Wayne Winterrowd

While online last night, I happened upon some sad news. It seems that Wayne Winterrowd of the famous North Hill Garden and partner/spouse of Joe Eck has passed away. The link to North Hill Garden in the previous sentence will take you to their homepage where you may peruse a number of remembrances.

Since I love garden books, that was my first introduction to the them. However, most of their books are now only available on the secondary market...checking Amazon, the prices have skyrocketed, I am sorry to say... I do own Our Life In Gardens. The title delights me. It sits on my nightstand (with others) where I like to pick and choose at will.

I feel especially privileged to have heard them speak....first up was Joe Eck and then Wayne Winterrowd closed out the program. It was at a now-defunct Horticulture Seminar....click here to read about my experience...(I actually got around to it! Yes!)

Anyway, I just wanted to add my condolences and express my sadness at the passing of an extraordinary gardener.

Two Years Strong!

Imagine that. Who would have thought it! Two years ago on a whim I decided to share my garden and, okay, bits of me with the world. And, we're still here...the garden and me! Both of us have changed some, expanding and retracting (probably more expanding than retracting, but let's not go there...), a little older, maybe a little wiser (maybe), more colorful and more adventurous, but...most of all...enriched by trying this blogging thing and meeting all of you. Really! It's been more fun than I expected (I mean, I didn't expect fun, but hey, I'll take it!).

Since I'm no computer whiz (yes, you know that), I won't entertain you with fancy graphics or whatever they might be called. I'll just keep on...doing whatever it is I do. Which means, I think, I'll talk about what's going on in my garden, what garden-y things I'm doing or seeing and especially those gardens I visit. And, speaking of that....(great segue, don't you think?)

Did you miss me?? I've been gone....however, I have lots to share with you! (I know, that file keeps getting bigger and bigger...so, I guess you'll just have to hang with me until I get around to it all...right?) Three new-to-me gardens are waiting to be shared, i.e., Portland's famous Japanese Garden, The Oregon Garden, and, my favorite of these, I think, The Bishop's Close. Of course, I went shopping (need you ask)! But, I was very restrained and only three (okay, four) plants came home with me...and some wonderful Oregon grown Dahlias (who can resist? not me). If you know Portland, you know about Powell's...so, yes, a few garden books begged to come home with me also (even a few cookbooks...oh right, that's the other blog...the one I will get back to one of these days). So, see, there's lots to talk about.

And, I haven't gotten to the Horticulture Symposium I attended before I left...can't wait to tell you all about that! A few things are coming up in the future (it never ends...or at least, I hope it doesn't!...it is Garden Education Season, after all!) and there's all that other stuff still waiting...

For grins, here's last year's anniversary post (there actually was a second one) and my very first one.

Because you expect it (don't you?) and because there are a few things to look at....here's what I found upon my return:

My second crocus to bloom (the first was already spent)...not the Cream Beauties I usually have (think they went along with the tree I had taken out...):


Those Snowdrops that were just poking out are going strong (and some others are now peeking through):


The Hardy Cyclamen that had just a couple blooms now has a nice little group:


Daffodils are putting up foliage all around, but I think these are the first buds I've found:


Yesterday, I was out doing errands and I happened upon a feeding frenzy at a local grocery store. People snatching at flowers (tisk, tisk, those of you who waited until the last moment...)...it was quite entertaining...and then I spied some tulips...quite cheap, too...and I just had to jump in....



Worth it, yes? A little blogging anniversary present to myself! Here's to a new year of garden adventures!

January....Witch Hazels

Today I realized that I hadn't walked my garden in I don't know how long. I've missed it. Normally, I walk it at least twice a day, but I suppose I felt it was winter...and certain areas of my garden are difficult to access when the ground is messy (as it can be in winter). January is full of surprises. Two weeks ago, we had temps in the 70s...night before last, down to single digits. If I'm confused, I can only imagine how some of the plants must feel.

Sure enough, I did see a few that had tried to break dormancy. I patted them and talked to them (don't you?) and reminded them to hold off for a couple months, tempting though it might be. Let's hope they were listening.

Sam accompanied me on this walk through the garden.


(He looks so sweet here, doesn't he? Don't be fooled...I mean, he is sweet, but that demeanor hides one fierce hunter.)

