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Seems it is a dull season, not much activity at this forum at the moment! Are you covered by snow, blown away by wind or damaged by wildfires?
The season has started here although it is not much to boast about. February has been very mild so far (not a single degree of frost till now!) but the rain has poured down in stead. Not like in GB but more than enough. When the rain stops for a moment it is still not enough light for the flowers to open and barely enough to take pictures!
Snowdrops, snowflakes and crocuses are all up and showing colour but don't open properly!
Comments
Lori S. (not verified)
There's nothing to see but
Sun, 02/16/2014 - 9:36amThere's nothing to see but snow here! In the current warm spell, the front yard is clearing, but the snow is the deepest it's ever been, after a record snowfall in December and then fairly regular additions since then.
Here's a little nest I found yesterday that had fallen out of a spruce tree, possibly that of a chipping sparrow. The body of the nest is made of very fine grassy fibers and soft strips of bark mulch. The outside incorporates a few strands of wooly thyme:
Mark McDonough
I can't walk in the garden
Sun, 02/16/2014 - 11:01amI can't walk in the garden now, the snow is waist deep, but have been enjoying bird activity with multiple suet hangers and my deck picnic table shoveled of snow and transformed into a large bird seed platform.
externmed (not verified)
Nice to see spring exists
Sun, 03/02/2014 - 8:16pmNice to see spring exists somewhere and looking good. Recent photo from the UK of Galanthus in flower underwater were not that positive (Weatherunderground).
Here in New England still under a foot or more of snow with near record low temps. -1F (-18C) Our loss is Norway's gain?
Charles Swanson MA USA z 6a
Trond Hoy
Your loss is our gain - I
Mon, 03/03/2014 - 11:07amYour loss is our gain - I think you are right, Charles! But if I remember rightly you had a mild winter and spring last year, and we had a very cold one! In fact we have had 3 cold winters/springs in row now before this last one which is very warm.
Although the winter is much warmer than normal in the mountains too it is still snow there as this picture shows, taken Friday 28 Feb. :
And these are from my garden today (almost sun!)
But mild winters also means that the slugs are live and out as these damaged Katharine Hodgkins show:
Botanica (not verified)
Spring in France garden !!!
Tue, 03/18/2014 - 12:18pmSpring in France garden !!!
And many flower yet !
Trond Hoy
Some of the Cardamines are
Fri, 03/21/2014 - 12:27pmSome of the Cardamines are early spring flowers like this Cardamine glanduligera.
Lori S. (not verified)
Nice to see flowers, Sandy
Fri, 03/21/2014 - 7:47pmNice to see flowers, Sandy and Trond! Our snow was almost gone after a warm spell, but now it's back again... so much for spring! I had one Bulbocodium vernum bud visible on Wednesday, buried again now... phooey.
That Cardamine is lovely. Not something I've ever seen here. I'll have to look for seeds.
Longma (not verified)
I agree with you Lori, the
Sat, 03/22/2014 - 7:56amI agree with you Lori, the Cardamine glanduligera is a lovely plant. Under what conditions does it like to grow Trond?
Here Spring is well underway ( although it only started officially two days ago ! ), and parts of the garden are coloring up nicely,
I hope all of your gardens will soon emerge from winter also,
Trond Hoy
Lori S. wrote:
Sat, 03/22/2014 - 10:22am[quote=Lori S.]
Nice to see flowers, Sandy and Trond! Our snow was almost gone after a warm spell, but now it's back again... so much for spring! I had one Bulbocodium vernum bud visible on Wednesday, buried again now... phooey.
That Cardamine is lovely. Not something I've ever seen here. I'll have to look for seeds.
[/quote]
Lori, I'll look for seeds when the time comes!
Hope the spring soon finds its way to you also.
Ron, here Cardamine glanduligera grows at the same conditions as Anemone nemorosa and that clan.
