tree dismay

It's hot. The cicada noise is overwhelming. I have to really raise my voice if speaking to my husband, standing right next to me, outside. Their noise is a higher pitch than last year. (I still don't find it as irritating as leaf-blowers, though). I didn't feel like taking photos today, but lingered outside in the yard this morning long enough (after watering all the deck pots) to knock cicadas off all my smaller shrubs- the hydrangeas, inkberry, bayberry, rose of sharons and lilac. 

Have discovered in my reading that the females like to lay their eggs in branch tips the width of a pencil. When the larvae emerge later, they clip the branches. No problem for a mature tree but can damage younger shrubs. Sigh. I ought to go buy mesh or cloth coverings (have seen several japanese maples wrapped in my neighborhood) but when I'm feeling restless, I just go out and make a round of the yard, shake a few branches, knock or flip the cicadas off with my fingers. It's not my imagination, I'm finding fewer on some of the shrubs each day- even though just as many empty skins (which I also knock off so I can guage at a glance how many cicadas have congregated there again). Hoping this disturbs them enough that they find other places to lay their eggs. Up on the maples, which won't matter and where I won't at all mind a trim!

Our sideyard maples are gone now. The stump was ground out- only because our HOA required it, which annoyed me. I could have planted turtleheads and other things around and in front of the stumps, masking it from view (the first maple we had cut down, in the backyard near the other fence, is already hidden this way). No, we had to wait for the stump grinding which got delayed and now it's nearly too hot to transplant the new salvias, daylilies and other sun perennials I bought to start filling in that area. I will try anyway. They can't stay in nursery pots all summer! I also bought a few dozen gladiola bulbs that were on sale (as it's almost too late to plant those, too). 

Meanwhile I still have to move all the mulch that used to be the stump- two great heaps of it. My husband helped with a shovel and wheelbarrow this morning, moved most of one heap. I'll still have to rake out what's left in the stump hole, then go buy a lot of fill dirt and topsoil, before I can start planting.

But the herbs, chamomile, marigolds, amaranth and benne we planted the other evening are doing fine- even as the temperature gets up over ninety. Last night I did the same with my cardinal climbers- planted them out before dusk, when the bed was in full shade, watered heavily and crossed my fingers. They are only a bit wilted this morning. 

My panicle hydrangeas that grew flanking the backyard maple are really taking off, now that the tree's gone. One is nearly as tall as the neighbor's red fence, which pleases me- and the other is stretching more upright now. It used to grow all to one side and had a lot of low branches, I think because was seeking sun. I took some shorter bamboo poles out there and propped a few of those trailing branches up. Looks better now.

Perhaps tomorrow I will feel like taking photos, or starting my last set of garden seeds, or heaving mulch to sit in another spot (where I'll let it age before using on the yard). Right now the heat and high-pitched droning of cicadas just saps my energy to walk outside.

Also, I am glum about the neighbor's tree. On what used to be the shady sideyard, there were those two huge maples on our side of the property line, and two much smaller crepe myrtles on the neighbor's side- not even as tall as their roof. I always thought the crepe myrtles were rather attractive and it's nice to have something between the houses providing shade and filling space- and definitely they're not a threat to anything- not nearly big enough. But apparently they saw us cut down our large maples and so felt inspired to take out their crepe myrtles, too. So now it's going to just be a large bare sunny hillside between- which I am anxious to fill with something growing, again. 

Maybe I will put my fig trees there. I've certainly seen others' in the area survive the winter fine. I'd like to plant a redbud, or a witch hazel. Or I might put the tithonias there, and plant a crazy lot of tall sunflowers. I still have seed from over ten years ago when I had a larger garden on another property- wonder if they're still viable.