What do you see on your garden walks?

The "sedums" are doing really well this year after all that summer rain we got! This is one of the Hylotelephiums, possibly "Autumn Joy"

Clematis "Golden Tiara" is also still looking good with new flowers adorning the silky seed heads,

A native "Bluebell", Wahlenbergia stricta is liking conditions in a sand-bed

A rather pale cutie is this Linum tenuifolium grown from Seedex 2010(?)

which I'm hoping will re-seed.

cheers
fermi

Trond, I live in the land of fog and it can get darn depressing day after day.  having said that, I could use some now as fog is great at melting snow...and we still have scads of that!  It has been sunny and 8 C this past 2 days so the snow is settling but there is just so much on the ground...still about 3-4 feet over most of my back yard.  I actually dug out my crevice garden as I am desperate to see some soil!

Todd wrote:

Trond, I live in the land of fog and it can get darn depressing day after day.  having said that, I could use some now as fog is great at melting snow...and we still have scads of that!  It has been sunny and 8 C this past 2 days so the snow is settling but there is just so much on the ground...still about 3-4 feet over most of my back yard.  I actually dug out my crevice garden as I am desperate to see some soil!

Todd, fog is not uncommon in spring when the air warms and the sea still is cold but fortunately we are spared the worst as it tends to be more foggy at the other side of the fjord and nearer the coast (the fjord runs south - north here and I live at the east side).

Cohan, is yarrow a native plant at your place? Here pink (light pink, not dark) yarrows are not uncommon, especially at our cabin in the mountain where I am now. Not much snow here - 3/4m I think. Haven't had time skiing though, the sewage is frozen further down the valley and all the neighbors "spent food" has found it's way up through our toilet -  the floors of the bathroom, toilet and entrance flooded with..... Have done the worst cleaning job ever!

And I can't comment on Fermi's pictures, I can't see them!
(Trond, Fermi's photos have been fixed - Mark McD.)

I know the snowdrops I show here are very common, but they are the harbinger of spring in my garden, followed closely by Crocus vitellinus, and this year Colchicum kesselringii that a friend sent last fall, is blooming now too.  The yard and gardens are still covered with an 18" glacial layer of hard-pack ice, but in a couple spots, such as the warm sunny south side of the house, snow receded and a few bare bits of ground can be seen, and much to my surprise, there were snowdrops!  Nice :D

Cohan, I'll show you pictures of the yarrows - but you have to wait some months ;D I haven't pictured yarrows, they are ubiquitous!

Nice to see snowdrop, Mark. I'll take a look at mine when I've time and it is sun!

A little walk in the garden between the showers - rain - hail - sleet! Got an inch of white stuff last night and early morning but it thawed during the day.

The snowdrops dropped a little by the weight of the white stuff and a Helleborus thibetanus takes it time to flower.

The Hellebores in the wood fared better and the snow receded quickly. Some Crocuses struggle, not with snow but with old leaves.

cohan wrote:

Congratulations, Trond--spring finally arrived for you! It'll be a while yet here, so its good to see some photos from elsewhere ..

Thanks Cohan! But spring comes and goes here and is slow in progress. The spring does last to May :o We can still get snow and sleet :(

And here it is starting to feel like autumn with the "late bulbs" like Lycoris coming into bloom,
Lycoris elsae

and the red one we grow as L. radiata but which I'm told isn't!

The colchicums are also doing their stuff: Colchicum cilicium (pale form) is slowly clumping up

cheers
fermi

We've just been through a toasty week and lots is coming into bloom: there are a bank of daffodils out on the parking lot of the gardens in full bloom, and the first Magnolia stellata opened by the Botanic Gardens house and the first corydalis are out (of course I forgot to photograph all these!)...but there are enough things to give a taste of the blustery steppe spring on the Colorado piedmont...I start with Bulbocodium vernum, which seems to do well in a variety of sites around Denver Botanic Gardens: I neglected to photograph the little dark pink forms of Colchicum szovitsii that have just opened at my house (much daintier). Two shots of my best Cyclamen coum--one with back lighting and the other not. These have finally found a shady site they like. Then there is the ever charming Eranthis hyemalis: can one ever have enough of this? The Fritillaria raddeana alarms me by its early bloom: I don't think we have as attractive a form as I've seen in pictures: it is rather greenish. Our F. imperialis are just breaking ground and this is in full bloom: makes me nervous since we are sure to have some more very cold weather. And Christmas roses have been blooming for months and they are now turning deep reds as they set seed....I've barely scratched the surface! I will have to do another post!

