Earth Day 2012

I woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow on everything.
It looked beautiful.

Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filefera Aurea'

This goldthread cypress resides right next to the front entry to the house.

Love the yellow and green of this evergreen and the snow is a real nice touch.

Rhododendron 'PJM'

This mature rhoddy resides as a front foundation plant.
tip: best time to prune is in spring, after it flowers....and after it stops snowing..  







One of my favorite crabapples is the weeping Red Jade crabapple.  

Malus 'Red Jade'

White iris's are coming up under the crab and the hedgerow is 'Charles Albanel' rugosa rose.








I call this the wagon wheel bed which was created ~ 5 years ago off the front side of the garage.  There are 5 Russian Cypress which, at maturity, will create a low ground cover for the majority of the bed.

Microbiota decussata

This plant is a great alternative to the more commonly used blue rug juniper (and not at all 'picky' to handle) for the purpose of evergreen groundcover.
The 2 yellowing deciduous shrubs behind the cypress are Ninebark 'darts gold'.


Meanwhile, the bird feeder's been filled and besides the usual Chickadees there's White-throated Sparrows and American Goldfinch.

Whatever it is that you see or do on this day, please do so with love and respect for Mother Nature and take the time to reflect on all she has given us.
It is by no small measure the responsibility we bear for our planet.
http://www.earthday.org/