Today is Earth Day, April 22, when we celebrate the beauty and richness of nature and take steps to preserve the balance of the Earth. It was a sunny, warm day in Streamwood, with temperatures breaking 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The purple tulip blossoms have opened and their petals are widening and waving in the breeze. Check out the pictures from this morning and evening below:

This Morning

This Evening

Spring is a beautiful time of possibilities emerging and new life forming. Make sure to get out, take a walk and work in your garden. Enjoy the majesty of nature.

All the best,

Dave Pipitone, Author, The Rainbow Chronicles: A Bedtime Story for a New DaY

Saturday, April 21, was a very warm, sunny day in Streamwood, with temperatures reaching nearing 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s hard to believe that only 10 days ago we had four inches of snow.

Yesterday, you saw that the tulip blossoms are forming and the outer green leaf surrounding the blossom began to turn color. Today’s post shows photos of both morning and evening progress. (We were gone during the day.) The blossoms are ready to open.Check out the pictures below:
Morning

Evening

This is an exciting time! We should see our first blossoms tomorrow. Stay tuned and I’ll share pictures with you as the tulip flowers open for the first time.

All the best,

Dave Pipitone, Author, The Rainbow Chronicles

Today, April 20, was a very warm, sunny day in Streamwood, with temperatures reaching around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The tulip blossoms are forming and the outer green leaf surrounding the blossom is beginning to turn color. We planted purple tulips in the Hope Patch and the purple is beginning to manifest. Check out the picture below:

Visit our website for my take on why purple tulips are important. This is an exciting time! The next two days should be in the high 70’s and we may see a blossom unfold. I’ll share pictures with you as the flower grows.

All the best,

Dave Pipitone, Author, The Rainbow Chronicles: A Bedtime Story for a New Day

After some cold weather last week, including four inches of snow seven days ago, spring is returning to Streamwood. It looks like the tulip plants were hardy enough to tough out the adverse weather. The buds are forming and you can see the color on the edges of the tulip blossom. See the picture below.

Notice that the tulip bud is protected by the large leaves, which almost wrap themselves around it. In the next week or so, as the stalk grows taller, the tulip flower will be elevated above the plant and the tulip petals will open. I’m excited to see the beautiful flower unfold.

Till next time.

Dave Pipitone, author of The Rainbow Chronicles: A Bedtime Story for a New Day

Talk about an abrupt turnaround in Spring! Yesterday, we received about 4 inches of snow in Streamwood, IL. In nearly mid-April. The tulip plants in our Hope Patch, which were about 7-8 inches high, are covered with snow. See the picture below.

I am disappointed that the weather took a turn for the worse and desire that the tulips survive and blossom. However, this is happening in a Hope Patch.

This is the time to reflect on the power and meaning of hope in the winter of life. There are times in life that events and expectations don’t turn out like we wish. Hope is the virtue of expecting that God will bring about new life despite all outward appearances.

If you’ve had some winter reappear in your garden or your life, may God grant you peace and joy and an abundance of hope in a new day ahead.

Dave Pipitone, author of The Rainbow Chronicles: A Bedtime Story for a New Day

It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day in Streamwood with temperatures hovering around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I put a fence around the Hope Patch to fend off the rabbits. My tulips, which must be late bloomers, are about 3 inches high. See the picture below.

We visited Long Grove, Illinois today and noticed their tulips were already 7 to 9 inches high and a few crocuses were fully in bloom. This is a beautiful time of year as Spring continues to unfold.

Dave Pipitone, author of The Rainbow Chronicles

As I was examining the Hope Patch on Wednesday to review the tulip shoot growth, I noticed several shoots that had been chewed down. Arrggh! A pirate bunny is looting my Hope Patch for a tulip salad. I put up a fence around the Patch this evening and did a quick search on other tips for controlling pests from raiding my Hope Patch.

Here are a few tips that I discovered from various gardening websites:

Sprinkle blood meal around your plants. This deters rabbits but does need to be reapplied. Some people also use bone meal and Crittter Ritter.

Use cayenne or red pepper which will cause rabbits to withdraw from the area, but a humane individual commented that pepper can burn the animals paws and eyes, so use this method with discretion.

Other gardeners place false scents, such as to human hair, deodorant soap, Ropell, dog or predator urine.

Some people have used motion-detector noise makers (like frogs) that respond to movement and scare bunnies away.

Others have done live trapping and exclusion fencing.

Others have rubbed petroleum jelly on the leaves themselves which repels hungry rabbits. (Come on, let’s face it. Would you like vaseline for a salad dressing?)

Another gardener has had success laying branches of a Russian sage bush around her tulips and the scent keeps rabbits away.

So there you have it – a few time-tested ways to control pests in the Hope Patch. Try the ones that make sense to you. Share your experience in a comment if you have other remedies.

Dave Pipitone, Author of The Rainbow Chronicles: A Bedtime Story for a New Day

In a previous post, I listed five steps on how to create a Hope Patch garden. With the use of online videos on the Internet, I’ve created a short three minute video for you to view. The video shows you those five steps.

This video is streamed from AOL.com. All you have to do is click the play control buttons to view it. Please help me out by leaving on a comment on this video or let me know what other Hope Patch videos you would like to see.

Dave Pipitone, author of The Rainbow Chronicles

As mentioned earlier, today is March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, when we celebrate Irish culture, beauty and sainthood. Ireland offers magnificent scenery, green vistas, expansive meadows and rugged cliffs. Those of Irish descent and wannabes (like me of Sicilian-Polish descent) show their colors by the “wearing of the green.” While calendar Spring officially begins on March 20, today marks the “growing of the green” in my Hope Patch.

I’ve begun documenting this year’s Hope Patch by photographing the growth of the purple tulips that I planted last fall. Right now, the tulip shoots are about one inch high above the ground. Look at this close-up photo that shows the current growth.

Tulips often blossom in mid-to-late April through mid-May, although some can bloom later. It depends on the weather and the hardiness zone. For more detailed tulip flower growing information, make sure to visit www.tulipreview.com

I look forward to sharing the Hope Patch’s progress with you in the coming weeks. Until then, happy gardening!

Dave Pipitone, The Rainbow Chronicles

I have a Hope Patch sign posted on the fence above my Hope Patch. Now, I know what that little plot of land in my backyard is. So, I really don’t need the sign to remind me. Or do I?

Having a Hope Patch sign is a marker that I use to designate my Hope Patch as “holy ground.” It sets this small garden apart from the rest of the yard and calls me to focus on the growth that is taking place there. It’s a symbol of the growth that is always taking place in my own life, too. I ordered the sign from an online vendor who customized the wording for me. Here’s a picture:

Remember, it helps to use a sign, a garden stone or a marker to dedicate your own spiritual space. May your Hope Patch grow and flourish this year.

Dave Pipitone, The Rainbow Chronicles