting FP for coffee and enjoying the colors of trees, tulips and perennials.  I aim to have color in the yard all the way from April to the end of October.  Went to McDonald's for their two for $2 sausage/cheese McMuffins and $1 pop.  I love those McMuffins (and for that price especially).

Saw the movie "Fantastic Beasts:  The Secrets of Dumbledore."  It is good to be back in the theaters after a two-year period because on you-know-what.  Gas in Fox Lake to $4.80 and $4.90.  Who'd have ever figured.  You finally get a chance to go places and can't afford to go places.  Curse you GRBs.

Met Kevin and Kelly at Johnny's Cafe in Fox Lake for fish fry.  Then went to the Legion for 50-50, but too many people.  Same problem at Stucky's in Johnsburg, but finally got seats at the bar at Sunnyside.

SATURDAY, MAY 14

Got some yardwork done, primarily cutting down weed trees which are trying to take over the yard.  Went to Stucky's for burgers and sang karaoke with George.

SUNDAY, MAY 15

Went to the McHenry American Legion and enjoyed bourbon and Cokes for $3 (and especially $1.50 during happy hour).  Then Stucky's and home.

--RoadDog

THINGS YOU'D LIKE TOSAY:  Yes.  I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

Every Blooming THing: Early May 2022

Despite all this crummy cold weather, 38 degrees this morning but at least sunny, everything is greening up and trees are budding out.  The Japanese lilacs already have their leaves and the crabapples are just about there as well.

The yard already is a blast of yellow with the daffodils (and I have at least 1000 of them) and the hyacinths are also in full bloom.  The tulips are about to start opening up.  

I have not yet cut the grass and sure hope the lawn tractor starts.  The yard needs cutting for sure.

I also haven't had much opportunity to get outside and rake leaves out of the flower beds or knock down dead growth.

Sure looking forward to the arrival of spring.  Hopefully this weekend.

Oh, yes.  And the dandelions are well underway, of course.  And, it's a bumper crop!!

Would You ever believe a Bumper Crop of Dandelion?  Kind of Hard to Believe.  --RoadDog

Around Here: Good Things About Eliminations, Flu Shot, Raking Pine Straw and Lawn Tractor Problems

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14

Well, one good thing about the Sox being eliminated from the playoffs (and the Brewers were also eliminated last night), I no longer have to make a special effort to watch any of the playoff games anymore.  I will watch parts of them as I get a chance to, but not all the games.  Plus, had the Sox gone to the World Series and won, there is a considerable savings on souvenirs of the event.

I got my regular flu shot for the second straight year,  I didn't get them for many years as I taught school and was around so many kids that I had built up quite an immunity, but the last several years I had been really sick with the flu for a couple weeks at a shot, so, hey, I'll take the shot.

Put up some more Halloween lights.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15

I did a lot of pine straw raking (free mulch) around the east and west pine islands and picked up a whole lot of limbs and sticks in the arboretum area in preparation of cutting the grass.  Sadly, I couldn't get the lawn tractor started and will have to have it worked on again.  It is now 28years old and perhaps even a John Deere doesn't run forever.  This is the third problem this year so it may be time to get another one.

--RoadDog

Every Blooming THing: Mid October

This has been a strange fall so far.  It has not gotten very cold at all (That is, until now.  We had to turn the furnace on today.)  The  trees haven't really started to change much. My honey locusts, got gold, but he  lost their leaves quickly as usual.  Usually by now several of my crabapple trees lose their leaves by the end of August, but this year we had a drier spring, so they kept their leaves.

The birch trees are starting to turn yellow.  The burning bushes are just starting to turn their blazing red a little bit.

Unfortunately, the lawn tractor broke down for the third time this season nd is in a shop.  But, that isn't stopping the grass from growing.  Hope I get that back soon or it may be too late.

All Halloween decorations are up.

The asters are a deep purple and several hundred mums of varying hues are blooming as well as the reddish sedum heads.