Seems your spring is a little ahead of mine
The oxlip has just started flowering but the cowslip hasn't showed yet.
The leaves of Cardamine glanduligera look superficially a bit similar to Anemone nemorosa and it likes the same growing conditions.
Mark McDonough
Still just snow here.
Sat, 03/22/2014 - 8:31pmStill just snow here.
Fermi de Sousa
We'll be looking forward to
Sat, 03/22/2014 - 8:52pmWe'll be looking forward to the bounty which will burst out of the soil in your garden when the snow eventually leaves, Mark
In our garden there are sporadic splashes of color provided by bulbs such as Cyclamen graecum and Colchicums and Amaryllis belladonna cultivars,
cheers
fermi
Longma (not verified)
Hoy wrote:
Mon, 03/24/2014 - 4:04am[quote=Hoy]
[/quote]
I found Cardamine heterophylla at a plant fair yesterday, ( unfortunately no C. glanduligera ), so I'll be giving them a try Trond. Thanks for the pointers.
Surely Spring must come soon for you Mark ?
Richard T. Rodich
Still mostly a foot of snow
Sun, 03/23/2014 - 6:44pmStill mostly a foot of snow left here,but (unusual for us) the ground underneath has already thawed. So I expect a quick melt down, once warm weather comes.... if it ever does!
Nice cardamine, Trond. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any results from the cardamine seed (different species) you sent me. They were certainly healthy seed. I am thinking this winter will be extra favorable for ephemerals here. If get a chance, I will try to hand pollinate the wild Cardamine laciniata and see if that makes a difference.
Lori S. (not verified)
Thanks, Trond!
Sun, 03/23/2014 - 7:38pmThanks, Trond!
Both of your gardens are looking spectacular, Fermi and Ron - though reflecting opposite seasons. It's so nice to have participants from the southern hemisphere to enliven this site through "our" winter.
Trond Hoy
Mark, you'll soon catch up
Mon, 03/24/2014 - 11:25amMark, you'll soon catch up when the warm weather you usually have returns!
Fermi, nice autumn flowering bulbs!
Rick, sorry for the un-germinating seeds. When thinking of it I seldom find seedlings; the only exception is C, heptaphylla of which I find a few each year. Also the native C. pratensis self seed of course (it is a weed!). The last one easily grows from leaf cuttings too.
Ron, I have not tried C. heterophylla but several others. If you come across others like pentaphyllos, heptaphylla, enneaphyllos, waldsteinii, try them!
Enneaphyllos is the earliest one. It is already done for the year.
Longma (not verified)
Thanks for the
Tue, 03/25/2014 - 4:32amThanks for the recommendations Trond. I'll certainly keep an eye out for them,
Euphorbia x martini is brightening up a shady corner nicely here.
Claire Cockcroft
Warm weather in the last week
Tue, 03/25/2014 - 9:56amWarm weather in the last week brought out lots of spring flowers. Hellebores are just past peak, trilliums are hitting their stride, and the first erythroniums are showing color. Primulas and other early bulbs brighten up the whole garden.
The picotee hellebore came from JJ Flintoff years ago, before hellebores became the rage. Trillium kurabayashii has taken over large sections of the front garden. Pseudotrillium rivale comes in various color forms: 'Purple Heart', white, pink, pink spots, and a tiny one nicknamed 'Bird's Beak' by Betty Lowry. Erythronium americanum is always the first to flower.
Longma (not verified)
Wonderful plants Claire. What
Tue, 03/25/2014 - 11:40amWonderful plants Claire. What a lovely collection you have.
Thank you for pointing out that Trillium rivale should now be Pseudotrillium rivale. I had missed that 2012 change.
So nice to see Erythronium americanum leading the way again.
Longma (not verified)
From Afghanistan, Iris
Sat, 03/29/2014 - 6:51amFrom Afghanistan, Iris bucharica.
Trond Hoy
Ron, nice irises. I tried I.