I have just posted ten pix, and they were not enough! Way too much is already blooming. I have over 30 different kinds of things in bloom at home, and the Gardens are exploding! The Galanthus are starting to go over in more exposed spots (although there are still a few patches of snow in the darker corners where they'll be coming up for some weeks to come!) The first picture is of a giant form of Galanthus elwesii I got from Don Hackenberry 30 years ago! The next is a more typical form that has naturalized at the gardens...and the nivalis 'Viridapice' which I find to be quite vigorous. I have a special spot in my heart for reticulate irises, and this seems to be a banner year for them. I have two shots of Iris danfordiae, which seems to perenniate if you can keep it dry in summer (we grow it in groundcovers or grass to achieve that). I have 'Katharine Hodgekin' all over my garden (I blogged about it recently as well: there's quite a story about it:http://prairiebreak.blogspot.com/2011/03/whats-in-name.html). And I include closeups of 'Harmony' and 'Pixie' two of my favorite dark blues. We have drifts of 'Harmony' on a steep slope with blue gramma grass where they are quite happy. I guess you will miss my pix of early Muscari, townsendias, hellebores galore, a bevy of early drabas, and so on and so forth: the new year is rushing headlong and dragging me with it. There's nothing like early spring! (Or is it late winter?)

Fermi wrote:

And here it is starting to feel like autumn with the "late bulbs" like Lycoris coming into bloom,
Lycoris elsae
cheers
fermi

Fermi, great fall color, as we're just starting to emerge from under a mantle of snow and ice in the northern hemisphere.  I love the white Lycoris, a genus I have not succeeded with yet, in spite of getting some bulbs from Mr. Lycoris himself, James Waddick.  The name Lycoris elsae is probably referring to Lycoris elsiae Traub, Pl. Life xiv. 43 (1958).

It is a perplexing entity, this elsiae, and here are some links I found that help provide clues to the mystery:

[pbs] Lycoris straminea, houdyshellii, and L. elsiae:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/pbs/2010-September/038606.html

"Some authors describe that Lycoris albiflora Koidzumi is a natural hybrid of Lycoris radiata (L’Héritier) Herbert and Lycoris traubii Hayward"

Found a link for Lycoris albiflora, a species from Korea and China, with the synonym of Lycoris elsiae Traub
http://flowers.la.coocan.jp/Amaryllidaceae/Lycoris%20albiflora.htm
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200028053

All I could do here is raise questions, sorry, I don't have any answers, just not very experienced with the beautiful genus Lycoris.

Panayoti, your spring season seems so much more advanced than New England, I'm so jealous.  Today it suddenly warmed up and reached 60 F (15.5 C), but it seemed semi-stupid as most of the yard and garden are still covered with a 12" thick (or thicker in places) mantle of snow, the ground still frozen beneath.

Of your floral spectacle, I really liked Galanthus nivalis 'Viridapice', such drooping elegance (and it actually looks different than many snowdrops). ;)

Now I've seen plenty of photos of Iris danfordiae, that elfin golden yellow reticulate Iris, but interplanted with glowing orange Sedum rupestre 'Angelina', sheer brilliance!

And the shot of blue pools of Iris reticulata 'Harmony' amidst the pale amber of dried grasses, who would have thought of such a combination, double brilliance!

Today it was suddenly very warm, almost summer like, after such a long spell of cold and freezing weather.  The snow has receded from a few areas where spring bulbs are plants.  Yesterday, a patch of ground where Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus was planted, the receding snow-pack revealed flattened buds of this crocus squashed and lying miserably under the weight of the snow, but today with the warmth, they all popped open.

Stepping away a little bit is a reminder that winter snow is still predominant; we'll need a number of such warm days to melt the snow-pack layer.

Here it is back to square one - 10cm of wet snow this morning! But as the ground no longer is frozen I hope it will thaw during the day. This is quite normal for March weather though.

Fermi, wether it is Lycoris radiata or not don't matter to me! It is a nice plant anyway.

Kelaidis, you do not lack plants! I believe you have a lot of sun in daytime but that you experience freezing temps during nighttime?

Hoy,
    We get over 300 days of sun a year (more than Cairo and Athens! They have more clouds in winter than we do)...but we get frost until May. We often have Magnolias crisped...although the coming week is supposed to stay mild. I would be surprised if we don't get some very cold days still this winter.