--RoadGreen

Every Blooming THing, Early May 2021

After a two week delay, I finally got my lawn tractor and had a real fun time cutting down the yard jungle I had developed in the meantime.  I always try to stay ahead of the grass especially in the spring when it is growing fast.  I had to cut it much higher than I usually do.

Sadly, one of my crabapple trees had just come into a heavy bloom but then the extreme winds we had this past weekend hit and blew every single bud off.  However, the other four crabapples are blooming right now as is the sole remaining Bradford pear tree.  The two sunburst honey locusts are about to leaf out in that glorious yellow.  The redbud is also blooming.

The daffodils and hyacinths are spent, but the tulips are ablaze right now.

The purple, red and white creeping phlox are carrying the flower color right now along with a perennial I have that has gray foliage and yellow flowers (but I don't know what it is called).

Hostas are coming up.

--RoadFlower

Every Bloomin' THing: Early April 2021

Just like almost overnight, the green wave has hit the grass.  Boom, green.  Working in the flower beds, I have seen several small dandelions, of course.  I have been working on clearing out other people's leaves from my flowerbeds and I have a great supply of their extras.

I had the lawn tractor/mower picked up in the middle of March and it is not back yet.  I am hoping I get it back before that grass starts growing.

The jonquils, or do you call them daffodils are blooming and are the hyacinths.

Trees are budding out.  I noticed that our subdivision has a whole lot of redbud trees.  I planted one a couple years ago and am hoping it makes a go of it.  Two others that I've had in the past didn't make it.  I just don't have any luck with  them.

Rained off and on all day, but the last three days before that had temps in the upper 70s and plenty of sunshine so I got to have some breakfasts and coffee out on the front porch (FP) and a couple lunches on the deck (OD).  Eating outside means you know what is nearly here.

--RoadBud

QUESTIONABLE HEADLINES:  "Enraged Cow Injured Farmer With Ax"

The $3800 Six Mile Auto Trip Nov. 10, the Next Day

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 11

And that is considering that since March 16, I haven't driven further than 25 miles from home.  With this virus, it is just no fun to drive anywhere.  We even dropped plans to join family in Savannah, Georgia, this coming Thursday for Thanksgiving.  We had that in the plans for a year and a half.

That storm, as bad as it was, was over in about an hour.

Anyway, the next day, I walked out by the car and saw the garage floor was very wet under the front of the car(perhaps, I thought, from all the rain we had) but there was nothing by the back tires.

I looked at the front of the 2011 Malibu and could see the license plate and holder were a bit bent and he bumper under it was dented as well.  Then I saw a piece of wood jammed in there, but I couldn't loosen it. (Nor could I get the hood up after I pulled the inside lever to do it.  I couldn't find the latch in the engine.)

I started the car, and it started right up.  Backed it out of the garage and drove around a couple blocks.  It ran well.  No warning lights came on either.

Parked it on the driveway which was dry, figuring I would see if it was still leaking.  I went out a few hours later and the driveway was covered with some sort of liquid.

I called our Chevy dealer to have it towed in the next day.

Watch Out for Them Motivating Big Tree Branches.--RoadWreck

POINTS TO PONDER:  Why do we press harder on the remote when we know the batteries are getting weak?

Every Blooming THing, Early November

Keeping true to my goal of having something blooming with big color all the way between April and October, the yard has a lot of color right now.

Several hundred yellow and orange mums are still in bloom.  The sedum have the dark heads and yellow stalks.  Burning bushes are burning red.  Plus, my lone remaining Bradford pear tree has just gotten it autumnal tones.  However, I do have several Bradford pear tree seedlings growing.

Just finished raking pine straw up into my two pine islands; great mulch, but a whole lot of raking, especially with all the wind we've been having so that pine straw was spread out over a really bit area.  Hoping that I cut the grass for the last time.

Rolled up the front yard hose onto the reel (200 feet of hose) and will get to the backyard hose later this month after I finish burning limbs and twigs.  