He and his brother Leo are going through some difficulties. It seems they prefer to operate in shifts with me or else they fight (over me??).

Sam discovered the Ponytail grass (stipa) that I had written about previously. It has actually been planted and I wondered how long before he would find it! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera for that part of our walk. Too bad, as it is hysterical the way he 'plays' with it. I hope these two survive his attention.

Well, it was in the backyard that I found today's surprise(s). Look what was just beginning to unfurl its blooms!


A witch hazel! Alas, an unscented one that will remain nameless as it is not the promised variety from the vendor at the plant sale several years ago. Still, I like it and we all have these plants we become fond of without knowing their details.

Seeing that one, I thought about my other....and realized it must, too, be in bloom.


Even with my nose in less-than-perfect-smelling-shape, I could smell the fresh clean scent from this one! Too bad I didn't see it sooner, as gathering by the spent blooms, it's been in flower for a while. It resides in the bottom of my backyard...an area that doesn't get much attention and tends to be damp and muddy this time of year. I pretty much let the stuff down there take care of itself...and always think that I'll get to it one of these springs. Yeah.

I felt much better after my little stroll. Just like meditation or maybe yoga or even exercise, for some of us our gardens renew us. Note to self: try to remember this! I don't want to miss any little thing that goes on in my garden.

*****
I really will get back to Chanticleer (and other places I still have to share)...

Catching Up

I feel as if I have some catching up to do…then, I remind myself that one of the joys of blogging is not having constraints. You do what you want to do when you want to do it.

I happened across Kim's aka Blackswamp_Girl’s post on Not In My Garden. Quite clever and interesting (Love your new header, btw!). It reminded me a bit of the phases one goes through in gardening which I wrote some about here. Not exactly, you understand, but the whole idea of what one wants and doesn’t want is a changing process. Things you thought you’d never like, a few years down the road become appealing…and things you thought you’d always like become uninteresting. That’s life.

I do appreciate the mention. I’m always happy to find someone has included me or linked me or whatever. Funny, though, while I am unabashedly a daylily enthusiast, it, too, is a learning process for me. I am enjoying the journey. Daylilies, for me, are like surprise packages…never the same, endless possibilities…and, at this point and time, they hold my interest. If you were to walk around my garden with me (ignoring the weeds, naturally), you might be surprised to learn that there are many things here besides daylilies. Some represent different phases of gardening interest, some remind me of travels and events, and some are just whims.

It amuses me a bit that the wandering salesperson or campaign volunteer or whatever-reason-one-might-ring-a-doorbell-person, just about always will ask me the question: What are all the tags for? Note, they are not visible from the street, for the most part….you have to come inside my yard (that gardening in thing). Most are not familiar with daylilies on a scale of this magnitude but just about everyone understands collecting with a passion.

As for me and my gardening phases, I have certainly felt changes in the last few years. This year, I made very few of my garden expeditions to nurseries here and there. I’m out of room, for the most part, but have found that I don’t have a lot of wants, plant-wise, anymore. I mean, I can still be tempted, but I’m better (ha) at resisting. I like the whole shopping and buying thing, but don’t like the sitting-in-the-shady-pot-ghetto-all-summer and then finding more than a few have not appreciated that. I mean to get to them. Somehow, time gets away from me and I get to this point where it is a race to get them into the ground (no longer in fighting form after their long summer) because the whole storing them in the garage thing just doesn’t work for most.

With the drought, it seems pointless to buy plants (except daylilies…okay, most of those have been in the works for quite a while)…it’s enough of a job to try to keep watered (by hand) those that aren’t established. Fortunately, most (not all) of the established plants seem to be hanging on through this extreme lack of rain.

But, back to the point. (I know, you wonder, does she really have one?) I don’t really look at plants, plantings, gardens, etc. with the same eye I used to. There was a time when I would zero in on the unusual, odd, new or just plain different plant and think “I’ve got to have one.”….and, in most cases, I got it. I didn’t really care if it wasn’t exactly suited to my environment, I just wanted the pleasure of growing (or trying ) it. Jokingly, I have called various gardens of mine, “The Test Gardens” because I didn’t really know if what I planted would make it. I learned a great deal that way. I think I liked challenges.

