Cooperstown Continued

While in Cooperstown, I took a few photos of the big maples and some flowering trees, as well as the lilacs, which I showed you in an earlier post. I was thinking of Alice when I took the photos of the red and sugar maples. We all know she has a passion for trees :)

I love the contrast of the red and green maples.







I'm guessing this is a white crabapple but I'm not good at identifying flowering trees. I'm hoping Annie in Austin will see this post and will be able to help with some names. (Annie, are you out there? :) If anyone else can identify any of the following trees, please feel free to let me know.



This picture and the following one are of the same tree. It looks like a pink flowering crab to me, but again, I'm guessing. I wonder what the little berry-like fruit are.



Could they possibly be crab apples at this time of year? And why are they wrinkled? Surely last year's fruit wouldn't still be on the tree.



This is a really pretty bushy shrub. It has a flower that looks very similar to a wild shrub that grows around here. The wild version has a paler pink, and sometimes white flower.



This tree (or maybe shrub) is a mystery to me. I don't remember ever seeing one like it before.



Here are the flowers and leaves up close. I hope some of you out there know the names of these trees and will be willing to share your knowledge!

After 2 weeks of gloomy wet weather we finally had some sunshine on Monday, Tuesday and today, but then this afternoon, not long after Ross and I came home from work, we had another rain shower! My poor husband is beginning to despair of ever getting the rest of his vegetables planted! Our gardens are beginning to look like jungles, and the plants I meant to move while they were small are now big! Oh well, life wasn't meant to be easy! We do what we can and try not to worry about the rest.

Lots of plants are blooming now and the gardens are beginning to look pretty, in spite of needing lots of work. School will be out for the summer next week, and then I'll have more time to spend in the garden. I can't wait!

Meanwhile, I'm thoroughly enjoying seeing all the other gardens out there in Blogland that are blooming now too.

Cooperstown In Bloom!

Not long ago I made a trip to Cooperstown because I had a scheduled mammogram (what fun!) at the local hospital.
It’s always a treat to visit this lovely village, which is steeped in history, especially in the springtime when there are flowers everywhere. An organization called The Clark Foundation provides and plants a wonderful collection of flowers for several buildings around the village, including all the churches, county buildings, the Farmer’s Museum and Fenimore House, and The Baseball Hall of Fame. The latter famous attraction brings thousands of baseball fans to town every summer. The village even played host to the senior George Bush 2 years ago at the induction ceremonies.
I’m not sure whether the foundation provides the wonderful flowers around the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital as well, but I think they do.

James Fenimore Cooper, whose father founded Cooperstown was a very famous local author. The most famous of his historical novels is “The Last of the Mohicans”, which was made into a movie.
The Clarks, a very wealthy family of lawyers, were co-owners of the patent for Singer Sewing Machines. The foundation provides a large number of wonderful services for our area. One of the most generous of its outreaches is awarding college scholarships to students in the surrounding areas.


Of course, I had my camera with me, and I took some photos so my blog friends could enjoy the show as well.

We've had 4 inches of rain in the last week and a half. Everything is so soggy outside. We can wring the water out of the soil in the vegetable garden. I don't know when it will ever be dry enough to plant. If anyone is doing a rain dance out there (like maybe in Australia where they NEED rain....) I'm asking you to please stop it!!

These wonderful containers were decorating the main entrance to the hospital. They've recently changed the display. I like combination of the orange/yellow tulips with the Johnny Jump Ups (yes Val, also known as heartsease). They are violas.



See how they've wrapped a wire around the tulips to keep them upright?



Oh so pretty against the old bricks and ivy.



Zoey, I'll bet you love the color of these tulips! Aren't they gorgeous?

My husband tells me they've taken all the containers away now but haven't yet replaced them.



And Sigrun, look at this container! I love it planted with the Johnny Jump Ups.
'


This is Bassett Hall, a very beautiful old building. The decorations on the main entrance door at Christmastime are a masterpiece.



These gorgeous containers were decorating the side entrance of the Baseball Hall of Fame.



I'm a very big fan of pink!



This is diascia (dee-as-ee-a). It's so beautiful combined with the pink tulips.

A statue of the famous author, James Fenimore Cooper outside the Hall of Fame.



This is just one of several local churches, all decorated beautifully with different colored tulips. They probably have something else planted there by now. Red geraniums seem to be a favorite. We'll see what they choose this summer.



These pink tulips made a lovely show.



Isn't this a wonderful shade of pink?

And, Alice, there will be trees in the next post - just for you! I'll have to get more building shots next time I'm over there.