Wild Flowers

This is a wildflower that comes up every year in late spring.  I used to know the name of it, but I have forgotten and since I didn't plant it I can't look it up.  However, since God planted it, I am sure He knows what the name is.

Lovely blossoms that can be seen for the price of a walk around Grants Pass Real Estate.

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

More Daffodils

Here are a few more pics of daffodils.  Later blooming than the others.  We have had daffodils at Grants Pass Real Estate for a long time this year.  Maybe the weather has been cooler than usual.  We have had blooms since late January.  

 

This one is a double bloom.  Didn't know I planted it but am glad I did.

Such cheery faces these blooms have. Does my heart good just to look at the picture now.  Spring is always lovely here in Grants Pass Real Estate, it lasts a long time and eases into summer.  One more of God's blessings for us.   

So long from Grants Pass Real Estate for now.  

chuck

More Spring Flowers!

We have more spring blooms. This is flowering quince. Lots of lovely flowers early before the leaves are fully on. And no fruit. This one is planted close to the house so I have to trim it every year to keep it away from the house. Better to plant it in the open and then you can choose to prune or not.

This is a blossom on an azalea.  Lovely early blossoms.  Slow growing plant, but reliable bloomer.  Notice the pine needles as a mulch.  Azaleas and rhododendrons like acid soil and the pine needles accommodate them.  When I lived in Virginia and North Carolina 


I could get a bale of pine needles for mulching.  They have lots of pines and lots of azaleas and rhododendrons so it works great.  Blueberries also like acid soil.  Most of the soil in Grants Pass Real Estate is not acid so amendments are needed.  Pine needles are the cheapest fix.

Another picture of more of our daffodils.  Lovely time of year in Grants Pass Real Estate.


So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.


chuck

Composting.

Here is a picture of my Compost Tumbler. I mow my lawn with a riding mower with a grass catcher on it. I fill up the composter with 4 parts green and one part brown. For the green I use fresh grass from the lawn and kitchen scraps (fruit, vegetables, coffee grounds, egg shells). For the brown I use dried grass and dried leaves though you can use newspaper, sawdust, small wood chips. Fill up the composter. Turn five turns once a day. It will reach 160 degrees the next day--hot enough to kill most weed seeds. Two weeks to compost. Great. Compost is good for any soil. Soil too sandy and loose--use compost--it will bind it up and make it more like good topsoil. Soil has too much clay--use compost--it will loosen it up and make it more porous and topsoil like. Composting is great in Grants Pass Real Estate.
This is my traditional compost pile. During the winter the weather is too cold to make compost in the compost tumbler. So I pile stuff up the old way. Leave it for a year and you still get good compost. You also have a place to put the kitchen scraps in the winter. Pull back some of the grass, dump your scraps, pull the grass back over top. It will not smell bad and if you don't put in meat products, you won't have animals digging in your compost pile.

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Daffodils!

Daffodils are blooming now. So beautiful. And coming early in the year. At least in Grants Pass. I checked the weather in Platteville, Wisconsin and the high today is 34 degrees with the low being 18. Later in the week the high and low are forecast to be 22 and 2. Yes, that is 2 degrees. Daffodils can withstand cold weather but let's not be ridiculous. I grew up in Iowa and have vivid memories of the winters there. Spring and fall once they came were great but short. Spring was on Tuesday and Fall was on Thursday. The rest of the year was hot humid summer and cold winter.

You might also notice that the grass is green. And it is growing. In fact, I am going to need to mow my lawn soon. I haven't mowed it since October, but it has been green the whole time. To be fair, it is green throughout the fall (once it starts to rain), winter, and spring; however, in the summer, if you put no water on it, it will turn brown. Still in the Midwest unless there was snow in the fall and winter, the landscape was brown.

To be blunt I much prefer the climate here in Grants Pass. But then, I am biased.

A man was in New York and he went into a church and saw a red phone on the wall. When he asked the pastor what the phone was for, the pastor said, "That's a direct line to God." The man said, "Can I use it." Pastor said, "Oh, sure. The call costs $20,000."

The man traveled through many states always stopping in a church and seeing a red phone asking and getting the same answer, "Yes, direct line to God, $20,000."

Until one day he got to Southern Oregon and when he asked got the response, "Yes, direct line to God, 20 cents." Twenty Cents! How come? "Oh, this is Southern Oregon. It's a local call."

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Royal Empress Tree

This is what will be the blossom for the Royal Empress Tree, also known as the Princess Tree or the Paukownia Tree. This tree is widespread in the South and the Midwest, and the East Coast where sometimes it is regarded as an aggressive invader. However, it is not widespread here on the West Coast probably because the conditions for its easy spread are not met.

The wood is prized in China and Japan and used for jewelry boxes and furniture. Sometimes it is planted in the USA with thoughts of selling the wood. There are reports of selling a tree for $20,000. However, I have not found any markets for it.

I bought it for it's beauty and fast growth. It was touted as growing up to 40 feet in eight years. I have had mine for about 12 years and it is about 20 feet tall. I got it by mail order from http://www.raintreenursery.com/ for $15.00, though now it is listed at $9.75. It came in a little pot and was about 6 inches tall. I thought, "What have I done!" But it grew 2 feet that summer. Then it died down to the ground in the winter. They did say it would do that, though.

The next year it grew to 4 feet. And died down to the ground. The next year it grew to about 8 feet and stayed up. From the first it had huge leaves. After 10 years it bloomed. Lovely blooms. Overall I find it to be a wonderful specimen tree here in Grants Pass Real Estate.

So long for now.

chuck

Daffodils are up! Is Spring far behind?

Daffodils are up! They started coming up in January and now have blossoms on them. It won't be long before they are blooming. Even though it is still winter, can spring be far behind?

Daffodils are great here in Grants Pass Real Estate. They are hardy. They are perennial, coming up year after year. They multiply. Plant a few and wait and you have more, then lots more. They don't have enemies. The deer won't eat them, they are poisonous to moles and gophers who also won't eat them. And they are beautiful.

In this photo you can see some of the daffodils. And the taller plants are garlic. Garlic also comes up by itself. These started in late October and will be up and ready to pick in the late spring or early summer. Or you can let them go and watch the beautiful blossoms and let them die down and come up again in the fall.

Here is another harbinger of spring. These crocus are up and lovely.

Even though it is still winter here in Grants Pass Real Estate we still have some nice weather and it is mild enough to have daffodils and crocus come up early.

So long from Grants Pass Real Estate for now.

chuck