Life after Death/ A Near Death Experience

Traditionally Memorial Day weekend many U.S.citizens spend time doing yard work/ home repair and the retailers bank on it, enticing customers with some great 'special' sales. 

Sales abound in home improvement stores and if lengthy checkout lanes are any indication of the country's economy, we're doing OK. 

In Garden Centers people talk to each other about their flower choices/ garden stories. It came as no surprise that the past winter was hard on a lot of plants especially those deemed  Zone 5 since we are really Zone 4.  Sometimes plants get on the wrong trucks/ are delivered for us dreamers who desperately want to grow a more Southern plant. And sometimes winter is just so severe we even lose our Zone 4 plants in southwestern Wisconsin.

Dead Akousa?

It came as no surprise that my Akousa Dogwood finally bit the dust this year (Zone 5/6)/ that I lost another Buddlea (Butterfly Bush).  Thank goodness there's a year warranty/exchange policy on the latter. But alas that butterfly attracting plant shipment hadn't come in yet. 

May 2013

The most difficult sight in our Valley was not seeing the Redbud bloom as its beauty usually excels all others. Unfortunately this late winter froze its flower buds and dried shriveled buds accented the tree. No flowering this spring. I feared the worst... Was it not able to survive the Winter of 2014?

 I knew the birds would still use the tree as a stopping zone despite its lack of foilage.  I was willing to let it be an architectural sculpture.  Lo and behold as I was bemoaning its demise, Natureman said he had seen green. Where?  Sure enough after intense scrutiny we found small leaves starting to emerge.   I have been checking daily. It's the end of May for heaven sakes.

 We're not 'out of the woods' as there are only a few branches leafing and I 'm not giving up yet here in the End of the Rainbow Valley as stranger things have happened. In the meanwhile I sure hope that shipment of butterfly bushes arrive. The holes were they used to be are calling their names and the butterflies will really miss them too.