Sat, 04/05/2014 - 1:00amRon, nice irises. I tried I. bucharica some years ago but they didn't last long.
Fermi de Sousa
Discovered these in bloom on
Sat, 04/05/2014 - 6:52amDiscovered these in bloom on a walk in the garden this morning!
Biarum davisii - garden gnomes
cheers
fermi
Lori S. (not verified)
Fermi, the Biarum certainly
Sun, 04/06/2014 - 4:39pmFermi, the Biarum certainly are cutely bizarre! I assume the foliage is out in spring?
Hmm, I had Iris bucharica for a while too. Have finally gotten around to ordering it again this year, and planted in better drainage, perhaps it will hang around longer.
Our snow is nearly gone since it started warming up on Friday - just some icy ridges here and there... and finally some signs of life. Robins have just shown up this week, rather late to our yard this year. (Just as well - I hope they stayed somewhere warmer until now.)
At long last, Bulbocodium vernum in the front yard; the bleached and rabbit-chewed flower on top was about to bloom before it started to snow again a week or so ago:
Some promising buds in a trough that I replanted last summer - Pulsatilla vernalis and what is supposed to be Townsendia nuttallii (not sure if the leaves are correct for it):
Astragalus loanus still hanging in there, even the wimpy smaller seedling, which seems to have taken hold:
A couple of Glaucium flavum aurantiacum have survived the winter; another in a different bed looks crispy though:
Eritrichium howardii with green growth starting:
Pulsatilla patens buds:
Looking pretty dreadful but alive - Calceolaria biflora:
Fermi de Sousa
Hi Lori,
Tue, 04/08/2014 - 12:45amHi Lori,
yes, the foliage emerges after the flowers. Here are the flowers the following day
cheers
fermi
Tim Ingram (not verified)
What a curious little plant
Tue, 04/08/2014 - 4:05amWhat a curious little plant Fermi - only seen this at Shows. And nice to see the Astragalus loanus and Eritrichium howardii, especially the latter as it begins to show signs of new growth. I grew this quite a few years ago and it is just like Edraianthus pumilio over winter, hardly a sign of the resting buds.
This a trio in pink at the moment, three good plants for a raised bed: Thalictrum orientale, Matthiola scapigera and Ptilotrichium spinosum.
Claire Cockcroft
Hello, All,
Fri, 04/11/2014 - 8:50amHello, All,
Sorry to be slow in answering your nice comments on the trillium -- I just got back from two weeks in Greece.
You have good eyes, Gordon, to spot the four-petaled trillium. I hadn't noticed that before. I will look around and see if there are others.
I have grown and bloomed Iris bucharica for several years now. It has spread and makes a nice early show. I'm growing it under a deodor cedar on a south-facing bank. A strange location but it satisfies the iris.
As for Erythronium americanum, it is situated in a very sunny spot that stays fairly dry in the summer. It comes up, blooms, sets seeds if I hand-pollinate, then disappears for the rest of the year.
...Claire
Lori S. (not verified)
Cockcroft wrote:
Sun, 04/13/2014 - 7:22pm[quote=Cockcroft]
I have grown and bloomed Iris bucharica for several years now. It has spread and makes a nice early show. [/quote]
Enviable, Claire!
A bit more spring-like here... between bouts of snow, anyway.
A few crocus popped open this weekend; Pulsatilla vernalis in bud; buds on Synthyris platycarpa; water hawthorn (Aponogeton distachyos) in the greenhouse:
And here's a traffic-stopper... Arabis androsacea ;-) Well, it's early...
Tim Ingram (not verified)
The Arabis is delightful
Mon, 04/14/2014 - 1:19pmThe Arabis is delightful Lori - full of buds and growing well in tufa. We have it in the sand bed but so far I can see no flower buds this year. Several plants that are flowering: Iris pumila 'Dozzey' (from the Czech Conference & Garden visits last May), Dianthus 'Conwy Star' (a superb hybrid from Keith & Rachel Lever at Aberconwy Nursery), and Pulsatilla rubra 'Eva Constance'.