Lori is way ahead of me too, here near Minneapolis, Minnesota.  No gardens' soil is showing yet, although there are spots of grass showing in the yard.  But the big melt is on here too, and the three bridges over the Minnesota River closest to me are expected to closed by mid to end of this coming week due to flooding!  Makes me feel very fortunate that I live on the same side of the river as where I work.  Many fellow employees will be driving an extra 20-25 miles each way to get to work.

Rivers' flooding is expected to be very bad here this spring.  The city of Grand Forks, MN on the Red River (flowing north) has stock piled 1.5 million filled sand bags.

Ryvarden lighthouse. It has been a beacon here for more than 1000 years. You are not allowed to drive but have to walk a few miles along the road. It is popular by all kind of people particularly in the summer.

View north and east across the open sea "Sletta" and the "Bømlafjorden" fjord. Here the weather and the sea can be very bad. You can see the snow covered mountains in the east.

it is mostly heather and grass growing here. No early springflowers! The kinnikinnick is very common here Lori ;)

cohan wrote:

Oh, Rick, you are in one of those areas! I talk to lots of Manitoba folks in another forum, they are watching the rivers too....
Luckily, there is really nothing much around here that could flood--we get water standing in fields and roadsides, that's about it..even if the rivers in Rocky Mtn House or Red Deer did flood, it would be very local...

The Red River flowing from Minnesota and into Manitoba is especially prone to flooding because the drop in elevation per mile is so little.  It takes a long time for such flat areas to drain.  The Minnesota river is not as bad, but historically is a river with large natural fluctuations in volume.  It's really quite a spectacle to view the river at spring flooding from atop a river bluff, when you know what a "trickle" of water it becomes in late summer.

My little piece of land is at the top of the highest hill for  for miles around. (But you would never realize it just be looking at it.)

Skulski wrote:

I'll bet you're glad for that hill, Rick!

My higher elevation really doesn't matter as I am 15 miles from the river: the last half of the Minnesota River (maybe 100 miles?), the river bottom is pretty much flanked by low bluffs, and that general elevation is then maintained throughout my area.  Many towns are situated in the river bottoms, however.

Spring is springing a bit too quickly: our star magnolia is nearly in full bloom at the gardens (pix in my camera still)...but I have a enough pix from the last week to share: sunny and bright every day. The skies have forgotten how to rain! Oh well...at least we have lots of snowpack so we can water to our heart's content for a while...

Snowdrops and Helleborus niger going over, as are the earlier crocuses. Lots of daffodils are out as are the first tulips. I love this time of year! Fritillaria raddeana is a new one for me: what a beauty! Looks a lot like F. imperialis, only a month earlier, and a cool chartreuse. I am curious to see how it will fare with our inevitable cold snaps we shall get for the next few months eventually! I am not positive about Crocus versicolor: it may be C. veluchensis: can anyone weigh in? I've missed several of the spring colchicums already: they are a variable lot.  I finally found a spot Trillium nivale seems to like: now I need to get some more! Aaah Spring...from here on out it's a roller coaster.

Panayoti...Aahhh Spring indeed!  An awesome start to the season.  I'm fixated on your Fritillaria raddeana in its ethereal chartreusiness and brooding black tree-trunk-like stems :o :o :o :o  Nice going with Iris nicolai outside too!  As I'm writing this, had to dash outside to see if there's any sign of Trillium nivale in my garden, but the snow only just receded from the east-facing slope it is planted on, and no signs of life yet, the ground still frozen.

Aside from crocus and other early spring bulbs on the sunny and warm south side of my house, there isn't much else brewing significantly just yet... the ground needs to warm up a bit, a couple cold days with some snow causing some delay.  As the snow recedes, I inspect the extent of tunneling and mice/mole/vole/shrew damage to the yard and garden areas.  Activity is greatest in the fall, and I generously "fed" the tunnels last fall, but still see remnants of activity.  All has been tromped down and raked over; any new signs of activity will be dealt with.

Where snow has melted away from troughs, there are signs of growth, a couple Draba ready to pop blooms.  I am struck by the winter foliage color on Globularia repens 'nana', a plant I bought from Harvey Wrightman, with micro-tiny leaves that are about as black as any black-leaved plant that I know of.  It gives me an idea, a planting of this Globularia, with the blazing orange wide-spread goblets of Crocus gargaricus piercing the flat mats of Globularia goodness.  Is this the same as G. nana (a valid name), or is it truly a microform of G. repens?
http://www.wrightmanalpines.com/details.asp?PRODUCT_ID=G072
PS: the labels in my troughs are scheduled to disappear, after I document maps of each trough. :)

I spied a seedling of Sedum rupestre 'Angelina' that seeded into the pure gravel of my deck stair landing, looking mighty coral red. :o

Wow! That sedum is mighty red: wonder if you have an even redder form (if it came from seed): it might be worth growing alongside typical Angelina to see if it is a redder form...

