I really like the foundation garden. What have you planted there?

The foundation garden is actually on the other side of the 'walk up' as most folks plant stuff that will grow too large against the house.

What's in there? Acer 'Red Dragon', Forget Me Nots and this is my elipidote bed as the rhodies don't grow large and their foliage is extremely interesting. It's sort of a dwarf garden with nothing topping out in excess of 3'.

Dw. Kalmia 'Elf', Az. Hillier's Pink ( a prostrate cultivar from Scotland), and the lepidotes: Macopin, Pioneer Pink, a Jim Cross unnamed hybrid, Snow Squall and April Dawn. On the ground cover side: asarum, empemedum, skimmia.

Black earth live again....

You are so much further along than up here in the North Country - my Aronia is just starting to show flower buds.
Beautiful pics, Ted.

Thank you and actually I'm surprised Tea. I guess there is something to living near the water and it's moderating effects on ground temps.

You'd have a hard time convincing me (relative to the progress of spring) as the air is so much cooler most days down here. I work in Somerset County and those 70* afternoons that have me leaving the office find myself at least 10* cooler when I arrive home. North Country? What county would that be?

It's been some spring this year, huh?. This lack of rain is troubling though. It will only take this year's first prolonged heat wave to begin further driving the deficit further up if we don't start getting that nice steady rain every 4 or 5 days (that's what should've been happening in Feb & March & April).

Not good. Not good at all. But darn..... What a great spring! Cool weather and no torrential downpours to knock down blooms. I've had some rhodies bloom for nearly a month this spring (mucronulatums, Mary Fleming, Yellow Eyes etc).

btw, those hold over berries on the aronia were consumed by a small flock of cedar waxwings yesterday who also ravaged last year's crop on the Am. Holly.

In fact, all of the gardens were inundated with birds the past 4-5 days. Warblers, orioles, grosbeaks, sparrows, woodpeckers etc.

Nesting catbird, mockingbird and robins in the yard with hummingbird nest set up being very close to the property.

Regards

Ted

North Country = Hunterdon County, Ted.

I work in North Branch and it's always 5-6 degrees cooler up here than there. EXCEPT sometimes....in the spring and fall, it can be colder in North Branch by several degrees in the early morning.

In the winter, the temperature along Rattlesnake Bridge Road in Bedminster Township can be as much as 8 degrees colder than home in the morning.

However, come spring, the foliage is always a week or more ahead of me.

My forsythia is still blooming.

My forsythia is still blooming.

Wow. 'nuff said as your 'micro climate'.