Spring is here

Hubby and I finally managed to do a couple of gardening chores this week. Just before several days of drizzle, as it happens. My parents gifted me with a small mesh bag of gladiolus bulbs. He dug me a deep trench along the edge of the front steps & I planted about 2/3 of them. I still have about ten more. They're planted behind my daylilies. I hope they make it ok.I have terrible squirrel problems & my bulbs don't always last very long.


We also moved the young maple tree that had been growing hard up beside the front porch into the backyard. It's about..7-8' tall & has little leaf buds on the branches. Poor tree would never have survived in its original location. Someone would've had to cut it down. Too many branches, too big, roots all under the porch, etc. Now it's about 5' away from the back porch in full sun. Hubby dug a deep hole and we put a layer of composted manure in the bottom. I nipped off a bunch of the lowest branches. He's tied to a stake. Hopefully he'll survive our attempt at transplantation. His new location gives him a fighting chance at a long life. The power lines aren't too close so maybe he'll have a chance to grow to his full rounded shape. The deepest roots were under our concrete front steps & porch, we had to cut them to move him. I'll be sure to baby him over the next couple of summers so it won't suffer with the heat and the drought. Our neighborhood has quite a few mature trees considering we live in suburbia, maybe he'll make it. I've no idea what type of maple he is except that he's not a silver maple. I just recognize that he's a maple. His leaves were red last fall. Pictures to come.

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