Things are happening so fast now that it is hard to keep up. I almost missed our beautiful tree peonies. Most of the blossoms opened during the warm days last week and are already gone.
The last of the tree peonies.
The weeds are growing quickly, too. We are currently fighting with the lesser celandine (Ficaria verna), a plant that once came from Europe. There, it is a beloved sign of spring when it opens its cheerful yellow flowers on the floor of beech and oak forests. In the New World, the lesser celandine grows a bit too well and suppresses native early spring flowers. Fortunately, the above-ground life of this plant is brief. Pretty soon, it will be gone completely.
The lesser celandine Ficaria verna (Foto H. Zell/Wikimedia)
Weeding
Not just gardeners are active on such a warm and sunny day. Our bees are busy, too. They love the tree peonies. However, even more popular seem to be the flowers that are growing on last year’s kale. Good that we did not harvest all of it.
Our bees like kale, just like other New Yorkers, peonies, too.