Seasonal: Page 2

Crocus and Croakers! February and March in Our Garden

I'm late this year in putting the rest of March's photos up. It's been kind of busy with concert rehearsals, soap selling, etc. Also... I want to WORK in the garden instead of being on the computer so much! I'll try to do better with keeping up and in a pinch, I may put up some pages from last season again (probably won't need to do that, but will repeat some of them later on). It's been a pretty normal spring except for having nearly 80 degree weather in the second week of April... I really hate that much heat in the spring. The new growth on the poor hellebores was wilting! It's cooler now and we've had some rain.

The photo at top features Anemone blanda... Grecian Windflowers. They are so pretty this time of year. The original group that were planted under the Japanese Maple seem to be dying out, but there are seedlings here and there... hopefully I will not be without them in the future. This small group was planted later and has less root competition at the front of the north bed. The grass behind is Bulbous Oat Grass.... cool and beautiful!

Above: Time to divide these, wouldn't you say? These groups of crocus bloom under the ash tree in the back. If you have good eyes, you can see the foliage of emerging tulips and Madonna lilies. Right: This plant is fleeting and hard to see until you practically trip over it, but charming, nonetheless. The flower is Iris reticulata. It is a bulb that blooms quite early in spring and if you get on your knees you might be able to smell the wonderful sweet scent on a warm day.
	At the time of this writing, these crocus are completely gone. Such delicate beauty has to appreciated at close range. The individual flowers are not as large as the later blooming species. This is Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Pearl.' Just coming on next to it (to the right) are the flowers of the common Pulmonaria (Lungwort)... probably 'Mrs. Moon.'
A bug's eye view of Crocus 'Blue Pearl.' You can find links for wallpaper images of this on the home page.

This pile came from some serious pruning in the bed between the front yard and orchard. A row of Viburnum davidii had become overgrown and sprawly and I wanted to open up the pathway between the house and this bed. Once started, I got pretty liberal with the pruners... cutting off rhody branches buds and all! The lower limbs of these older rhodies were sometimes dead or sprawling over their lower growing neighbors. I'm counting on the Viburnum coming back, and if it doesn't, I'll plant something low and evergreen to take its place. Hmmm... maybe Lingonberry would be a nice change? The group I left uncut on the front corner will probably be sheared later after something shoots from the base. I didn't want to completely scalp the whole area.

This is what the rhodies bared understructure looks like right now from the front entry. There are actually three Viburnum bushes in that blank space that will hopefully put out some new shoots. I'm not highly invested in their coming back, so was willing to be drastic. They've been there for over 15 years.

This is kind of shady, but is what the alley path looks like in late March with the crocus and Helleborus foetidus blooming. There's a tiny narcissus to the left as well. Looks pretty bare, but will be hard to walk through by July!

This plant of winter-blooming Iris unguicularis will most likely need to be moved in the next couple of years, as the shrubs nearby spread more. It really likes a warm presentation. Never forewarned by fattening buds, you just step out on the porch one day and gasp as you see a bouquet of these in bloom. They don't last long, so you have to appreciate them when the opportunity arises. These are just starting to wilt, as you can see by the curling petals.

Wish you could smell this. It's leaning out to be sniffed as you walk down off the deck. It's one of those outrageous chunky Hyacinths, that don't really blend in well, but I wouldn't be without a few each spring.	What a lively group this is! Narcissus 'Tete a Tete' is one of the early ones that seem to come back reliably for me. These have increased since having a topdressing of alfalfa pellets for two years. Probably a good year to divide them.
I showed a full picture of one of these plants last season. They are Primula vulgaris and I grew the first three plants from seed. Now I see little volunteers coming up all around the Styrax bed area. Wish all my "weeds" were so welcome! They have a great sweet scent and are such a soft color (where the color "primrose" originated) that they couldn't clash with anything.

