So I can tackle the overgrown rose bushes and weed the dandelions--my own little "ode" to American Spring.

way back, and still have a brush pile that needs to be cut into smaller pieces before hauling it away to the city compost yard. That was an earlier American Spring project. Now, I like mulberries, but the trees were getting really tall and rangy, so I cut them way back.

Last week, I planted a bare-root apple tree in the back yard, which required digging a larger hole than I anticipated. It's a Honey Crisp variety, and I'm hoping to pick a couple of apples in the Fall of 2015, and more thereafter. Planting trees, unlike uselessly protesting in Washington, DC, seems like another worthwhile American Spring project.

They don't self-pollinate - gotta have two. I have a Honeycrisp and a Honeygold. Got a lousy crop last year, hoping for better this time. The year before I got a lot of apples off the Honeycrisp in October. I bagged the apples that year so I didn't have to use pesticides (you always get apple maggots unless you either spray or bag), will probably do it again this year, probably late June. It's nice to have your own apples; that's an excellent American Spring project. I have a cherry tree, too, but the birds usually get to the cherries before I do. Which is fine with me; birds have to eat, too.

my neighborhood. They're the street trees all around here. The nursery guy said that they'll bloom at the same time as my honeycrisp, so I shouldn't need a pollinator in my yard. There's one out in the boulevard at my house, so it's all good. Lots of other edible apples growing nearby, too. I think I'll be OK.

First thing is to get some leaves on this bare-root tree. I'm watching it, and it's got good buds that are swelling more daily. I expect to see leaves any day now.

My trees are pretty big - about 20' tall - and they are just starting to leaf out. It's a slow year. The Harbin pear on the boulevard is in full flower, though.

The flowering crabs on my street have flower buds, but haven't bloomed yet. They're beautiful in bloom, but the flowers last such a short time. Too bad. Still, if they pollinate my backyard apple, they'll be good for something besides creating flower petal snow in the gutters. A few of the crabs on my street actually set some 1" apples each year. They're actually quite delicious when ripe, and sweet, rather than bitter like some crabapples. Nobody but me every picks them, though. My plan is to preserve some this fall.