Name of the Day

Bhuel Buss

I don't know how he pronounces his given name, but of course all I see is the common Irish transcription of "well".

Greening

Well, looks like I was as premature in predicting the extirpation of the sweet woodruff as I was in conceding the death of the ninebark. A little stroll last night revealed that the clump I established in the verge on the north side of the building last year is still there, just more modestly than it was at the end of last summer. And not only is the experimental periwinkle still there as well, but it's even blooming. So perhaps time to buy some more of each? I'd like to get more vinca in any case since, at the rate that the plants outside our window are growing, it will take them a decade to fill that little one-by-two-metre patch. Still not sure about what to replace the dead cotoneaster with, but now that the kerria down the street is going gangbusters again, I'm leaning toward that.

The recent warmth seems to have brought out the Bradford pears in large numbers. For whatever reason, we don't have many cherries around here, but they're starting to peak as well. And I'm finally beginning to see some Judas trees in bud. Overall, the balance has finally shifted and trees in leaf outnumber those with bare branches--most conspicuously among the maples. The height of spring is upon us! And just in time for juleps!