Rainy Tuesday

Rainy day here.  I shouldn't be surprised that my two young dogs bring all the wet and mud back inside with them.  Ah youth. 

Excited that February is almost done.  The first of the crocus (yellows for me) are blooming. 






The long foliage hanging over the crocus belongs to sternbergia lutea.  It will disappear soon, not to be seen again until fall. 




Note how the crocus foliage appears snipped.  It is indeed and my guess would be rabbits.  Rotten things.  My cats are getting older (they'll be 12 this spring) and prefer being inside most nights and especially nights like tonight when the weather is unpleasant (cold and windy rain).  I can't blame them; however, it's been many years since I've had to deal with rabbits...thanks to them.  Let's hope they get back on the job soon. 



A couple more, popping out from the old daylily foliage. 

Below, some hardy cyclamen looking a little weather-worn...




Finally, a personal harbinger of spring...larkspur seedlings.  These are offspring of some from the Mary Washington House days.  I look forward to them every year.  There were so many weeds in this area, that I had to really pay attention when weeding not to inadvertenly yank them out, too.

Here We Go!

This wacky winter has turned into a surprisingly early spring. The calendar may still say its winter (and, of course, there could...shudder...still be some weather ahead...) but the plants outside aren't listening (or is that reading? ha).

The daffodils are beginning, the earliest since I started keeping records ('06) and I suspect since we came back here to stay ('99). And, like every year, I get all excited about the snowdrops and crocus. Really, (smiling) these would all get lost in the explosion of late spring to summer flowers so I always applaud their cleverness in being such early bloomers.

Before I forget, the two sold out ones from Temple (as of Jan. 17) are Blonde Inge and John Gray. With that, below are pictures of Scharlockii and Viridapice which look similar to me except...and it's kind of a big except...Scharlockii is a tiny little thing at 5" (I don't even think mine are that tall) and Viridapice is larger at 8". However, they do look quite a bit different from the other snowdrops I have...

Scharlockii...


Viridapice...


Fragrant shrubs are doing their thing...it's glorious if I do say so myself...all my daphnes are blooming now, the two in the back as well as the front one, Alden's Regal Red...pictured below...


Even my S.C. tea olive is getting in the show...


Those tea olive blooms are mighty tiny, but mighty powerful in fragrance...so wonderful to have it and the daphnes going....

Always a very reliable early bloomer, my Pink Dawn Viburnum is going strong...


Another diminutive flower, iris reticulata....


One more note before I end with the obligatory crocus pictures...I've removed four varieties of daffodils from my garden, sadly stricken with daffodil virus. As those who have been with me for a while know, I collect daffodils. Listen, listen, listen...only buy from trusted sources. These were all rather common varieties, so, thankfully, should I decide to replace them, it shouldn't be too hard. Actually, I think have most of them duplicated, already, now that I think of it. Let me just say that should you most unfortunately see this in your garden...be ruthless! Do not hesitate...because it will spread. I have had to learn this lesson twice: first with my oriental lilies and now. I'm optimistic that I've got it under control and will watch very closely a couple other varieties that are somewhat near where I removed these from. If I see any sign, out OUT OUT they will go. No mercy.

So, here we go....




The above ones are a named variety, Lilac Beauty.

With that, we should see Cream Beauty, yes? Cream Beauty is usually the first one to bloom here...

Signs of Spring...

Up next, an almost hidden little patch of crocus....their bright color shines through the leaves...


Leo...getting into practice for spring, I suppose...

Flowers!

Yesterday (021811) brought the first of the crocus....this variety, Cream Beauty, is always out early. It's such a welcome sight, though.

I have them planted on four corners on a bed with each corner slightly sloping down. What happens is that they apparently drift down, either on their own or due to movement(s) in the soil caused by planting, pulling weeds or...animals...Ha. A lesson I never learn is that the four corners refuse to bloom at the same time. These are blooming on the more southerly perspective.

It also never fails that when the early spring bulbs start blooming that I always...always...wish I had planted more. It's just that in fall when you need to plant them, I'm getting weary and ready for the garden to go to sleep. I did, however, plant more of the general mixed variety crocus, so I'm excited to see and hopeful of a good showing from them.

Even though I know there's still more winter ahead (sigh), it's great to enjoy these moments when we think spring is finally on its way...

The crocus aren't the first flowers for 2011, that honor belongs to the snowdrops...with more coming along....

The very tiny and common nivalis are increasing for me and I'm pleased to see a bit of a drift, something I've waited years for...


Interesting to look at this same group from a different perspective....


Also very tiny, but hopefully this one will get larger as it settles in (only the second year here)...

Scharlockii


As you can see, this one is called Don's Big Seedling (still waiting on that 'big')...


Here's Straffan...odd how one got away from the group...however, the other two varieties planted nearby are just barely out of the ground...


If you're wondering, that scruffy looking stuff is a creeping phlox...

