A pear to draw too?

After spending some time dragging a harrow around to start to knock down some pocket gopher mounds, I sat for several minutes watching our bartlett pear tree. There were no signs of bees visiting the flowers. Since we only have one pear tree, and there are lots of dandelions currently in bloom, our expectations for fruit production are significantly tempered. But, we haven't seen any bees visiting the dandelions either. If we hadn't become curious about a lack of bees, we probably would never have read the paragraph below from Garden Guides:

our bartlett pear tree in bloom

Photo by J. Harrington

The location of the pear tree in relation to other sources of nectar can play a dramatic role in whether or not the tree gets pollinated. The 15-percent sugar content of the nectar must compete with the 40-percent content of competing plants, including apples and dandelions. If there are not enough bees in the area, the bees will choose the higher-sugar-content plants before pollinating the pear trees. Pears will have a higher pollination success rate if it does not have to compete with these plants for the bees’ attention. For small orchards, consider adding one or two beehives for every acre of pear trees.

There's a very small apple tree near the pear, but  it hasn't produced any blossoms this year. We're pleased the pocket gophers haven't managed to kill it yet by eating the roots. Maybe we should take another chance and plant a combination pear tree and put wire mesh around the root ball.

Driving the tractor over grass instead of snow was a very pleasant change, even without much sunshine. If, tomorrow, the drive on mower deck cooperates, we'll get the back yard grass cut to start this year's season. There's still sticks to pick up and leaves to collect on the North side and the  front yard. We're slowly, very  slowly, beginning to learn the advantages of pacing ourselves. Maybe we are actually learning something by reading the Tao Te  Ching. For example:

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

― Lao Tzu

It will be interesting to watch and see what, if anything, grows this Summer. We've had decent crops op pears in previous years, but I'm not sure why or how we ended up with a

Green Pear Tree in September

By Freya Manfred

On a hill overlooking the Rock River
my father’s pear tree shimmers,
in perfect peace,
covered with hundreds of ripe pears
with pert tops, plump bottoms,
and long curved leaves.
Until the green-haloed tree
rose up and sang hello,
I had forgotten. . .
He planted it twelve years ago,
when he was seventy-three,
so that in September
he could stroll down
with the sound of the crickets
rising and falling around him,
and stand, naked to the waist,
slightly bent, sucking juice
from a ripe pear.

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mid-May update #phenology

Two events to report from yesterday:

male scarlet tanager

Photo by J. Harrington

A male scarlet tanager showed up on the deck near the feeders.

wild strawberry flowers

Photo by J. Harrington

We noticed some wild strawberries are coming into flower along the  drive.

For today, the dogs weren't pleased to be walked in the rain. (Neither was the dog walker.) There seems to be at least three male Baltimore orioles coming to the feeders, one of which has orange feathers colored florescent or chrome orange. We'll try to get a picture some day soon, when the sun is shining. Last, and hopefully least, several kinds of ants have become very active in the past couple of days.

aspen leaf out

Photo by J. Harrington

The aspen patches on our property have tiny leaves that give the trees an etherial air, especially when the breeze catches them. We're approaching the Spring frost-free date for our area but haven't yet turned that corner, although the temperature forecast looks promising, more so than the wildflower patch I planted last Autumn. Our  fingers are still crossed but we're not going to hold our breath over the next week or so. Coming up this week: the grass gets cut for the first time this year. But first there's a number of dead branches to be picked up. Spending more time in the sunshine-lit real world will be good for us. Try it.

May to April

Philip Freneau - 1752-1832

Without your showers, I breed no flowers,
    Each field a barren waste appears;
If you don't weep, my blossoms sleep,
    They take such pleasures in your tears. 

As your decay made room for May,
    So I must part with all that’s mine:
My balmy breeze, my blooming trees
    To torrid suns their sweets resign! 

O’er April dead, my shades I spread:
    To her I owe my dress so gay—
Of daughters three, it falls on me
    To close our triumphs on one day: 

Thus, to repose, all Nature goes;
    Month after month must find its doom:
Time on the wing, May ends the Spring,
    And Summer dances on her tomb!

First published in the Freeman's Journal where it was signed Philadelphia, April 16, 1787.

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Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.