Iam posting a link: I'm starting to do a short TV segment on a local TV program. You can at least see what I look like in it@

http://www.kwgn.com/lifestyle/green/

I must have taken over 100 pictures today at the Gardens and at my home. Tomorrow I visit Sandy Snyder and her fabulous grass garden.

McDonough wrote:

Panayoti... I'm fixated on your Fritillaria raddeana in its ethereal chartreusiness and brooding black tree-trunk-like stems

Reginald Farrer is alive and well and living in Massachusetts!!!  ;D    Beautifully descriptive phrase, Mark ... I didn't even need to look at the image!   :D

Panayoti ... your multifarious talents are wasted on such basic material  ... please convince the television company to reach out to a more educated and appreciative audience (i.e. the alpine fraternity).  :D

Don't worry, Cliff: I will be slipping lots of alpines into the mix!

Kelaidis wrote:

Don't worry, Cliff: I will be slipping lots of alpines into the mix!

alpine peas... astragalus and such ;D

Things are slowly but surely plumping up and showing hints of lively color.  In a trough, Penstemon breviculus leaves remain evergreen all winter, typically with a winter burnish of red, but the color seems more pronounced now.  Buds on a misnamed Draba (of the D. hispanica type) await a warmer day to pop their first blooms.  The Penstemon in flower can be seen here: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=300.0

Townsendia rothrockii buds are swelling with promise:

I've shown Crocus gargaricus with blooms wide open, but I do find the unopened golden dumplings visually amusing, popping straight out of the ground without leaves, anchored to the ground by whitish cataphyllls (basal bracts); not sure why but they conjure up an image of woman's lipstick and make me smile.

Mark, I think your spring is doing fine! Here it is almost standstill but that is quite normal.

I can't say that I miss the snow anymore!
The snowdrops have flowered for a while but when I came home today after finishing work the sun still shone and I could picture the flowers open!

In the woodland Rhododendron moupinense has opened it's flowers too.

I had six inches of wet snow a few days ago, and the Iris suaveolens is again covered.  But the sun is more intense now, and things are melting even though it hasn't gone above freezing.

Fargesia rufa popped out of the snow two weeks ago, and I am surprised how good it still looks.   Usually, as soon as it is exposed to the elements in late winter/early spring the foliage begins to dry.  I believe it is because the ground is already at or near the thaw point.  Most winters, our soils freeze at least 2-3ft deeper.

Thuja koraiensis (Korean Arborvitae) with last season's cones, and showing the white lower surface of its green foliage.

Thujopsis dolabrata var. hondai, the most cold hardy form, seems to be doing well here in zone 4a.  It is interesting to note that this one's foliage turns darker in winter, while Thuja koraiensis foliage turns slightly lighter.

A little rabbit damage on Lespedeza bicolor.  This is an area where the wind whips through, and blows a good portion of the snow away.  In the photo is a yardstick for comparison.  This is the first time anything has eaten the Lespedeza.  Usually the rabbits go after the shrubby willows (untouched this year!) and the Leitneria.  It took several years before that Lespedeza bicolor decided it wasn't going to be a herbaceous plant any more.  Mama is a 9ft.  shrubby tree in Chicago.

I have to say, Lori, that your Dracocephalum looks way better than mine ever does after the snow melts.  Bravo!  (and very cute)

Trond, Rhododendron moupinense is one of the few rhododendron species that can do well here.  My place is too dry for any rhododendrons, and I am a terrible waterer during the summer to boot.

This is what I see this week in Aberdeen, North East Scotland..... too lazy to take my own so I stole the pix from Ian's Bulb Log!

M

Lori, I guess the Eranthis are about six or so inches high now... they always get much taller as the flowers fade.....making a really nice green patch for a while... before the next batch of plants get going.

Maggi, your garden looks terrific!
Here the Eranthis are eaten before it reaches even a centimeter!

Rick, I had a Lespedeza but the summers are too cold so it never hardened off and froze each winter.

Thank you, Trond. We are fortunate not to have rabbits, voles or deer in the garden. Only some mice and a million slugs, snails and caterpillars . :-\