We've been having a great Indian Summer around here with temperatures in the lower 70s for the last six days.  Last year this time, we had already had a Halloween surprise snow storm that dropped six inches on the ground and then there was another surprise Veterans Day six inches.  No snow this year, but we have had a couple frosts.

--RoadDog

Every Blooming THing: Early October

Another fast summer.  Why can't winter go that fast?  

Pine straw is starting to fall.  That is always nice because that is free mulch, but does require a lot of raking.  I have two big pine islands with 15 pine trees.

The mums are blooming all over right now and I must have close to 200 of them, so quite the display of yellow to red shades all over the yard.  In addition, the sedum have all those red heads.  The asters are also in bloom now with the blues.  Also, some kind of a wild daisy is blooming all over.  These plants have hundreds of really small white flowers, but in masses so it is quite a thing to see.

The goldenrods have finished which is good because that means I don't have to be as careful now since the stingers that inhabit these when in bloom are also gone.  Anything that can sting you is all over those.  The sedum are still red, but when they first turn, they too are covered with little stingers.

The honeylocusts are starting to turn yellow now.

--RoadFlower

We Had a Very Windy and Hard-Hitting Storm on Monday, Even a Tornado

In just a few minutes I will be going outside to pick up some more twigs and branches from Monday's storm.  I have been doing this for the last few days as I sure had a lot of them.  There was even one medium sized branch that came down.

But our neighbors in the subdivision here in Spring Grove had more damage.  My neighbor to the west lost about half of his Bradford pear tree, but they have notoriously weak wood.  As a matter of fact, I used to have three of them, but just one remains now after wind storms.

Drive down any street in the subdivision and there are lots of bundles of branches sitting out by the street.

Monday's storm raced west to east across Illinois at about 70 miles per hour and packed winds of up to 100 miles.  We even had an EF-1 tornado touch down in the northeast corner of Spring Grove and run along the ground 3.5 miles before ending up in Wisconsin.  That would be a touchdown about four miles from us.

Wednesday, when we drove to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, we saw lots of downed trees, even more so as we neared the Wisconsin border.

I was at Walgreens when it started raining and I just got home before it hit and got wet trying to put away stuff that would blow over or away.  The trees were really bending over for what we could see in the driving sheets of rain that we had.

--RoadDog

FOX HUNTING:  What is the name of Peter and Jason's sister in the comic strip "Fox Trot?"


"Paige"

Every Blooming THing, Mid June

My daisies are all in bloom right now as are my wild tall phlox.  I have several hundred of both so the yard is a mass of white and purple.  The dianthus are blooming nicely in all sorts of colors.  They're nice because you get several years out of them.  My wild daisies are also blooming.

I also have several other perennial blooming, but don't know their names.  One is yellow, and two are a pinkish color.

Weeds are growing fast, of course, and that is a never ending job.  Plus,I have been doing a lot of trimming on my creeping phlox plants (where I also have about a hundred.  All these plants except the dianthus come back year after year and are very easy to transplant.

I've been cutting the yard about every 4-5 days and I usually do that once a week.  It is growing fast.

Two big jobs I have this summer are cutting down three dead trees and power washing and staining the deck and gazebo.  I talked with a friend of a friend last weekend and he will cut down the trees and stack the wood.

Always Something to Do In the Yard.  --RoadDog

THEM FUNNY COUNTRY SONGS:  "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly"

Every Blooming THing, Middle May: Creeping Phlox and Some Perennial

It has been quite hard to work in the yard because of the horrible spring we're having.  Very few decent days.  Usually, quite chilly and/or rainy.  Once in awhile, we get a decent day, but it is a rarity.  Yesterday it rained off and on all day and was quite cool and windy.  Of course, then heavens opened up on Sunday and man did we get the rain.

Right now, the yard is a mass of tulips, mostly purple creeping phlox and some sort of perennial with gray foliage and yellow flowers.  The wild tall phlox and daisies are about to turn the yard into a purple and white affair (and I have hundreds of them).  The grape hyacinths are blooming.

