Just a little bit busy this spring

The end of the semester, the beginning of field season, a publishing deadline, and home gardening are all colliding here in May when the days just don't have enough hours.  At the coffee shoppe this morning, at least 5 colleagues were sitting there with piles of papers.  Only one of them was in a semi-good mood.  What a terrific person she must be.  Students want to know their grades, and TPP wants to provide them as soon as possible.  However, a bit of patience is a virtue and so is a careful, thoughtful evaluation.  Same goes for the field work and gardening. This afternoon will be spent in the field looking for our permanent plots.  They are marked in the SW corner by a big spike and a inch and a half numbered aluminum tag.  It's hard enough to find them when the prairie has been burned, but this year is didn't get burned.  When the plot gets found, a 36-inch pvc pipe is shoved over the spike at the corner.  When the vegetation really gets up there, it's hard to even find the pvc.  An observant person can be within inches of a tag and not see it.  This is sure to be fun.  At home, plants are showing up faster than the Phactors can plant them, and it's always good to take time to plant things well and in the best location possible.  One particularly well-placed plant is an orange flowered azalea that sits in a nice copse among old spruces, a bald cypress, and big hostas.  In flower, it really lights up the space, which faces the street.  Yesterday a passer-by noticed it and braked their car suddenly for a better look and almost got rear-ended.  That would have been an expensive look.  People have actually stopped, parked, and come to the door to ask what variety it is (spicy lights).  Just planted a new azalea in the same series that has white and yellow flowers (highlights). TPP will try hard to get some more plant placements like this.