The Elysian Fields

Looks like almost everything planted in Rachel's garden is growing - corn, watermelon, squash, gourds, corn, basil, and so on. Might have to rename the Ivy Triangle to the Fern Triangle - it's covered in bracken ferns and at least one other type (lady?) of fern. The mixed foxglove planted last year are throwing flower stalks up, and flower buds are definitely developing. I'm looking forward to seeing them flower - and to see the hummingbirds they should attract. The iris along the garage wall are blooming - although not in common view, so no idea if the hummingbirds stop by. They'll be moved this fall, and will be much more visible - right along the stream, along with the hosta that have already proved to attract hummingbirds.

The native hemlock - which took quite a hit after being transplanted last fall and then repeatedly dragged down by ice storms in the winter - is showing lots of new growth, so it looks like it will pull through. Most of the seedling hemlocks show some growth, but all but two of those are in the 6 to 8 inch height range - the native one is about 5 feet tall. All of the Colorado blue and Norway spruces show signs of growth - a couple of the CBS' are getting downright shaggy. The white fir is also growing quite well, although the Douglas fir (which is, of course, not really a fir, but I still can't help summing up the two of them together) shows growth it also shows a lot of needle loss - not sure how it will do in the long run. Still waiting for signs of life from the Leyland cypress - it suffered extensive ice damage. The Scotch and Austrian pines are doing well, as are the native white and pitch pines.

The oldest of the American holly seedlings is recovering nicely - all the hollies lost their leaves this spring, shortly after planting the latest batch. The two planted this spring show no signs of life, and the one planted last fall *might* be budding, but the eldest now has a significantly larger number of leaves. I'm hoping these pull through - although now a fairly popular gardening plant, the American holly is on the threatened/endangered list in Pennsylvania, and I'd like to get a significant number of them growing in our woods. The southern magnolias are showing signs of modest growth, so there's hope for them yet.

The bald cypress is finally sporting some needles - I was thinking it wasn't going to grow at all. Still waiting for the quaking aspen, river birch, and American sweetgum planted this spring to show signs of life - I remember with the other river birch it was slow to get started and then took off (before getting eaten several times by deer!) so I still have some hope. Much less hope for the beech trees - the two American beech planted this spring and the European beech planted last spring have shown no signs of life at all, although they are still flexible. The crepe myrtle resprouted from the ground - not a good sign, since it is allegedly hardier than the magnolias and eucalyptus. If it has trouble, it is more than likely those others will as well.

The two native hawthorns are doing great, and even the spring-planted Washington hawthorn seedlings are sporting lots of leaves. The lacebark elm, redbuds, and one of the goldenraintrees planted this spring look like they will do well. Sugar and silver maples also seem to be doing well. The Japanese maples are sporting many more leaves than last year, but all seem clustered around the central trunk - looking forward to seeing them spread out. I think the deer attacks last year shut down the London plane tree; a few buds are visible, but it still hasn't made a move to show a leaf. The nearby tulip tree is recovering well from some mild browsing, and looks to have doubled in height.

Seems like the deer pills work - the deer sampled some of the trees, but didn't browse heavily. Might need to supplement with some hot pepper/egg spray, to make sure they don't come close. Probably need to whip up a batch for the elderberry, mulberry, and other plants that offer human-edible berries or whatnot.

Found something new growing on Driveway Island, about 10 feet or so in from the road - think it might be a mulberry.