Signs Of Spring-Tulips

Whether they’re blooming in your spring garden or in Holland, tulips are such a welcome sight after harsh winters.

Not even a surprise snowfall can erase their lipstick colored smiles… See what I mean?

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After

I had just photographed this first tulip in the garden this week, and captured this after shot today when the snow started to collect.

Author:Seattle Daily Photo

Signs Of Spring-Hyacinths

Here’s another preamble to Springtime!

Nothing ever seems to stop hyacinths in their quest to surprise and warm our hearts when all else is cold and dreary…

 

Gustafson’s Hyacinth in Snowfall

Bloom of 2008, white on white.

Author:Seattle Daily Photo

Signs Of Spring-Witch Hazel

It’s hard to believe that Daylight Savings time is just around the corner! Especially after watching the news coverage of the storms in the Midwest and Northeast.

Here in southeast New Mexico, we don’t have as much severe weather. Don’t get me wrong, we have it… but only once or twice a winter. This “arrangement” suits my husband and me just fine.

I grew up in the military, and spent many a long winter in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Ohio. So, I know the yearning for any color but white! Those first signs of spring gave us the mental stamina to make it through the winter. I think that’s why springtime is so precious to northerners!

Speaking of the first signs of spring, witch hazel continues to amaze us all…

 

Witch Hazel in snow

Explore #364
I liked these yellow witch hazel blossoms peeking out from the snow.

Author:Studyjunkie

Maintaining Healthy Young Fruit Trees

Making sure that your fruit tree stays healthy is very important, but not as hard as you might think. There are, however, some vital things you need to do:

Plant your  young fruit tree correctly… Ask a local nursery for planting instructions, or do an internet search… just be sure the instructions are specific to your fruit tree. But, here are some “rule of thumb” instructions:

• All trees should be planted perfectly vertical so they develop a strong structure.
• Also, the roots should be spread out to ensure stabily and maximum water intake.
• Another part of making sure that your fruit tree stays healthy is planting it in fertile soil.
• You also have to be sure that the soil suits your tree variety (dry or damp soil, sandy or clay soil, etc) Read more

How to Grow Larger Sized Fruit

New fruit tree growers are always shocked at how small their fruit is compared to what they’re used to seeing at the grocery store. While smaller fruits might be what nature originally intended, it is possible to attain larger fruits without any genetic altering or added chemicals.

On almost any tree, the success of each individual fruit depends on spacing. Usually in the early stages of fruit production, veteran growers do something called “fruit thinning”. they remove nearly a third of the emerging crop. Generally, there should not be any fruits within six to eight inches of each other. During the fruit thinning process, this is the distance you should generally aim for to optimize the amount of nutrition that each fruit gets. Hundreds of little fruits on one tree competing for the available materials necessary for growth just results in stunted fruits. The resulting crop is fewer in number, but larger in size and better in quality. Read more

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