Plant Purchases

On the first day of spring we had to go into town to run errands, and being the first day of spring, and having to drive past Lowes, you know we had to go in a see what they had in the garden center. I swore I would just look and not buy anything, but I always say that and I always buy something. What we found were 2 primroses in Hank's two favorite primrose colors - blue and orange. I like other colors better, but this is mostly what they had so far. I found a miniature
Columbine, only supposed to get 12 inches tall, It's tiny so far, so we'll see. The colors on the flowers are red and yellow, reminiscent of a species from the midwest/plains in the U.S. That one is horribly invasive so I'll be anxious to see if this is in any way related. The last thing we got was that lovely blue flower in the front. Now, at this early hour if I could remember the name of it, we'd all be doing good. Alas, it is still before 7 AM and my brain just isn't up to what it should be yet. The tag said zone 6, my gardening book says zone 7 mostly but plants only in spring in zone 6, so I'm going to figure this one will need a good mulching or for the corms to be lifted like a dahlia in the fall, to spend the winter in my refrigerator crisper.
We gave away some more bamboo yesterday in our continuing effort to get the patch under control. Anyone who is close enough is welcome to some. All that is required is a sturdy shovel and a strong back. The is a freebie. Post here or email if you're interested.
Jane

Daffodil - February Gold

Several clumps of February Gold burst into bloom yesterday. This used to be our first daffodil of the season, sometimes almost blooming in February (I know it must do that somewhere or it wouldn't have that name) but usually in mid to late March. On cold years it doesn't show its face until early April. We've had several cold night with temperatures in the low 20s (F) but it doesn't seem to be bothering anything, at least so far. We'll be warming up again now, so the spring blooms should continue to delight me in the next week.

Something that does come up and often will bloom in February are the Petasites. This first one is Petasites japonicum 'Rubrum'. These plants all have blooms that come up like green baseballs (about that size and shape) long before the leaves appear. Only severe cold seems to bother them. Once there are a few nice, warm, sunny days, the little florets in the ball open. These on Rubrum are tinged red. The leaves when they open are a deep burgundy red on top and green underneath.

This next one is Petasites japonicum 'Variegatum'. This one has green/cream/white variegated leaves. all of these prefer shade, or at least no direct afternoon sun - morning sun seems to be all right. They won't die, but look just terrible in the direct sun in the afternoon, wilting like they are about to die any minute.

This last is Petasites japonicum 'Giganteum'. This has the largest leaves, often 3 feet across. Kids who come in the garden seem to be especially taken with this one which small children can stand under.

The flowers are all similar, but can definitely be told apart. Petasites japonicum 'Hybridus' has flowers that start out the same, but then elongate into something that looks more the shape of a morel mushroom. I don't seem to have a picture of those, unfortunately. The flowers on it are very pink and seem to set seed better than the others. The seeds have little puffs like a milkweed that allow them to fly in the breeze. We have had all of these cross polinate and have a number of hybrids in the garden with traits of several of these, but which are not totally like any of them. If you want to transplant any of the Petasites, you need to do it very early in the spring, before the leaves are barely unfurled. Later in the spring, once the leaves are out, they seem to have difficulty adjusting. It needs to be a quick transplant in any case because they really hate having their roots out in the air.

Jane

Abeliophyllum

Often called White Forsythia, this is really Abeliophyllum distichum. It blooms slightly earlier than Forsythia and seems to tolerate colder nights without damage. As I look out my window here, there is one totally covered in white blossoms. It makes a good cut flower and has a scent like honey. It tip roots, so if you don't want it to expand, keep it trimmed up from the ground. If you'd like another to transplant in a year or so, just put a rock on a branch to hold it to the ground, about a foot from the end, and it will root nicely and make you a new bush to transplant where you'd like one.

This is the pink version. I wish it always looked this good. It is always covered with blooms, jus tlike the white one, but in some years, not sure what causes it, it will be the very palest pink just as the blooms emerge, and then turn just as white as the white one. On years when it is pink, there is nothing else in the yard at this time to match it. Just wish it did this every year. This year all of our pink ones are very white and you can't tell them from the others.

Jane

Dark Foliage

As I was walking around the garden yesterday afternoon, taking a break from weeding and other chores, I noticed that the Ranunculus ficaria 'Brazen Hussy' was coming up. I love this plant. It come up almost overnight and shortly thereafter has the brightest yellow flowers. It is a buttercup, after all, so I guess we should expect that. The remarkable thing is this almost black foliage. There are other shrubs and probably perennials with black or almost black foliage, (Ninebark 'Diablo', Cimicifuga 'Brunette' come to mind) but in early spring, most things are a nice, fresh green. This foliage will green up after awhile, but when it comes up it is just very dark, glossy black. I'll post a picture of the blooms when they get here, along with the other ranunculus that we grow.
The next photo is of Helleborus 'Lady in Red'. This is probably the darkest foliage on any of my hellebores. Though we have some seedlings that come close, they mostly either have dark foliage or dark blooms, but not both. This is not your cheery, bright, spring flower, but I am oddly attracted to it nonetheless.