Fermi de Sousa
A few flowers worth looking
Thu, 04/24/2014 - 6:11amA few flowers worth looking at in the garden as we wind down towards winter,
Narcissus viridiflorus
Oxalis palmifrons
Narcissus obsoletus
cheers
fermi
Toole (not verified)
Lovely to see all the colour
Thu, 04/24/2014 - 2:58pmLovely to see all the colour in your gardens folks.
Fermi what a great patch of Narcissus viridiflorus , foliage of my pot full are just coming through the soil, whether I can get them to flower in this shade garden is another matter........
Narcissus obsoletus is a stunner.
Cheers Dave.
Trond Hoy
Fermi wrote:
Fri, 04/25/2014 - 11:25pm[quote=Fermi]
A few flowers worth looking at in the garden as we wind down towards winter,
Narcissus viridiflorus
Oxalis palmifrons
Narcissus obsoletus
cheers
fermi
[/quote]
Fermi, your winters are probably warmer than our summers!
Nice autumn plants, I especially like that Oxalis! I have read that it is hard to flower in the garden but you seems to have no problems with it.
Trond Hoy
Lori, I like that Arabis
Fri, 04/25/2014 - 11:30pmLori, I like that Arabis androsace! When does it flower at your place?
Lori S. (not verified)
They are just starting to
Sat, 04/26/2014 - 10:06amThey are just starting to bloom now but will be in full bloom through to mid-May or so.
Pulsatilla patens; first Hepatica nobilis; crocus and Puschkinia:
Trond Hoy
Lori, is the spring on time
Sat, 04/26/2014 - 2:07pmLori, is the spring on time at your place or later than "normal"?
Some plants from the garden yesterday.
Cardamine heptaphylla is one of the Cardamines still in flower. An unnamed Erythronium in the wood.
Some rhodos are already finished but several are in bloom now. Here are 3 of the dozen or so in bloom yesterday.
Osmanthus X burkwoodii is a charming shrub which perfumes the garden. An unnamed Oxalis species with huge flowers.
Lori S. (not verified)
Spring is 2 or 3 weeks late
Sun, 04/27/2014 - 3:20pmSpring is 2 or 3 weeks late here, I'd say. Oh well, things catch up quickly... or will when it quits snowing! It snowed all day yesterday but melted today.
Physochlaina orientalis, from seed last year;:
John P. Weiser
Spring has been springing in
Tue, 04/29/2014 - 5:29amSpring has been springing in the Great Basin for the last month. Here are a few high lights. I hope you enjoy them.
Longma (not verified)
Enjoying them very much,
Tue, 04/29/2014 - 9:55amEnjoying them very much, thank you John. Hope you can post more.......
Trond Hoy
Very nice, John! I do enjoy
Tue, 04/29/2014 - 11:48pmVery nice, John! I do enjoy them all but that Polemonium is splendid! Does it get big?
I have built a new rocky place in my garden where I will try cacti. I have planted some already. They have been there for about a month and looks good so far.
The place is not finished yet.
For the first time in my garden: Calanthe discolor in flower! It survived last winter but that was actually no match except for the wind and rain.
John P. Weiser
Hoy Polemonium Confertum is
Wed, 04/30/2014 - 1:04pmHoy Polemonium Confertum is one of the high elevation species found in the central Rocky Mountains. It grows at altitudes ranging from 9,000' - 12,000'. At these high elevations it reaches around 6" tall. In my 4,500' elevation garden it will get 8-10" tall.
Lori S. (not verified)
Wonderful photos, John! Is
Wed, 04/30/2014 - 7:10pmWonderful photos, John! Polemonium confertum used to put on a good show for me but is down to a couple of sprigs that I keep hoping will revive!