One of the crabapples with white blooms is about spent.  The other day I was working out by it and it felt and looked like a warm snowstorm with all the petals falling.  I have four more crabapples beginning to bloom as well as the lilacs.

************************************

Sadly, I have a golden rain tree and a Bradford pear tree which are dead and will have to come down.

I have been transplanting lots of hostas, black-eyed Susans, mums and purple coneflowers.

The daffodils and hyacinths are spent, but put on quite a show.

The dandelions, of course, are luxuriant and plentiful.

Hope to get to my huge burn pile this weekend.  We can only burn in the spring on weekends during April and May so am running out of time.  Pretty much every weekend has been a rainout or wind out so far.

My Flowers.  I Think I'll Keep Them.  --RoadBud

LAUGHTER HELPS WITH THE "V":  And I was just about to start going to the gym again.  Oh well, orders is orders.

Every Blooming THing-- Mid August: What A Long Strange Summer It's Been

And, that is besides not going boating (which, of course we didn't do last year).  But, I have not yet gotten the front yard hose out of the garage and last Saturday was the first day I seriously watered the back yard flower beds.  I usually have both hoses out by May.  We've had that much rain.

Also, I've had to cut the grass every week and at 2 1/2 inches.  This past week I did not cut the grass, skipping a week for the first time.  And usually by now I am at my summer cutting height of 3 inches.  Again, that much rain and fairly cool temperatures through early July.

And, I've never had so much tree and bush trimming, especially my boxwoods and burning bushes which were severely burned back by the polar vortex we had this past winter.  They are all alive, but require big time cutting back of their upper branches.  Plus, we have now been at this house for 27 years, there are tree branches that have either gotten too big or are growing in places I don't want them.

But, flowers are still going strong.  Right now, my wild sunflowers, bee balm, mums, black-eyes Susans, purple coneflowers and daylillies are really in bloom, and I have hundreds of each one.

Oh Well.  --RoadDog

BABY TRIVIA TEASER:  Which famous band went on the Zoo TV tour in support of its 1991 album "Actung Baby"?


U2

Every Blooming THing, Early June 2019

The yard is ablaze with color right now.  The wild tall phlox are all blooming purple.  The irises are purple and yellow.  Hundreds of daisies are white.  The creeping phlox is lavender and dianthus are blooming as well as some other perennials that I don't know the name.  The ajuga is purple as well.

Sadly, my mountain ash succumbed to ash borers and fell over so I have been cutting it up.  My burning bushes are just starting to leaf out and I will have to really trim the boxwoods and azaleas back because of winter kill.  That polar vortex really did a number on my yard.

I am still working on limbs from the apple tree and Bradford pear.  It is hard to keep up with the grass.  Between all the rain and cool temperatures, it is grass nirvana.  The sunburst honeylocusts are all golden right now as well.

Always Something Blooming in the Yard.  --RoadDog

Every Blooming THing-- Mid May: A Burning Weekend

I spent both days last weekend working on the burn pile.  I mean I had a whole lot of branches and limbs, both from the white pines which had a lot of branches broken from a late winter heavy snow (along with some trimming of the lower ones).  Many of those branches/limbs were as much as three to four inches wide.

Plus, I had the branches from the double apple tree which I had cut down and the Bradford pear tree was severely cut back as well.  To say the least, I had a whole lot of burning to do.  It helped when I finally hot the knack of how to get the fire burning hot enough to burn those limbs.  I also had trimmed the smaller branches off the limbs and, the pine needles were drying out so made an excellent accelerant when the fire would get low.

I was able to get the burning in before it rained, which it did both Saturday and Sunday.

Right now, the hyacinths and jonquills are finished, but the tulips are blooming.  Plus, I have probably a hundred creeping phlox plants blooming as well as a yellow perennial.  The crabapple trees are blooming as well, so I have plenty of color.

Oh yes, and the dandelions are plentiful as usual.

Color All Spring, Summer and Fall.  --RoadDog

A PLETHORA OF TIDBITS:  Genuphobia is the fear of knees.