Now, (here it comes) I don’t really look at things with an eye of “Not in my Garden”. I just appreciate it or them for what it is. Interesting. Clever. Wild. Spectacular. Peaceful. Unusual. Whimsical. Hard-to-care-for (the Better You Than Me category). It’s just pleasurable to experience it. I now know that I probably will never have a Japanese Garden (like Kim), but I enjoy very much visiting one.

I think I can thank Felder Rushing for some part in my evolvement. I laughed so much during his talk (which I wrote about here)…and I appreciated the things he showed without having to experience it myself. Which I kinda think is the essence of Kim’s post. She can experience and appreciate others’ choices without having to have them herself. And vice versa. That's major...actually, a really nice phase to be in! I’m just saying that, for me, I have learned to never say never.

*****

More tomorrow. Really.

Official Start of the 2007 Outdoor Planting Season

...has begun for me! Now, before you think I'm unaware of our last frost date, I'm not. I'm also not planting anything tender. Okay? But, that doesn't mean that there aren't things I can go ahead and get in the ground.

Starting with one daylily (Licorice Candy...spot was ready and waiting, a most unusual event in my most crowded yard) and a nice little thyme, 'Archer's Gold (Thymus citrodorus) that joins four other assorted thymes under the saucer magnolia.

From there, I moved on to a few things I have bought to use as ground covers. If there's anything I'm interested in this year, it's ground covers! (Besides the usual plants I am gaga over...but you know what I mean.) I am flat out tired of weeding! And, I still have so much chickweed in the backyard....I've made quite a bit of headway in the front, but oh...the back! Anyway, I've noticed in a few areas where I have some ground covers (like creeping phlox, now in bloom), they fill the space instead of weeds...Eureka! Or at least mostly, and as long as other things can come up through it (like bulbs), we can have a happy partnership!



I've decided I'm into some of the tiny sedums for this purpose. I've found a few and today planted one...although, I may have to move it as some indicate it may not like full sun...hmm...anyway, it's Sedum makinoi 'Ogon', a most fascinating yellowish one.

Next, I planted two (I know, I know and I'm thinking of getting a third one) golden creeping speedwell, Veronica repens 'Sunshine'. These are part of the Stepables line and I would be happy to have them cover some area. Down from them, I put in an oregano 'Golden'. I might move that one, too...we'll see.

While I was dodging the on and off rain, the mail arrived. My snowdrops from Temple Nursery had arrived! They could not have picked a better day to arrive and I'm happy they didn't languish in the mailbox. I received two Straffan, four Nivalis Flore Pleno (doubles) and eight of the regular Nivalis. The enclosed instruction letter said to plant them right away...and so I did.


The letter also said not to attempt to grow them in pots (I didn't plan to) as only "very skilled gardeners" would have success that way. This got my attention (confession) because I had potted up some snowdrop bulbs that I found in my garage. They were, surprisingly, fine and not knowing quite what I wanted to do (the weather was pretty bad at that point), I dropped them into a pot. Four had sprouted (out of ten). I grabbed the pot and dumped them out (far be it for me to tempt fate) and proceeded to plant them around the crabapple. I discovered a few more were sprouting and one pitiful one was taking a long route to the top. Sadly, I think I damaged one in planting, but I guess that is still better than leaving them in the pot. I'm still amazed that they were viable after sitting in the garage all winter. So, any that make it will be a bonus, I suppose.



Then, I decided that it was high time to move some of the daylily seedlings out from under the lights inside and into planting boxes (and outside). Eventually, they'll find spots in the garden...probably after the iris bloom. I decided I needed one last time to see them, the iris, bloom before I move out a bunch of them.

Here are the few crosses that I've moved so far:

Mort Morss x Judy Farquhar (15 plants)
Women Seeking Men x Megatron (4 plants)
South Pacific x Michael Miller (4 plants)
Cry Me A River x Bird Talk (4 plants)
Alexa Kathryn x Tet Lavender Blue Baby (9 plants)

You do not want to know how many more I still have to go...lol...plus about four that aren't even planted! It's time, though, to put some other things under those lights.

****
It's raining much too hard to take pictures as I had intended (I should have yesterday!)...I'm sure other opportunities will occur...now, off to the p.o. to mail the dreaded taxes...

