Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Different things

I really am still here, but with this crazy weather and getting ready to open for the season, I just haven't gotten to spend too much time around my computer. The picture above is an Arisaema which most years comes up just in time to get frosted. This year it was lucky. We did have a really frosty night just after it came up, but we wrapped it up nice an snug and it came through all right.
This is one of my favorites - Skunk Cabbage. It grows in damp, lightly shaded places and comes up in the early spring. We also have a yellow flowered form. One is american (I think it's the white one, but I'm not 100 percent sure of that) and the other is asian.
I'll post as I find time. I did take a day off yesterday, even though I really didn't have time to do that with everything that needs to get done, but it was my birthday and I needed a 'girls day out' to have some fun and eat cheesecake.
Jane

Friday, April 9, 2010

Thursday's Flowers


Tulip 'Quebec'

Tulips here are pretty much planted as annuals since they don't reliably return. We have a few, especially the species ones planted in with the cactuses that come back, but the fancy tall ones make a wonderful show the first year and then may or may not return.



Trillium cuneatum

This is a smaller, or at least shorter, trillium and is the first one to bloom this year.



Spirea thungerbii 'Mellow Yellow'

This is the most amazing Spirea. It is a bush about 3 feet tall and wide and, up until this year it had a sprinkling of tiny white flowers in early spring. This year it has really come into its own and is just covered. It has become one of my favorites.



Sanguinaria canadensis 'Multiplex'

The double Bloodroot blooms a week or so after the single flowered kind. I'm not sure if it is always that way, or that we have the double flowered ones in a colder, shadier place. The single one self seeds, but I've never seen that with the double one. The clump expands, but I don't get new clumps a distance from the parent plant.



Muscari armeniacum 'Blue Magic'

Once the daffodils are all up and blooming the Muscari start. We have added one or two different ones every year. This is a tall one and have shadings of blue from darker at the bottom to lighter at the top.



Muscari 'Alba'

The white flowered muscari seems a little more difficult and is a smaller plant. As with many white blooms, as they start to face, they 'brown' a bit and are less pretty. The same thing happens to the blue ones, but the blue color covers the fading blooms better.



Magnolia loebnerii 'White Rose'

Our most recent Magnolia addition that is blooming well for the first time this year. The blooms are very much like a small white rose and smell wonderful. Most all of the early magnolias are blooming now, though I'm not sure what they'll look like after tonight as we are expecting a freeze. Things closer to the ground should be all right since the ground is quite warm. We've covered back up all of the potted things, but they should be able to come back out by Saturday. I hope things don't look too bad for the Open Garden on Sunday. Daffodils should be all right. They can take quite a bit. Our fondest hope is that the maples will be in enough bloom that the buds will freeze and we won't have to spend so much time next year pulling out maple seedlings from all of the gardens around the house.
Jane




Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Daffodils for Wednesday


Daffodil 'Wave'


Daffodil 'Love Call'


Daffodil 'Starbrook'




Daffodil 'Red Arla'





Daffodil 'Liberation'



Daffodil 'Fire Drill'


Enjoy - more tomorrow. This is definitely daffodil season
Jane

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Daffodils today

Not much writing today - just the photos...
First is 'Cherry Cup'



This is Charleston.

And this one is 'Bulbarrow'.


This is 'Barbet'.



And this is 'Ashmore'.



Last is 'Ardglass'.


Hope to see some of you on Sunday. The weather is predicted to be sunny and cooler than today's 88 degrees.
Jane




Monday, April 5, 2010

Rain - or the lack thereof...

I haven't abandoned you. I must have said that before, but I tend to spend all of my time in the garden this time of year unless it's raining, and lately, it doesn't seem to rain much. Plants aren't suffering - yet - but the soil is dry when I dig planting holes. The daffodils, on the other hand, are glorious and should be seen by more than just the two of us, so we're going to open the gardens this weekend, Sunday April 11th from 1o to 3. Bouquets of daffodils to the first 12 visitors and 10% off all potted plants that day only. Now a tease of some of the things that are blooming right now.
Jane

First is Ranunculus ficatia 'Brazen Hussy' with it's almos tblack leaves and shiny bright yellow flowers.

Second - Primula 'Mahogany Sunrise' that just started to bloom today.
This is Petasites hybridys with it's red blooms that are the shape of morel mushrooms when they first come up, but which will get almost 3 feet tall before they actually go to seed.


We have 2 rows of pansies this spring that we found thrown away with raked leaves in one of the bags that the city of Athens brought to us last fall. They were just thrown away. How sad. I planted them and they spent a very long time under all of the snow. They looked a little sad when the snow melted, but now they are wonderful.


The Virginia Bluebells are up and should be in bloom on Sunday.





Last photo is Corydalis solida which seems to be blooming everywhere right now, though the largest colony is over at Lake Amanda.

Hope to see you on Sunday. Tomorrow I'll post some of the daffodils that you'll see.