S. Arnott is supposed to be large, too...but isn't here...yet...wish I had planted them all together...they'd make a better showing that way...


Just for perspective, here's Limetree (which I've shown before)...it's one of the larger ones for me...but I don't think we'd call it large by any stretch of the imagination....(and notice how nicely I have now mulched here...lol)...


Finally, my girl Riley was out enjoying the warm weather, too. She's doesn't really like having her picture taken and averts her head when she sees the camera.

Hellebores and Happy Crocus

Still working on capturing the hellebores...


Here are the two seedlings I showed the other day...now we can take a little look inside...


The one above is a little more green in person.


My pride and joy double pink...from the 'old' Heronswood and my one visit out there...


I really have to get a better picture of it...especially when it covers itself with blooms. I keep adding doubles (small plants) and so far, I haven't had much result from the them. It can take hellebores a while...plus, my learning curve...I did learn more last year about how to grow some of these very small starts of hellebores we usually get sent...from a very helpful vendor on Dave's...


This one is not quite so red...just caught the light coming through it...



This white one had a hard winter, but it is pouring out the blooms...it's still struggling out of winter, so there's some damage...


I had been wondering where this iris was...yearly, I have a nice little group of them....at last, it shows itself...and we see the problem(s)...the creeping phlox and the sedum have taken overtaken it...


These crocus remind me of a chorus singing...


Here, a few 'singers' stand out...




There weren't planted by me (below), but it does make you wonder...


It's kinda fun finding them popping up here and there. Could be all kinds of 'help' at work.

Tiny nivalis...


****
The weather was wonderful yesterday. I took some advantage and got a few things done. Among them...don't laugh...some lingering daffodils still in the garage. We shall see what they do...better than a total loss, I hope.

(Laughing to myself) I think I take some of these same pictures every year. I never tire of them...each spring, I so look forward to everything...changes, some new additions, but often the comforting reassurance of the sameness. I like faithfulness.

2010: It Begins! ....Season of Blooms

Yippee!


Despite rain since Friday and ongoing today, here we have the first daffodil bloom of 2010!
This is Topolino, a diminutive daffodil of sweet charm and early bloom. I check my spreadsheet for last year's first bloom on this group of Topolino and discovered it was 030809....perhaps our nasty winter with heavy snow is at work here.

From Daffseek, it is 1 W-Y, very early and dwarf (less than 12.8 inches)...

Because I am that way (grin), I checked the spreadsheet to see who else was blooming this time last year (but not this year...) and I was surprised to find it was the faithful Ice Follies....who are a bit behind...and several not-what-they're-supposed-to-be-ones.

I have another little patch of Topolino that was blooming this time last year, but not this year.

Being a somewhat lazy gardener....I like it when my plants gift me. Here are a couple hellebore seedlings that are notable because they are blooming! It takes a while for hellebore seedlings to get to blooming size. You can see they're not huge...yet....and that they are nestled amongst the pink Roman hyacinths....which, by the way, increase a hundred times faster than the blue one does...and should be blooming very shortly (the pink ones are among the earliest hyacinths to bloom)...but, I digress....


One is a quite nice dark dusky bloom and the other is pale pink with an interesting green streak in the flower that almost looks star-like (to me). Fun! I will have to ponder this growing season where I might relocate the hellebore seedlings. They deserve their own area. I see that they're not...at least yet...(probably unlikely) facing upward as is the current and nice trend in hellebores. Breeders are striving for those flowers because we folks that buy them like seeing the flowers. However, the hanging nature of the flowers has served them well. It keeps the pollen dry on rainy days like today, making it more likely seed will develop...which is the whole point (from their perspective).

Hopefully, I'll have more hellebore flowers to post as they seem to daily be improving and shaking off the winter. I'm not in a hurry since hellebore flowers can persist....until June...at least in my garden.

I had intended to photograph the split in the daphne Alden's Regal Red, but my picture was not what I wanted. However, in this one, at least, you can see it is about to burst into bloom. You'll note it doesn't have the margins of aureomarginata....nor quite the fragrance, in my opinion. Maybe it will change my mind this year.


Update: Look what I found...a picture of the brokenness...from 022810....hence the icy snow...


This was the little patch of crocus where just one flower was open the other day (the one with the pollinator in it).....now, look...


Crocus are so cool like that. They're shut tight with the rain right now.

When I last looked at this little group, there was only one of the golden yellow ones open...now...


Just because you might be wondering, the iris reticulata are holding up pretty well in the rain...so far....I do think I might dig up these little clumps and move them. They were part of the driveway experiment that was so disastrous...


Finally, while Kobe and I were out dashing in the rain taking pictures (We had to! A daffodil was open!), I turned around to find this...


The cats clearly had no intention of getting out in the wet. Loyalty...dogs have it...they'll follow you anywhere....cats, not so much.