The biggest adventure yesterday wasn't the weeding or the flowers, though. The biggest adventure was the snapping turtle. As I was setting of on my walk to look at the gardens and take some pictures, I wandered over to Lake Amanda. As I came down the path to walk around the bottom of the pond, I noticed some movement and realized that a very large snapping turtle was coming off a large rock at the edge of the pond and getting back into the water. His head is the size of my fist and he is about 24 inches long. Not a tiny, friendly turtle. He sat on the bottom for a long while looking at me. Luckily the water was clear so I could see him. We had suspected that there was a large turtle in there, but they are usually rather secretive and keep themselves hidden.

The scary thing is that we have worked in that pond, tending the plants growing there. Knowing that this big guy is actually there makes me realize just how lucky we both are to still have all of out fingers and toes. A snapper that size can easily cut right through skin and bone. When we have tried to catch others, they regularly bite right through the heavy wire we use in place of fishing line and the heaviest hooks we can find.

The next job is to find a way to get him out of there. We'll check with a friend who is a trapper and see how he might proceed. I try to live and let live (even the large deer who we caught eating azalea buds the other night), but this guy is dangerous to us and to the fish and frogs who live in the pond, not to mention that snapping turtles can finish off a waterlily overnight. No waterlilies growing there anymore, the last shard of one was moved a few years ago.

Today is a weeding day - cressy probably. There is much less of it than in previous years since I have worked to hard to mostly eliminate it from the gardens, but there is still some and it must go.

Jane

Daffodil - the first 'big' one

Although we had a miniature daffodil bloom already, there is something special and very 'spring is really here' about the first full sized daffodil to bloom. This one is 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation'. It is always the first to bloom and this clump of them is always the first of the clumps to bloom. You can see the purple crocus which somehow seeded themselves into the clump. A nice combination. This is a full sized flower on a sort of short stem and nothing fancy color-wise or shape-wise compared to what is to come. Even though it bloomed on St. Patrick's Day and not the official first day of spring. Here in the hollow, spring has arrived.
Jane

Daphne

Other things are starting to bloom outside in addition to the early bulbs. This is Daphne mezereum 'Alba'. Also called Winter Daphne or February Daphne. It is a small to medium sized shrub and starts blooming in late February or early March. The flowers are pure white (the species has smaller purple ones) and are highly and deliciously scented. This is our second attempt at it. We had both forms in another part of the garden, but they got some sort of virus and died, so we've put one of each at Lake Amanda and they have done quite well there. This picture was taken as the blooms were just starting. It is much more covered with bloom now.

This is a daphne that we have been growing in the greenhouse for the last 2 years. It is theoretically hardy here, but we wanted it to get a little bigger here before we subjected it to our winter weather. It is very hardy in zone 7 as are a lot of things we grow here, but we always like to give them some special attention in the beginning and put them in sheltered spots once they do go outside. The one's name, almost forgot to add it, is Daphne odora 'Zuiko Nishiki'. It also has a heavenly scent and does seem to cover itself in bloom several times a year.

This last one is Daphne burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie' and is readily available through catalogs and garden centers, much moreso than the others. It makes a small shrub and is showy all season with the variegated leaves. The flowers are like the ones in the first picture, small and white and highly scented. We need to replace this bush since it was, unfortunately, done in by an ice storm - just weighed the branches down so much that they broke. It never recovered from the trauma though we though it might.
The sun is shining so I'm off to the garden. First time we've seen more than a peek of sun for many days. It is a welcome sight.
Jane

Hamamelis - Additions

Just taking a day away from the spring bulbs to finish up (almost) the Witch Hazels. This first one is Hamamelis vernalis purpurea 'Washington Pink'. Although the petals aren't quite as long, the color is wonderful and although similar to purpurea, much lighter. I like these colors up close, but from a distance the flowers seem to fade into the background, unlike the bright yellows. This seems to be a more upright bush and gets much less sun than a lot of the others. That might explain why it is more upright - stretching to get to the sun.
This next one is Hamamelis x intermedia 'Double Gold'. The picture is not the best but I didn't get this one (just last week) for the flowers. This will be our first Hamamelis with variegated leaves. Once the leaves come out I'll be sure to take a picture of them to post. It took a bit of looking to find this. We knew it existed but our usual supplier of Hamamelis was sold out. I just love getting plants in boxes - expecially when you open the box and they're in full bloom like this one was.

This next one is Hamamelis x intermedia 'Strawberries and Cream' I think I posted this one before, but it is finally all the way out and this is a much better picture.

Last for today is Hamamelis x intermedia 'Angelie'. It comes out a bit darker yellow, but it has been out awhile and seems lighter now.

One more to go and maybe not until next week or the week after that. 'Birgit' is our last one to bloom, always, and although it is starting to show color, it is a long way from being in bloom. We have 2 of them in 2 very different parts of the yard, but they are at the same stage of blooming (not blooming?).

Warm weather for a few days here so we're back to heavily mulching the area where we are trying to eliminate the bamboo and more pruning of magnolias.

Jane