Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' Buds Forming

My Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' just started poking new growth out a little more than a month ago and they are already knee high! A few weeks ago I noted frost damage on some of the new leaves, and noticed that the one on the far left was coming up a runt compared to the others. Let's see how they're doing!

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' buds already forming on new knee high growth!

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' knee high on May 12 with the runt on the left

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' about 2.5 weeks apart using Before and After app for iPhone

They look about as tall as they were last year sans blooms, so I think this is about it and they should start putting out some big white globes soon. They do look a little wider at the bottom compared to last year.

Best iPhone Before and After Photo App with Transparent Image Overlay

I've been searching for an app like this for a while and I finally found one that is super basic and does exactly what I want it to without a lot of bells or whistles. I wanted a camera app that does great before and after photos by letting me use a ghost of the previous image, a transparent image overlay during the camera mode that lets me line up my shot with the 'before' photo. The transparent image on top of the camera is perfect to help get the same angle for the 'after' shot, and I'm very pleased with this iPhone app!

The app is simply called Before and After by Ivan Perre. 

The app helps you line up the photos to take great before and after shots. Notice the window box is in the exact same position in each of these photos taken months apart!

The app works for anything where you would want a transparent image overlay of the previous version, but I love it for landscape photos in particular. It really helps the effect and to show the progress over time when you can line the camera up in almost the exact spot it was before (without leaving it outside on a tripod for days just to stay in the same position).


The app also arranged the before and after photos in a side-by-side end result, which is helpful and quick, but you can also just save the original photos and just use the app to help you line up the shot.

Lilium 'After Eight' opening with before and after app, photos taken 2 days apart

The app interface looks super basic, but hey, it does the job and it's super simple!

This is exactly what I've been looking for, a camera app that lets you line up your shot with a ghost of the previous shot, a transparent overlay of the 'before' image.

More Sod Runs?

I thought I was done with this nonsense last year! Truth is, my grass from seed on this hard clay just isn't taking off like I'd hoped - and when I saw the contractors dumping their leftover sod scraps in heaps by the dumpsters I just couldn't help but revert to my ol' sod rustlin' ways!

I added a strip along the backyard bed to more clearly define the edge, and filled in some bare spots in the side yard and on the border between my house and the new one to my east where their sod doesn't quite rub up against my grass.

Instead of preparing the area by taking the grass shoots out and raking it, I just plopped the sod right on top of the grass. It's mostly rye grass and new sprouts - I figure if they are tough enough to poke through then good for them, but at the very least this will give me a bluegrass edge on the bed. My yard is already uneven from adding a patchwork of sod (and the accompanying soil) that I'm not too worried about that right now.

Sod scraps just plopped right on top of the thin grass