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-   -   Spring in New England (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/landscape-talk-129/spring-new-england-290663/)

Henryk 04-29-2019 01:24 PM

Spring in New England
 
This weekend, Robert and I attended our niece’s wedding in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a wonderful event in a beautiful setting with a marvelous view of the ocean.

We decided to drive around and see what is to see. The houses, and the mansions in particular, were marvelous to see. Think The Great Gatsby. But stealing the scene on block after block were the beautify plantings, trees, shrubs, etc.

Across the street from our hotel there were perhaps 10,000 daffodils on about a half-acre. Most likely they are “King Alfred” variety. Breathtaking.

Then around town, variously, andromeda (pieris japonica) that is possibly my favorite plant ever, being beautiful at all seasons of growth.

Then the trees: gorgeous specimens of Crabtrees, weeping under their own weight. Japanese cherries pretty in pink.

PJM rhododendrons six feet tall in their unusual purple-pink color. Forsythia! Daffodils everywhere! (They much be RI’s state flower!). Swaths of grape hydrangea in dark purple. Tulips! Magnolias!

I truly miss the New England spring.

Nucky 04-29-2019 01:45 PM

My Sister relocated to Rhode Island after a long time in Texas. Her girls wanted to experience the Four Seasons they had heard about their entire life. Well, they love it and I think they were looking at the same spot you described but they didn't like the Snow or all the work and sloppiness that comes with it. I'll bet they bail out in about two years and one day. No Capital Gains.

The Kids never saw anything like what you described. To them, I guess it was worth it overall.

Henryk 04-29-2019 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nucky (Post 1646002)
My Sister relocated to Rhode Island after a long time in Texas. Her girls wanted to experience the Four Seasons they had heard about their entire life. Well, they love it and I think they were looking at the same spot you described but they didn't like the Snow or all the work and sloppiness that comes with it. I'll bet they bail out in about two years and one day. No Capital Gains.

The Kids never saw anything like what you described. To them, I guess it was worth it overall.

I wish I had had the time to take some good pictures but, alas, it was raining, so... Plus, I’m not especially good with a camera.

CFrance 04-29-2019 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henryk (Post 1645993)
This weekend, Robert and I attended our niece’s wedding in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a wonderful event in a beautiful setting with a marvelous view of the ocean.

We decided to drive around and see what is to see. The houses, and the mansions in particular, were marvelous to see. Think The Great Gatsby. But stealing the scene on block after block were the beautify plantings, trees, shrubs, etc.

Across the street from our hotel there were perhaps 10,000 daffodils on about a half-acre. Most likely they are “King Alfred” variety. Breathtaking.

Then around town, variously, andromeda (pieris japonica) that is possibly my favorite plant ever, being beautiful at all seasons of growth.

Then the trees: gorgeous specimens of Crabtrees, weeping under their own weight. Japanese cherries pretty in pink.

PJM rhododendrons six feet tall in their unusual purple-pink color. Forsythia! Daffodils everywhere! (They much be RI’s state flower!). Swaths of grape hydrangea in dark purple. Tulips! Magnolias!

I truly miss the New England spring.

All that and truly green grass for a backdrop. Beautiful.

OrangeBlossomBaby 04-29-2019 05:02 PM

We don't have a lot of plants, and I refuse to grow annuals at all on principal. I have a wild red rose bush next to the stairs, a pair of dwarf spruces I call Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Some bushy things that have beautiful variegated green and yellow leaves that might possibly be boxwoods, a few tulips, three hyacinths (one purple, one pink, one white), three fast-growing hostas, a few wild things including greater celandine, purple-flowering creeping charlie and purslane. A squirrel gifted us a berry plant last year. I -think- it's a boysenberry. I let it grow to see what it would become. There were only maybe half a dozen berries on it last year. Once they turned red I took a taste. Tangy and sweet, definitely edible. Will be interesting to see how it expands in the next couple of months now that we've gotten through the thaw. Everything mentioned is contained within a raised railroad-tied garden that extends from the foundation of the front of the house out around 2.5 feet. I weed it when the celandine starts shoving itself through the bushes, and groom the bushes so they don't overflow onto the lawn. I also have Virginia creeper that I have to constantly yank out of the rose bush. It keeps climbing the iron railing and attaching to the house and trying to climb up into the eaves. If we had a brick house I'd just let it cover the brick and call it Art. But we have vinyl siding and it'd totally destroy the house if I let it creep.

Dr Winston O Boogie jr 04-30-2019 07:15 AM

Spring in New England = Mud Season.

Yes, a lot of shrubs bloom and the bulbs pop. It's nice in places like Newport, but for most people it's cold, rainy and muddy.

Madelaine Amee 04-30-2019 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr (Post 1646138)
Spring in New England = Mud Season.

Yes, a lot of shrubs bloom and the bulbs pop. It's nice in places like Newport, but for most people it's cold, rainy and muddy.

Thanks Dr.Boogie ..... yes Spring in New England is mud season. We are from Boston and NH and at this time of the year our home on a golf course in NH would be at the end of a dirt road with deep tracks from people trying to get through the mud. In Boston it was just dirty from where the snow plows throw the snow up on the banks and sidewalks and along with the snow went the grass verge and the dirt. Pretty soon, when it warms up, the Black Flies will arrive on Mothers Day and torment you until Father's Day, then shortly after that the mosquitoes will wake up and be really hungry for your blood

I agree that New England is beautiful, the flowers you can grow, the veggies you can grow, but the trow season is from Memorial Day until Labor Day .... kinda short really. Summers and short and very hot and humid, and then it's into Fall and Winter is right there around the corner.

At my age now, I'll take FLORIDA and visit New England.

OrangeBlossomBaby 04-30-2019 02:38 PM

May, June, and then late August, September, October, and early November. That's what I'm going to miss most about New England. All the natural colors and natural beauty. I'll even miss my Virginia creeper.


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