The good news is that we have been getting lots of rain here in Wisconsin, so we water our new trees each day, but sometimes God does the job for us. When we planted the trees, the Nursery gave us some foul-smelling mushroom compost to add to the holes around the tree roots. The trees seem to be very happy 'shrooming, because they are growing very well. The back tree is sending out new branches all over, and the front tree is full of blooms.
The bad news is that we learned yesterday that our air conditioning in Florida has not been working since June 16. Our nephew Jon checked the house yesterday, and the temperature inside was 87 with a 76% humidity. We always set the thermostat at 80 while we are gone with a 50% humidity. High temperatures and high humidity are the perfect combination for mold to grow, so this is a problem we need to address.
Thankfully, we have wonderful relatives and neighbors. Our neighbor across the street got the key from Jon, and she will let the repairman in today so he can repair the system. We both are bummed about this because we replaced the entire system only two years ago. This should not be happening to an almost new HVAC system! We will learn later today how extensive -- and how expensive -- the repair will be to get the system running again.
Sigh. I guess we have to take the good with the bad in home ownership.
Friday, July 10, 2020
Friday, July 3, 2020
New Trees
A coupe of weeks ago, Rick and I were watching TV when we saw something strange out our front windows. The winds were calm, we had no rain or storms, yet we both watched in disbelief as one of the three trunks of our Ivory Silk Japanese Lilac tree fell in slow motion to the ground. The trunk was rotten, and the tree finally had lost its battle with gravity.
We paid to have the other two trunks of the tree removed from the front garden, and yesterday a company came to grind out the stump, so today we went tree shopping.
We tried a nursery new to us in town, and we came away with not one, but two, ornamental trees for the yard. (That's what happens when a person cannot make up his or her mind as to which tree to choose!)
For the front garden, to replace the Japanese lilac, we purchased a Limelight Hydrangea tree. This tree is just starting to bloom, and it is supposed to hold its blooms into the fall. The blooms start as jade green flowers that turn to pink and then to burgundy as the seasons change to fall. The blooms will remain a rust color throughout the winter and can be trimmed off in the spring. The tree will only get to be about 8 feet high, so it will be a pretty, compact tree for our front garden.
The second tree we chose is a purple Dwarf Korean Lilac tree. Years ago we had a small tree in the back yard that fell onto our back porch during a straight-line wind incident. Ironically, when we chose where to plant this tree, Christopher dug down a few inches and came upon the rotten remains of that long-ago tree. It seems our eye always picks out the same place for trees in the back yard.
This tree, too, is small and colorful. It will get to be about 8 feet tall and will bloom in the early spring. The nursery owner said that it is very easy to prune, so we can keep it in whatever shape we wish. We can't wait to see it in bloom next year.
Very slowly we are getting our landscape into shape. We need tons of dirt and sod yet, but the trees are a start to making the landscape look good again.
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| Our Japanese Lilac literally hits the dust. |
We paid to have the other two trunks of the tree removed from the front garden, and yesterday a company came to grind out the stump, so today we went tree shopping.
We tried a nursery new to us in town, and we came away with not one, but two, ornamental trees for the yard. (That's what happens when a person cannot make up his or her mind as to which tree to choose!)
 |
| The tag shows the Limelight blooms. |
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| The Limelight Hydrangea will soon be in full bloom. |
For the front garden, to replace the Japanese lilac, we purchased a Limelight Hydrangea tree. This tree is just starting to bloom, and it is supposed to hold its blooms into the fall. The blooms start as jade green flowers that turn to pink and then to burgundy as the seasons change to fall. The blooms will remain a rust color throughout the winter and can be trimmed off in the spring. The tree will only get to be about 8 feet high, so it will be a pretty, compact tree for our front garden.
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| A promise of what the tree will look like when it is full grown. |
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| Right now, the tree has a long way to grow! |
The second tree we chose is a purple Dwarf Korean Lilac tree. Years ago we had a small tree in the back yard that fell onto our back porch during a straight-line wind incident. Ironically, when we chose where to plant this tree, Christopher dug down a few inches and came upon the rotten remains of that long-ago tree. It seems our eye always picks out the same place for trees in the back yard.
This tree, too, is small and colorful. It will get to be about 8 feet tall and will bloom in the early spring. The nursery owner said that it is very easy to prune, so we can keep it in whatever shape we wish. We can't wait to see it in bloom next year.
Very slowly we are getting our landscape into shape. We need tons of dirt and sod yet, but the trees are a start to making the landscape look good again.
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