Commission Bag

Finished this, very over due, bag commission today; it's going to live in Tucson. The River is going down now, here in Maryland, but over the weekend it was right at the edge of the towpath and filling the canal, making it possible to walk this narrow strip of land surrounded by flood. We can see the water, safely, from our living room when it is this high and there are no leaves on the trees. All weekend there was a steady little stream of cars driving over the train tacks to pay homage the power of water. I find this grayness kind of comforting, especially when I am not feeling particularly cold. There were quiet a few days in a row of that perfect grayness and yesterday’s sunshine was kind of a disorienting intrusion. Today’s sun is making the first bursts of magenta on the magnolia buds, so all is forgiven.

Pocket Park

This is a little Pocket Park on the walk between my house and studio that I have adopted as a restoration and problem-solving project. This is what the shrubs, I don’t know what they are, looked like in the snow. Needless to say there was a lot of damage, when the snow melted. So yesterday, armed with new pruning knowledge (Master Gardener training), Jerry and I removed 100 or so suckers and all the damaged branches, leaving surprisingly elegant results. I wish I had taken my camera with me because the transformation was a little astounding.
We also removed the mulch volcanoes, as mulch volcano kill, suffocating the plant, harboring diseases and as we found in evidence, the roots grow out of the soil into the mulch where they eventually dry out and starve to death. I don't know which happens first?
The inkberry, which didn’t look all that great to start with, got clobbered. I cut out the broken parts and will wait to see what happens to them next.

Storm Damage

These are the 3 main breaks in my Saucer Magnolia tree. Not only is it on it’s northern most bounders here in Maryland, making it quite the event if it’s fantastic blooms make it through the spring frosts without becoming brown, limp tissue, I am always thrill when it hits peck bloom before getting zapped, but apparently it’s wood is not that strong either. It was really surprising cleaning up the branch, they’re incredibly bouncy and weighty, perhaps from being jam packed with buds.