Dahlias and Springtime!

I have been thinking about the new garden I made last year and watching spring approach with every drip off of the icicles outside the window.

The colors of summer are hard to recall looking out the window today. I am putting up some dahlia pictures to brighten your day and because I got offered some heirloom seeds from a collector in NH and these are about the only things from my garden that might be valuable in return.


Large pink dahlias, smaller dwarf red varieties below. The pinks are from a local farmer at the Portsmouth farmers market. The two dwarf varieties were from a local greenhouse but probably commercial in origin. These were saved in the root cellar (yes we have one!) and re-planted last year. The large pink ones will be moved out into the open so they don't lean and fall over due to the sun being on one side.



Another view.








I got these from the Portsmouth farmers market and saved them. Really looking forward to splitting them and placing them prominently.







Snow and sleet? What's that? I will put these closer to the house because the flowers are lighter in weight and think they will contrast nicely.

Same farmers market source.




Some are pure red as well. I can't remember if these are mixed in the same boxes of peat with the red-and-white variety above. I'd have to check in the root cellar.

Another photo

Using this blog to host pictures on seed savers exchange.

TEST

Test post. That's a tobacco horn worm caterpillar.

Landscpaing Plan!

This is landscaping plan for the Newington Public School that identifies the species that were planted and their locations.

You will need to zoom into the legend near the top center to see the species provided. There are abbreviations where each tree or shrub is located on the plan.

Equinox & Newington Public School Landscaping

Hello everyone!

September is winding down, the equinox has come and gone and fall is upon us. This means that this weekend, absent scheduling issues or a sharp change in the weather, I plan to dismantle the automatic watering system, and return all the borrowed hoses etc.

Luke Hydock of LJH Landscaping will be removing the tree gators in the next week or two and re-loan them to the Town in the spring. At that time, the Town will need to resume watering of the new lawn, trees and shrubs, but I expect the watering will be much less frequent than it was this year.

There will be some weeding and additions to the mulch that will need to be done to maintain the shrub/tree areas. I have asked LJH to give us an estimate for that so it can be included in the budget for the Town, Commission or School as appropriate.

I want to thank again everyone that contributed sprinklers and equipment used for watering. There are abbout 1450 feet (!!!!) of hose connecting six sprinklers on an automatic watering system and two or three individual hoses for watering the trees and shrubs not reached by the automated system.

Off the top of my head (i.e. just a guess), the following people or groups donated hoses.

Newington School Board: 300 (3 x 100) feet plus some sprinklers and a wand.
Library: One 75 (?) ft hose plus a sprinkler (returned when I realized it was broken).
HDC (Old Town Hall): One or two hoses, plus a splitter/valve.
Gail Pare: One (Two?) 100 ft hoses.
Peggy: One or two hoses (100 ft ea?).
Town: 300 ft (3 x 100).
Gail Klanchesser: 2 (?) 50 (?) ft hoses.
Conservation: 1 75 ft hose, 2 automatic timers, 4 (?) sprinklers
Fire Dept: 2 (?) hoses, 75 ft (one for washing the trucks, the other may have been outside).
Me: 2 75 ft hoses, 2 sprinklers, spray nozzles, brass valves.

Looking forward to spring and seeing everything in bloom.

-Justin