No Time to be Squeemish - Pine Sawfly

It has been unusually hot this summer and I've spent little time in my sunny main garden, preferring instead to work in the back shade area where I am planning some new projects.

It's still hot but far less humid so today after work I ventured into the sun to do a little deadheading. One of the shrubs in the sunny garden is my lovely little mungo pine which is tucked into a section by the small pond, just to the left of the image above, in the blog header.

Lately I had noticed some browning on Mr Mungo but assumed it was from the extremely hot weather we've been haivnng.

But.....

As I wandered over there for a closer look...horrors... I saw that dozens (I mean many dozens) of Pine Sawfly larvae were munching en masse on several different clusters of needles. Many needles had two larvae attached, face to face, enveloping the entire needle. AGH! Looking even closer I saw that many branches were devoid of needles and several sections were brown and dead looking.


Well most all of the larvae have now been sunk in a bucket of soapy water, along with a few Japanese beetles from the nearby roses.

What a nasty job.

I'm sure I did not get them all so I'll have to keep a close watch on Mr My Mungo who now has many bare and brown sections.

Hopefully his needles will come back. Does anyone know if they will??

Blue Gate of Amherst

It's been a while coming -- but -- it's DONE!

It took us 3 weekends to build, paint, hang and attach the latch -- to be exact.

But, Amherst now has it's own
Blue Gate



Take that Rockport!


Seriously, we built our fence, slat by slat, 3 years ago but now, it needed a gate so I will not have to worry about my little dog Mia running across the street to the park to play with her puppy friends. She thinks it is her job to be by my side when I am gardening because we all know I might get lost out there (!) but, she also loves other dogs (and chasing squirrels) hence my caution and -- the gate.

Back to the Rockport reference.

In Rockport Massachusetts there is a house with a view of the harbor and the white picket fence has had a blue gate for many years. It has become a well known spot for painters, including my own grandparents, Henry and Margaret Brunjes, over 50 years ago. Next time I go to my mother's house in the Berkshires I will take a picture of the oil painting of Blue Gate that my grandmother did many years ago.

As we were building our gate I had the idea to paint ours blue (the same blue as our house...with just a hint of purple in it) so Amherst would have her own Blue Gate. In this case, just down the street from Emily Dickinson's house.

Emily Dickinson's Bluebirds

Before you thought of Spring
Except as a Surmise
You see - God bless his suddenness-
a fellow in the Skies
Of independent Hues
A little weather worn
Inspiriting habiliments
Of Indigo and Brown-
With specimens of Song
As if for you to choose-
Discretion in the ritual
With gay delays he goes
To some superior Tree
Without a single Leaf
And shouts for joy to Nobody
But his seraphic self-

Emily Dickinson

Listening -perhaps- to the descendants of Emily's neighborhood songsters on this rainy June morn.

(image from fotopedia.com)

Before and After

Before and after...a child's desk and chair for a special little guy's 4th BD.

Collage Table: Version 1

When in Chattanooga recently I found this small table with a removable glass top. There was one like it in my childhood living room and I hadn't seen once since. So, of course.... I brought it home. Today I arranged a selection of family pictures, from about 1984-1991, under the glass for after Easter dinner viewing. I plan to paint the table over the summer and brighten it up but couldn't resist using it this weekend.

Sweet Magnolia!

Sweetside Garden is smelling sweet indeed as the Magnolia is in full bloom. If the predicted rains come, they may end it's display prematurely but for today, it is lovely! It is always such a wonderful, welcoming sign of to Spring. My gratitude to whoever the gardner was who planted it decades ago.

new role: tree doctor

I just couldn't give up yet. Today I went to the Hadley Garden Ctr and asked Tom what I could do to try to save my Japanese Maple that was seriously damaged by the winter storms. Three of its main arching limbs are torn away from the main trunk but they are not totally severed so, it's worth a try. On Tom's recommendation, I tied the branches up to take the weight off of them and bring the tear back r together. In the largest of the 3 limbs I drilled a tiny hole and used a screw to connect it to the main trunk. Then I applied black tree goop to the cracks to keep water out (which can cause rot). So, we'll see. I am not terribly hopeful. Apparently it might leaf out but when it needs to draw nourishment up from below, there may not be enough intact surface area to get what it needs.

I guess many people had damage to their Japanese Maples this year.....too bad, they are so lovely and grow slowly. On the positive side, the scilla and daffodils have begin blooming and the Magnolia buds popped! I got all the oak leaves raked off the main garden and it's beginning to look like Spring. Yay!