Poplar siding

We have added poplar siding to the entire area of loft and south wall.  We chose a 1x8 size board. It took about 10 days for Joel's crew to apply the boards to the area.  After each board was sanded, they were cut and applied in a random pattern, with tiny gaps between them.  Each skylight and window was also trimmed with the poplar.  The next step will be to fill the nail holes.  Then, everything will be painted an off white color by Benjamin Moore called Cotton Balls.  Even with the paint, you will still see the outline of each board.  While it was a lot of work, the poplar gives the space more warmth and a great texture, evoking the feeling of a barn or cabin.

south wall before drywall and poplar siding

poplar siding in loft

trimming loft with poplar

view of south wall with poplar

February in May in Boulder

Boulder 7am, May 12, 2014

Boulder, 11am, May 12, 2014

My prediction was all wrong last week when I thought we were clear of the schizophrenic mountain weather that typifies this time of year.  While the damage isn't catastrophic, no on likes snow in May.  Even my diehard cold weather loving son Carson thinks that it is utterly uncool to have snow in May.

Boulder gardening

Gardening in Boulder can be tricky. Our weather is unpredictable and often extreme.  Spring freezes can sometimes destroy an entire season of fruit, or, worse, decimate entire populations of plants that are sensitive to early spring freeze-thaw cycles.  It happened in 2013.  By summer, there wasn't a piece of fruit on the trees--no apples, plums, cherries, nectarines, apricots, peaches...nothing. Worse, the long-term damage to some evergreen varieties was catastrophic. Arborvitae, a common evergreen around Boulder, had been awakened out of its dormancy by some warm days in April. Then, when snow and plummeting temperatures hit in April and May, cellular damage to the plants was severe. While losing a season of fruit is disappointing, losing an entire stand of arborvitae is heart breaking.  As a Colorado Master Gardener, I have received many calls at our Longmont office about arborvitae recovery. Sadly, the plant does not regenerate new foliage once it is destroyed. The brown damage that is visible now is here to stay. But that was last year.  So far, we have enjoyed a beautiful spring here in Boulder.  The lilacs are stunning and fragrant; the fruit trees are covered in pillowy blossoms; tulips are colorful and vigorous.  I am watching my garden come alive and appreciating the possibility that this season will be remarkable on account of just how unremarkable the weather has been.  Admittedly, it has taken me 5 seasons of living here to understand (and accept) this critical principle of Colorado gardening.

May 2, 2013

May 2, 2014