Hi there everyone!

Taking a respite from the swelter and pollen to say hello and bring you up to speed on what’s happening in our little corner of Lohja.

Since that nasty little April surprise, which dusted us with lots of fresh snow, and after we’d just seen the last of the snow we already had, you can guess Finns were getting a bit restless for spring! I felt really sorry for the birds, which had only a brief nanosecond to catch a worm or two before the surprise snowfall arrived. So, in a rush to top up the bird feeders, I slipped and fell on the new snow covering the porch stairs. My crash and burn was a doozy. I don’t think I’ve managed to ever pull off such a wipe out as that, it was one for the ages. I completely left the earth and became airborne in such a manner as when gravity finally kicked in, I landed on the edges of all three stairs, flat on my back. My poor back got an upper, mid and lower back smash that left me gasping in short little intakes of air. The parting gift of the wipe out was the smack on the back of my head as I sank down the stairs to lay in a heap at the bottom. Wheezing and totally dazed for several minutes, while Pekka was sawing logs (snoring away) upstairs, oblivious.

Six hours on ice packs while laying flat on the living room floor was probably the best thing I’ve done for myself in a long time. It’s now several weeks and two visits to my massage therapist later, and I’m happy to report I’m feeling about 85%. Thankful that I didn’t freeze to death on the porch, glad I didn’t break anything, and so very happy to be able to walk away from this dreadful occasion without serious aftereffects. That was a brush with disaster I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Aside from my little drama, there’s not much else happening. We haven’t had a measurable drop of rain in so long, I think our freak snowfall in April was the last actual moisture we’ve had! The whole of Finland is under either; yellow (2nd level danger), or orange (3rd level danger) of forest fire warnings due to soil dryness. As we are located in the south, we are among the most severe danger color group, orange, along with more than a third of the country. I just noticed as I’m writing this, (started writing this on Friday, finished writing on Saturday) the temperature widget in the corner of the desktop screen upped a tick to 78 degrees F, which to everyone else outside the USA, is 26 C. We topped out at 29 C by late afternoon Friday. This hot and dry, sunny weather seems to be our new normal and not a one-off event. If I’m not mistaken, I’ve written about hot, dry periods for several months of May over the years I’ve been writing this blog.

As to be expected when there isn’t any rainfall during hot and dry conditions, you need to offer supplement water to the items you’re growing, especially newly planted items or those plants showing signs of drought stress. We have several plants, bushes, and trees in both categories of water need. I’m relieved to be able to use the well water garden tap for this water initiative, instead of having to lug heavy watering jugs in and out of the house. Can you imagine even trying to do that with my back in its current state! O. M. G. Our neighbor Henrik and Pekka decided last autumn to hook up the water in a fashion that meant I could finally turn it on! Lucky stars!! Sure, it meant I had to connect a million miles of garden hose to the single tap, but I’m not complaining! Those miles of garden hose section are threaded through the garden like legs of a giant spider, which I connect to the main line when something in that region needs another drink. I soaked all the roses first with more water than they’ve seen from me in years. I hope once the time comes, they reward me with lots of lovely flowers!

There is a rainfall chance later today in the form of a thunderstorm – hoping those lightening bolts in the forecast aren’t an actual indicator of the level of ‘storm’ we might encounter. With conditions so dry, an errant strike of lightening is the LAST thing southern Finland needs.

I cut the grass once this week and had planned to cut it before any forecast rain, but I’m frankly too tired to bother. Despite the earlier first cut of the season, it’s hard to tell a mower has been put to use. Tall grass with pops of yellow from too many dandelions is the present scene. Grass is tall where the paths haven’t been trampled low from hoses and several passes with wheelbarrows as we carted off all the pruning detritus to the trailer to be hauled away to Rosk’N’Roll. Cutting grass is an easy bit of sorting out, so that’s why I’m putting it off.

Due to the late arrival of spring and the lack of rainfall, plants, bushes and trees were somewhat hesitant about deciding to come out of dormancy. It’s not hard to notice how some items are still not quite sure. Leaf emergence on some trees is still scattered and thin. For some others, they are carrying on as if nothing at all is wrong, so it’s hit or miss. No doubt once we actually get some consistent rainfall, much will be sorted out.

I edited out a few dead and struggling, or nearly dead bushes of various type while finishing the cleaning up of several garden beds. While binning plants is never fun, sometimes it’s necessary. We showcase so many unusual conifers, it serves no good purpose in my opinion to offer a specimen for viewing that is clearly on its last legs. Now that we are almost through the month of May, we’ve got the beds all tidied up. Now all we need is for all the remaining plants to grow, fill out, and be happy. Fingers crossed everything still out there decides to play along and do just that!

Both magnolias flowered this year! The Kobus is a much larger tree than the Leonard Messell, but thanks for flowering!!

Of course there are ground plants such Pasque Flower too

And then some of the early flowering Azaleas put on a show.

The bulk of our Azaleas haven’t begun flowering yet, but the early cherry specimens, like the Kojo-No-Mai sure looked lovely. Each tiny umbel is the size of a small fingernail. Ours is grafted on a standard, which puts it within easy height to see all the delicate blooms.

Meanwhile, the anemone does their bit to smother the ground in a sea of white flower.

The apple trees are being outdone by the flowering crab apple trees, which are filling the air with delicious aroma

Some of those blooms have begun tapering off, and will probably drop quite a few petals should the rain actually arrive. The trees began leafing out and perennials began emerging to take their places within the beds. Such a late start for plant growth, and for us to get everything tidied up. But that’s where we are.

I noticed these two when I was resting amid my daily hose shuffle. They were just hanging out on the walnut tree, taking a break in the shade from the hectic pace of moth life! Gotta say, they were massive, I just left them to do their thing, which is why they hung around so long. 🙂 Never a dull moment.

So that’s us here in a great big nutshell. We’re heading to Espoo today to pick up three peonies from Marketanpuiston kevätmarkkinat I ordered from Pioni Koti. The park is composed of large displays of garden design covering multiple sections and themes. It’s open all the time and is free. Occasionally, like today, there are market vendors offering plants for sale. We’ve been there several times, and have picked up interesting plants and trees being sold by both commercial and home growers. Looking forward to going there again!

Hope things are going well in your neck of the woods. For us here, the sun is blazing away. We send you lots of happy thoughts and well wishes as we glide toward the start of summer!

Until next time ❤