Easter Weekend

The weekend was very pleasant!  We had a great time visiting with family and friends, ate too much, played cards and even took a nice ride with Mom.  The only unfortunate thing was we didn't get any rain to speak of, just enough drops to create a spattered pattern in the sand on the lane.  We are very dry for this time of year, and many of the neighboring farmers are out planting already which is unusual for early April.

We did manage to get the tamarack tree moved from the back wall of the quarry to its new home on the west side of the house.  I have to admit to a prejudice toward these deciduous trees; I used to dislike them, for I could see no point in owning an 'evergreen' tree that wasn't evergreen, for in the fall, the needles turn yellow (beautiful, by the way) and then fall off.

Way back when Joel and David were little boys, they bought Carl a 4" tall tamarack (or maybe it is a larch?) for Father's Day from now-closed Green Acres Greenhouse.  We planted it in the garden and to everyone's delight, it grew, and I started to come to a realization of how graceful this tree really is.  Below is a closeup of the bark on this young tree.

About three years ago, we bought 25 seedlings listed as Japanese Larch, but really, it's anyone's guess as to their true genetics.  The trees were only about 4" tall and we didn't want to lose them out in the Back Eight Acres amongst the tall grass, so we stuck them here and there in the quarry hill garden.  We transplanted several out to the Eight last year, and gave two of them away; but we still have three to move.  We finally did succeed in getting one moved on Saturday, after the light rain passed.

Here I am, holding the poor tree after we dug it out.  We have pure sand in places in the yard, so there's never much dirt left on trees after we dig them.

We took out a small limestone wall which used to go behind the trees and also removed the upright granite rock which used to stand here.  The big rock on the right came from our friends.  It is granite, but blends in very well with the limestone.  Carl also dug out a yellow flag iris that was getting out of hand and a yellow dogwood.  I thought the tamarack would look nice in the space instead.

Not Carl's best side, but it was getting dark and I wanted to get a picture as we prepared to plant the tree!  Now all we have left to do is reconfigure the remaining rocks and move a whole bunch of mature hostas.