Tulips are in bloom. I planted red and purple tulips last October in the front parkway from bags of 35 that were on sale at Home Depot.
14 packets of seeds from the Dollar store (American seed brand) were planted in front parkway. Catnip and raspberries are strong. Front parkway may take center stage again this year. Bought 20 cu.ft. of good pine bark and 5 cu.ft. of mushroom compost so all set for planting in the next few weeks. Might be able to skip a trip to Gesethemane this season.
Forsythia bush is back from the dead. It did not bloom last year due to dust from road construction that seemed to have killed this 30+ year old bush. It spent all of last summer regrowing branches and all those newly regrown branches have bloomed and it looks like this bush may be back from the dead. Forsythias are the first bush to bloom around here in zone 5 Chicago.
Here’s another shot and past articles from 2011, 2012, and 2013. No pic was taken in 2014 because it didn’t bloom. In 2012 it bloomed on March 22 and in 2013 it didn’t bloom until April 28. Forsythia blooms are the official kick off for spring gardening projects. So here we go…
Note: The banner header of this Forsythia with Magnolias in the background was taken in 2012 when we had a very early Spring. The Magnolia isn’t blooming now and doesn’t always sync up with the Forsythias.
This is the north parkway planted Spring 1995 with Rose of Sharon bushes. Being on the north side it doesn’t get good sun but the bushes proliferated over the years and now provide for a maintenance free part of the garden.
In 1995 I raised this bed 3 inches using a dump truck full of good black top soil which help establish these bushes. This picture taken in the middle of our current 19″ blizzard right after I shoveled for the first time. Another 12″ of snow will have fallen after this was taken.
I know, enough with Zinnias already. Here’s an overview shot of quadrant 2 of front parkway. These Zinnias are four feet high and must compete with raspberry bushes for space making them grow bigger.
A bumblebee visits a wild flower in front parkway.