Isn't this just a gorgeous vista?! We had a bit of a septic tank problem toward the end of March and the corner of this flower bed had to be dug up to get to the source of the problem. To the left you see the really awful part of the back garden that I have yet to reclaim. Hope it looks much nicer by the end of this season! Wish you could hear my oldest son's voice when he called upstairs from our other line to tell me there was a leak downstairs... he was in the shower when the "tide rolled in." :-)	You are probably sick of these, but I wanted to show another view of the mountains. This sunset actually had more color than you can see here, but you get a good view of the skyline. One of the bonuses of working outside during the dinner hour.
I gasped one day when I looked toward the lower field from the back fence (Ron was mowing there) and saw this little volunteer group of Viola vilmoriniana! The original plants are in the choked area out back and I don't know how many of them have survived. These seedlings have found themselves the perfect spot and have obviously been here for a couple of years! They are a soft apricot-gold color.	A closer view of one of the violets shown at left. I had to crawl under the trees to get close enough and it was so dark there the flash came on. There's another colony of these violets near the arbor in back. I just weeded through that spot and was delighted to find them.
Near the arbor at this time you can smell these tiny blossoms of the Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima). You can see the bench behind... albeit fuzzy. This plant is not nearly as showy as some of the later blooming or vining honeysuckles, but it makes up for it by its scent and time of bloom. It is a lax, twiggy shrub.	The sun was going down, but you can still see the blooms on the small 'Royal Star' Magnolia stellata. I prefer this type of magnolia to the larger tulip type. This is growing just south of the honeysuckle. The path behind leads to the pad where the arbor was placed.... a path that I am slowly opening up again so we might spend some time enjoying the arbor this summer!

Wish I'd used a different camera setting so the violets would have been in focus, but... oh, well. Not as prolific as their blue cousins, these are white Muscari/Grape Hyacinths. The violets behind are commonly called "Confederate Violet." These plants are in the small white bed on the edge of the north lawn.	In that same bed grows this beautiful Pulmonaria 'Roy Davidson.' So far... this is probably my favorite lungwort, although our growing conditions are not their favorite. I usually have to contend with some mildew later in the season.
In a container on the deck are some Narcissus 'Ice Follies.'	I paid for this original plant of Euphorbia dulcis 'Chameleon' but will never have to buy another. It is a prolific seeder! At this time of year, the new growth is every bit as showy as flowers... beautiful shades of burgundy with undertones of pink. It is in the bed near the deck where it is quite hot in the afternoons.
Right under the edge of the deck is a small group of Ilex convexa. The leaves are a lighter green because of the sun exposure on this side of the house. I imagine they would be a bit happier on the East side, but I don't intend to move these. Under this little shrub are a few volunteer Pulmonarias. They probably seeded from the clump of 'Mrs. Moon' that was planted in the "white bed" (go figure!). These flowers have a different shape... larger petals that flare out and are split in the center instead of being tubular.	Across the path from the Ilex are some lavender bushes and right now Muscari 'Blue Spike' are blooming near them. They are kind of weird looking and I'd gotten them when I was first collecting stuff for the garden (the frenzied buying stage!). These have come back pretty faithfully, but don't seed themselves like the species are prone to do.
While I was snapping pictures I was being followed around by Goofy, the cat. He likes to be bothersome but is rather touch-me-not if you try to pet him when he's not in the mood. Probably the most aloof cat we have... the kind people complain about and typify as CAT! :-) He is sitting under the Styrax tree in front of the Primula vulgaris.

A woman on Robert's old paper route gave me these primroses wrapped in some newspaper years ago and I've managed not to kill them yet! I don't know what the variety is, but it is a popular old one.	A closer view of the primroses near the entry.
In the alley bed these Dicentra 'Luxuriant' are revving up for a long season of bloom. They were just planted early last spring and have done very well. If you look closely, you can see the buds coming up through those beautiful glaucous leaves.	I love the charm of Muscari! They seed all over the place, but I never think they are an unwelcome guest.
It will never get any better than this... Hyacinths in their first season of bloom after planting. It will all be downhill from here on out! ;-) There are some groups of these in the bed along the driveway, opposite the flowering cherries (to be seen on the April page coming soon). At the time I planted them, I had little open space to work in and had forgotten how fat they are when they come up! Should have allowed more space. Maybe next year, with their smaller spikes, they will make more sense.

This page last updated on April 21, 1999.

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