What do you see on your garden walks 2014?

There are advantages to being a lazy weeder

I was weeding yesterday and found two Saruma henryi seedlings: the only two I've ever seen.  I don't know that I would have noticed them, had I not let them grow to a recognizable age.  They aren't anywhere near the parent plant.  They have an interesting growth pattern. 

There are two glabrous cotyledons, then two hair oval leaves (juvenile leaves?) that at least appear to be arranged opposite.  And then growth explodes with the true leaves and form.

Iris graminea and friends, Thalictrum aquilegifolium, Pulmonaria 'Silver Streams', Gentiana tibetica, Lilium michiganense, Impatiens glandulifera, lots of weeds.

Abelia mosanensis  is hardy here with a most wonderful fragrance.

Back on June 5, I found this caterpillar on Antennaria rosea subsp. pulvinata (formerly Antennaria neglecta var. gaspensis according to Flora of North America).  It was 3 mm long and produced a strong web "roof" for protection as it lived in the growing points.

It has turned out to be a Vanessa sp.  June 19, it is now 4 cm.  Surprisingly, they have not done much damage at all to the plants.  It makes me wonder what they are eating!

One of the winners from the enormous amount of extra rainfall I've had this season: Gentiana tibetica and Gentiana septemfida

Oops!  Almost missed seed collecting - Iris reichenbachii and Draba rigida var. bryoides

Anthericum racemosum and Ruellia humilis

Deinanthe 'Blue Wonder' and Deinanthe caerulea

Accidentally pulled up some Thalictrum thalictroides tubers.  Aconitum lamarkii

Hakonechloa macra 'Albo Striata' and Jovibaarba heuffelii

Manfreda virginica.  Flowers are quite out of the ordinary.  The stamen filaments always seem to have these uniform bends initially, that straighten as they age.

Trond, the Impatiens species seed you sent me in early 2013 didn't come up until this year. Well worth the wait.

One of our native asters, Symphiotrichum sericeum, and Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers'. Colchicum x agrippinum

Hystrix patula, Aconitum lamarkii.  Thalictrum coreanum produced seed this year for the first time in nine years.  It is a dioecious species and I only have one clone, but this year it must have produce some perfect flowers, according to Aaron Floden (his best guess).  It interesting that the same thing happened in his garden this year, too.

All impatiens are annual for me.  I don't know the species of the lavender one I just showed.  Trond sent me seeds labeled as Impatiens sp. when I asked for them.  They are certainly not closely related to glandulifera, which have whorled leaves and fat pods.  The lavender sp. has alternate leaves and and long,  narrow pods, like I. balfourii, which I also grow.  I only had namchabarwensis for a few years.  While the others reseed massively, namchabarwensis was quite sparse, and I just didn't keep it going.  Loved it when I had it, though.  I did have a problem now and then, with a "sudden death" symptom, like a wilt.  I've never seen it on any other impatiens, except namchabarwensis.  It does seem to need the warmth more than balfourii and glandulifera.  In the nine years I have had these two species growing amongst one another, they have never produced any hybrids.  I use to have the pink form of glandulifera (from a different source), but I kept weeding it out in favor of the white that I like far better.  Glandulifera grows 5-7ft in my not so moist garden.

Saruma henryi, one week after several freezing nights and one at 24F.

And Allium sacculiferum (past its prime - second pic 10 October)  and A. thunbergii 'Ozawas' and alba, still blooming nicely.

Hamamelis virginiana blooms in late fall and produces its seed the following fall.  Liriodendron tulipifera had the best fall color ever in 2014, but has now dropped its leaves.  Cotinus obovatus usually has spectacular fall color, first turning maroon, then red, then red-orange.  This year it was only red-orange, and only for a week instead of the usual 2-3 weeks.

These abnormal seasons that we all seem to get now can really change the comparative growth chronology of species.  My Kentucky Coffee trees (Gymnocladus dioicus) seen behind the American Smoke tree (Cotinus obovatus) normally drop their leaves long before the Cotinus, but not this year.  For the first time in 24 years, my Tetradium(Euodia ) danielii  actually had some fall color.  Leaves always froze green on the tree in the past.  Who knows, maybe this spring I'll get some normal looking flowers for the first time.  Yet, the haskaps (Lonicera caerulea) had poor fall color, and the lilacs that usually hint of color in these long falls showed nothing this year.  Perhaps 5% of the leaves on my bamboos ( Fargesia rufa ) were deciduous this year.  That's never happened either, in their six years with me.  "Normal" for me is to have most of them dry up in early spring.

Here is a funny little fungus related to a puff ball -- an earth star that showed up under a big rhododendron.  It's the first time I've noticed one at home, though I have seen them in Greece on occasion.