Trond Hoy
Weiser wrote:
Sat, 05/03/2014 - 1:24pm[quote=Weiser]
Hoy Polemonium Confertum is one of the high elevation species found in the central Rocky Mountains. It grows at altitudes ranging from 9,000' - 12,000'. At these high elevations it reaches around 6" tall. In my 4,500' elevation garden it will get 8-10" tall.
[/quote]
Thanks John!
Lori S. (not verified)
Hoy wrote:
Thu, 05/01/2014 - 8:32pm[quote=Hoy]
I have built a new rocky place in my garden where I will try cacti. I have planted some already. They have been there for about a month and looks good so far.
The place is not finished yet.
For the first time in my garden: Calanthe discolor in flower! It survived last winter but that was actually no match except for the wind and rain.
[/quote]
Wow, that rock garden is looking great, Trond!
The orchid is amazing. Admittedly, I know nothing about orchids - to me, it looks like something that should be too tender even for your zone 8-ish!
Lori S. (not verified)
Corydalis solida 'George
Fri, 05/02/2014 - 10:18amCorydalis solida 'George Baker':
I had also bought one 'Beth Evans' (pink) but they all seem to have turned out to look the same, as above.
Claire Cockcroft
The meconopsis are starting
Sat, 05/03/2014 - 12:57pmThe meconopsis are starting to bloom. Meconopsis delavayi and one of the fertile blue group.
Trond Hoy
Lori S. wrote:
Sat, 05/03/2014 - 1:27pm[quote=Lori S.]
Wow, that rock garden is looking great, Trond!
The orchid is amazing. Admittedly, I know nothing about orchids - to me, it looks like something that should be too tender even for your zone 8-ish!
[/quote]
It survived last winter which was very mild, and it remains to see whether it will take a serious winter!
tropicalgirl251... (not verified)
Hi everyone
Sat, 05/03/2014 - 6:57pmHi everyone
I am following the active forum everyday and enjoying all the garden pictures.In saskatoon the weather is still very cold with snow on and off.The plants are just poking out.I have some pictures from my garden. They are not that great compared to others.
krish
the first picture is Aquilegia jonesii .The small plant is in a trough ,survived 2 winters. Last year it had three flowers. I tranplanted another seedling closer to this one and that is also coming up.
The second one is Bulbocodium vernum. They are a week late this year .
Third one is Erythronium sibericum I got as a small bulb two years ago from Frazers. It is still small. The reason being that I have transplanted it to the new place since It was suffering in its old site.It looks Ok now. Hope it multiplies .
Lori S. (not verified)
Great to hear that spring has
Sat, 05/03/2014 - 7:12pmGreat to hear that spring has sprung there, Krish! It started snowing last night and has continued all day here!
Looks like your erythronium photo didn't get uploaded - please try again. You can just go to your posting and click the "Edit" box at the bottom to upload the photo from your computer, then "Insert" it into your message. You'll get the hang of it! :-)
tropicalgirl251... (not verified)
HI Lori thanks.
Sun, 05/04/2014 - 6:58amHI Lori
thanks.
Lori S. (not verified)
A bit of a damper on things
Sun, 05/04/2014 - 9:59amLovely Erythronium, Krish. Very different leaf colouration from Erythronium dens-canis (the only one I grow) - no sign of buds on mine yet, but I was pleased to find one of the seedlings that I noted a couple of years ago, some twenty feet or so away from the original plant, still present.
A bit of a damper on things here...
Trond Hoy
Looks cold, Lori.
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 12:51pmLooks cold, Lori.
But your plants survive, I hope!
Trond Hoy
Some plants from yesterdays
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 12:05amSome plants from yesterdays walk.
Corydalis buschii and an unnamed blue one. A branch of Clematis alpina is flowering in the dense shade under the yew.
Geranium tuberosum and a Euphorbia. Pieris 'Forest Flame'. Ranunculis amplexicaulis
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