Lovely Day for a Butterfly

Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa)
sunning itself on my deck railing

Matt reported to me that Lilith chased a butterfly this morning. I guess being outside in nice spring weather brought out her inner hunter. The butterfly escaped unharmed, and I found it later, sipping nectar from my Andromeda (Pieris sp.)

Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa)
on an Andromeda (Pieris sp.)

Taken By Surprise

The crocuses in my yard have appeared... 9 days earlier than last year.

Crocus 'Prins Claus'

Cally noticed today's nice weather and insisted on going outside, so I put her harness on and let her out.

Cally

Then I got my sanshin so that I could keep her company and still get something done. As I was playing, I looked around the yard, and was startled to see spots of yellow down near the street. Once I discovered the yellow ones (below), I looked more carefully and found that several clumps of 'Prins Claus' (above) had emerged as well.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks'

Next Wave

The early spring bulbs are fading, but new flowers are replacing them...

Common Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)

Nanking Cherry (Prunus tomentosa)

The Early Bloom Gets My Attention

While continuing my spring clean-up, I discovered that one little bit of moss phlox has decided to open early.

Phlox subulata 'Emerald Cushion Blue'

Also, it was nice and sunny today, so the yellow crocuses really opened up.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks'

Theory into Practice

Shredded Leaves as Mulch

I started my yard's spring cleanup this week. It is a bigger task than in some years because most of my leaves fell only a short time before the yard was covered with snow. That means there's still a lot of leaf clean-up to do.

Ever since I started landscaping professionally, I've engaged in the silly practice of removing leaves from the landscaped areas of a yard, and then purchasing bark mulch for the bare areas of planted beds in order to prevent weed growth and provide organic matter.

That's going to stop.

Instead, the leaves are going to become the mulch.

This is a good idea because leaves break down into lovely organic matter, which makes better fertilizer than anything you can buy at the home improvement chains.

Last fall, I decided to test this at my house. Over the winter, my plan was further reinforced by the NOFA Organic Land Care course, as well as the Ecological Landscaping conference.

So, here I go... As I clean the leaves out of an area, I put them through the shredder, and then re-spread them. They need to be shredded and re-spread for a few reasons: 1. Large leaves can create something of a mat that can make it hard for perennials that have been dormant for the winter to reemerge, 2. The leaves will actually break down more quickly if they start as smaller pieces, and 3. They are less likely to blow around. (Also, I think it looks a bit tidier.)

When I buy mulch, I usually go for a very dark brown to black colored mulch, but I'm actually quite happy with the way the leaves are looking, even though it is a paler brown.

Iris reticulata 'Harmony' (planted fall '07)
Surrounded by Shredded Leaves

Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks' and Iris reticulata 'Harmony'

Crocuses at Home

The first crocus in my yard appeared on Easter Sunday (March 23). This is the same clump today:

Crocus 'Prins Claus'

I think the clump that came up first (above) was the clump I planted a year earlier. I planted a lot more last fall, but they seem to be ever so slightly behind the original clump.

Some really delightful yellow crocuses have appeared as well:

Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks' (planted last fall)

Grand Opening

I stopped to check on some clients' properties today:

Crocus 'Prins Claus' (planted last fall)

Yellow Crocus (I don't think I planted this one)

Aronia Buds

In the last few days I noticed the buds of my aronias have turned red. I'm worried that this means they are breaking too early.

At least it is clear that all three are currently alive and well despite the fact that they were not in good condition when I planted them last fall.

(Aronia arbutifolia)

They do look nice in red.