• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

So it is Spring now, for me it's still Winter

D

duke

Old Oak
Joined
Dec 18, 2020
Messages
2,796
Reaction score
1,492
Location
Field, Ontario, Canada
Name
Scott
As you can see from the large piles of snow we may see some greenery sometime in late May. How about posting some pics of your Spring garden activity?3120.jpg3121.jpg
 
We've had the snowdrops and the cherry blossom is now over. But a carpet of primroses

20260321_172745.jpg

Some violets (at least that's what I think they are)

20260321_172751.jpg
The bluebells are out

20260321_172725.jpg

A rare magnolia is starting to bloom

20260321_172729.jpg

and the willow is doing well
20260321_172817.jpg
 
I do remember the Bluebells from past trips. We can't grow them here but Virginia Bluebells will survive three hours South of us.
 
The trees are not getting green yet, but the garlic, lovage and rhubarb are doing really well with this early warm spring weather.
20260322@171323-01.jpg20260322@171438-01.jpg20260322@171501-01.jpg20260322@171409-01.jpg
 
HdV said:
Those look like real (wild) daffodils to me, not one of the the cultivated species. Are they? They look great indeed!
Click to expand...
I don't think so but I'm not certain. They were there before we bought the house. There are quite a few different varieties. They've done really well this year.
 
And just come into full bloom to our utter delight is this taihaku. A little bit of history...

Prunus 'Taihaku' is a splendid ancient variety of flowering Cherry tree from Japan. After becoming extinct in Japan, a single variety was found in a garden in Sussex which has allowed this marvellous ornamental tree to live on. Prunus 'Taihaku' has large, icy white, single flowers that emerge from pink buds in April.

20260325_143937.jpg
20260325_143927.jpg
 
RogerS said:
And just come into full bloom to our utter delight is this taihaku. A little bit of history...

Prunus 'Taihaku' is a splendid ancient variety of flowering Cherry tree from Japan. After becoming extinct in Japan, a single variety was found in a garden in Sussex which has allowed this marvellous ornamental tree to live on. Prunus 'Taihaku' has large, icy white, single flowers that emerge from pink buds in April.

View attachment 53748
View attachment 53750
Click to expand...
I assume some fastidious person has taken seeds and reintroduced it to Japan from that Sussex specimen...?

EDIT : I did a little Google and apparently the guy who discovered it in 1923 sent cuttings back over to Japan, embedded in potatoes for moisture. According to current thinking, every known specimen of Tai Haku is descended from those cuttings and that Sussex tree! Great story.
 
Nice! I had heard about that story in the past, but had forgotten the details.

I read there is a valley in Japan that is filled with prunus that are all from the same genetic ancestor. They all come into bloom at almost exactly the same time. The photos were absolutely spectacular! I think I remember that was near Mt. Yoshino, but I am not sure anymore.

Might those be offspring from the cuttings that were sent back to Japan? (That would explain the genetic homogeneity.) That same article said there were some serious problems due to a new sickness that threatens to wipe out all the prunus trees in the valley. I hope they find a cure in time to save them.
 
TrimTheKing said:
I assume some fastidious person has taken seeds and reintroduced it to Japan from that Sussex specimen...?

EDIT : I did a little Google and apparently the guy who discovered it in 1923 sent cuttings back over to Japan, embedded in potatoes for moisture. According to current thinking, every known specimen of Tai Haku is descended from those cuttings and that Sussex tree! Great story.
Click to expand...
Problem with growing from seed is they can not be relied upon to *run true* because of cross pollination via the different insects. The only way is via cuttings. Many these days are grafted on to other stock. Most Japanese maple trees are grafted when bought at garden centres or the supermarkets.
 
I feel for you Scott, our last snow went about two weeks ago and I was heartily sick of the stuff by then.
A few weeks ago I was thrilled at the sight of the Hudson River with all its ice flowing downstream, it really was something to see.
We were in the car so it’s not a good pic, well it might have been but it says the files too large! It’s a photo same as any other as far as
I can see grrrr.
 
Cabinetman said:
...<SNIP>...
We were in the car so it’s not a good pic, well it might have been but it says the files too large! It’s a photo same as any other as far as
I can see grrrr.
Click to expand...
You should be able to reduce the file size Ian so you can upload... on my Samsung if I take a photo and go to edit it (a pencil/pen icon). It then opens in the editing mode, just 'fiddle' with something - light balance, exposure, crop etc., - I can then go to the 3 dots at the righthand side of "save" and select resize. Then save at a lower resolution 👍
 
Accipiter said:
You should be able to reduce the file size Ian so you can upload... on my Samsung if I take a photo and go to edit it (a pencil/pen icon). It then opens in the editing mode, just 'fiddle' with something - light balance, exposure, crop etc., - I can then go to the 3 dots at the righthand side of "save" and select resize. Then save at a lower resolution 👍
Click to expand...
Well beyond my expertise but will give it a go, thanks.
 
Cabinetman said:
Well beyond my expertise but will give it a go, thanks.
Click to expand...
I felt the same Ian some time ago - maybe other members do think that 🤔. I'll try to put a post together for some explanation on this... needs some thought to put together. *Other members* may likely be aware of editing their images so I'd not be trying to tell them how to do such. 🙏
 
Some local ephemerals from a walk with the dogs yesterday.

I know this as May apple. Apparently also called mandrake. Podophyllum peltatum. Looks like something from another planet.

D53A8DC5-EB38-4D6F-B528-E18D09D92B45.JPG

Sessile trillium. One of my favorites. Sorry a little blurred.
4322A992-354F-42A0-983F-9181E2398E05.JPG

Yellow violet.
C46D6659-CCD5-4184-9253-C5FE5D3F94D9.JPG

Wood poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum
E82DEF69-0036-4401-855C-DBED1872F37A.JPG

Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica
D8ED22D9-3E6D-4D42-AAFF-18E30A93DAE5.JPG
 
There are loads of bluebells in the woods behind our house at the moment. Incredibly hard to get a good photograph (not helped by using a hand held phone rather than a proper camera on a low tripod), but I took this quick snap on the walk this morning.

Untitled.jpg

In a week or two the woods will be even more beautiful as the wild garlic comes out and intermingles with the bluebells.
 
A few more from a walk this morning.

Dr.Al said:
There are loads of bluebells in the woods behind our house at the moment. Incredibly hard to get a good photograph (not helped by using a hand held phone rather than a proper camera on a low tripod), but I took this quick snap on the walk this morning.

View attachment 53907

In a week or two the woods will be even more beautiful as the wild garlic comes out and intermingles with the bluebells.
Click to expand...
Such a lovely color.
 
We have a sump pump camber in th cellar which is pumping out ground water beliw the concrete floor. Otherwise we would be flooded. When I get home I will post a pic of the set up.
 
The snow around here was almost gone and then last night we got a little 6" dump and it is still snowing lightly. Forecast for next week at this time is almost a foot more. It's going to be rough on the bug eating birds like the robins that started showing up a few days ago.

Pete
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top