It is 78° today and just a perfect spring day. A cool front is expected soon with a low of 43° by Friday night.

I got the trees sprayed...had to do a little wand repair first but then things went smoothly. I have a 15 gallon sprayer that probably sprays 20 feet into the air. It runs off a battery and I load all in my garden cart and can get to all trees this way.

This morning we loaded calves for the sale barn and were very happy with the prices. I guess we are the only class of farmers (beef) that are getting really good prices right now.

I didn't go to the sale barn with my husband. They have very hard seats and sometimes it takes hours...didn't think I could tolerate that. I tackled the huge Light Pole and New Bed. I had just let the perilla become a ground cover and it worked pretty well keeping other bad weeds down. I found 5 self seeded corianders which pleased me. I didn't know they would do that, also lots of dill and more larkspur. I won't know what type until they bloom. I know I scattered lots of seeds. There are lots of poppies (papaver somniferum) all over the bed.
I also discovered the New Zealand spinach self seeded. I didn't care for it so may chop it out later. I have enough bare spots now that I will sow directly some Yvonne's salvias and more annuals.

Back outside now to thin more fruit trees. I used the ladder this time to reach the tops of the trees but the sun was in my face so will have to finish in the morning. I am sure I missed some.

The plum tree is a mystery to me how to handle thinning. The fruit growing in little clusters of three with long stems like cherries. I finally just pulled my closed hand along a limb removing the less attached ones. Then I did it by hand. I saw some with yellow stems which makes me wonder if the tree would be self-thinning if I had waited until next month. I removed maybe half but still have lots of tiny green fruit left. I found an Elm sapling that I need to remove.
Plums trees have very brittle limbs, especially the tips. I broke off a few in the thinning process.

The new tripod for my camera came yesterday. I am loving it. I have it set up facing the porch where I can see the birds while at the computer. It moves smoothly and I can pinpoint any spot I want. Then zoom in for the shop. I can then take the picture without any movement of the camera at all. I took several of the Baltimore Oriole. I was able to take 25 shots in less than a minute.

This is a House Finch thinking about trying out some of the jelly:

From Birds

And the resident Baltimore Oriole male.

From Birds

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More and more iris are opening. I still have a few remaining ones I am waiting on. The latest was a lovely sky blue from my sis that will now be known as Char's blue.

From Iris

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I have a very fragrant one from Schreiner's called Fragrant Lilac and it is. I planted a small clump at the edge of the Light Pole Bed. It was near where I was working yesterday weeding and the scent was almost overpowering. I thought I had a single shot of it but don't. This is just part of the long Driveway Border with a few of the iris and a peony about to open. The fragrant iris is the lavender one just to the right of the Light Pole (wasn't that clever to name the bed that).

From Iris

Side Note: The part for the Jenn-Air (replace with expletive) range still has not come! I emailed the company yesterday with the history of the stove. It won't do any good, but I feel better.

Today's plan: Plant the five fruit trees. If I get nothing else done, this will be enough. My trusty assistant will be called in to help with this.