Garden Journaling

With a day last week in the 70s, never was the importance and benefit of my garden journaling brought home. All the hoopla everywhere reminds me how short our memories are. Thank goodness for the journal! There, in my pencil scrawl was an entry in early January of 2005 noting a temperature of 71.

I started semi-seriously garden journaling in 2003 and each year when I look back, I am so glad that I made the effort. Limited though those efforts are….(I have no entries for May, for instance…and very little through June and July…I’m in the garden during those times and writing falls to the wayside), they are a wealth of information. What a reminder to try harder each year.

It seems I start out well in January of each year and do a fair job through March…but as the garden picks up, my writing slows down. This year, I vow (like every year) I will do better.

This time of year, January, I enjoy a different kind of gardening. Gardening of the mind, I suppose. It’s a time to plan and reflect. I don’t know about you, but I need the rest, both mentally and physically. DH will often talk of moving south and will say something along the lines of “Just think, you’ll be able to garden all year!” It has dawned on me that I don’t want to garden (in that way) all year. I like seeing snow covering everything and realizing that the garden will manage without me. It’s another kind of pleasure to pull out the journal and favorite garden books (even some new ones). During the busy season of actual gardening, I seldom find time to indulge in feeding my gardening mind. I try, but I’m usually pleasantly weary from working outside or have a thousand ideas/thoughts/chores that take precedence. The physical garden calls me, even demands my attention.

For now, though, I can pleasantly dwell on the non physical aspects like putting together the online albums I desire (hundreds..no kidding…of pictures of Chelsea 06!), trying to make a dent in the stacks of garden books I collect, sorting seeds and even making a stab at organizing the piles of handouts, etc. that I bring home from lectures.

Speaking of snow, it looks like we might get some tonight! I’m ready….and I hope you’re ready to join me in making a better effort at that garden journaling.

Coming Full Circle

Some time ago, maybe even a few years, I read an interview/article with Peter Strauss (the actor, Rich Man Poor Man, Miracle Grow products, etc.) in a gardening magazine. Not really surprising, he is an avid gardener. Mr. Strauss talked about the series of phases a gardener goes through...I really wish I could remember them all...but it was something like the first one is where you're just excited about it all, plant things found in the garden centers...you know, mostly common things. Then, you move into the I-have-to-have-one-of-everything phase. From there, it's the collector's phase and a disdain for the common plants. Last, you're back to the tried and true, the faithful plants, and the plants which make your heart sing...whether they're common or not.

Okay, now I might have missed a stage or two or not expressed them exactly right, but you get the idea. Before reading this, I hadn't really thought about gardening in stages or the gardener growing through stages. However, as time has passed, I have felt that I have moved through stages, maybe even these stages.

For example, I'm definitely through the I-need-one-of-everything stage. For years, I enjoyed going on my plant expeditions, as I have liked to call them, searching out new plants, different plants, unusual plants, etc. I have a new appreciation for others growing these plants...in their gardens, in public gardens, or just on a fortunate garden visit. No longer do I feel the compulsion to source one out for myself and grow it in my own humble test gardens. I'm happy to take a picture of it or even just admire it.

So, where I am I? Between two stages, right now, I think. Still the collector in that I am daylily silly, although I sense the grand collecting in that area is cooling a bit (space, you know, is at a premium...and I'm eager and excited to work with seedlings). I also have a greater appreciation for plants that are easy to please, the workhorses that give and give.

Recently, I dug out four Rose of Sharons (harder than I thought it would be!), three butterfly bushes and two Fairy roses...and that's just to start. The barberries, the nandinas, the rhododendron that started this blog, a lilac, a witch hazel, and two snowball virburnums are also on the hit list. Some to clear space for my daylilies but some just because my infatuation with them has waned.

Fall is here now as I write this, finally finishing it up, and with this change in seasons, I am enjoying the changes in the gardener, too.

Just Say....Yes

It's impossible to just say no. They practically wave their new growth at me, fresh and lush, as I walk by. That blossom doesn't just attract the bees or other pollinators, but me. I stop, touch, and find myself stroking the leaves. Three new hellebores in bloom found their way into my cart. I had to use supreme will power to move along. After all, there were other things to visit. I mean see. Pausing over the Stepables, I chose some golden oregano to use in a difficult area between some stepping stones in full sun. Some Corsican mint might just be the ticket in shady spot where nothing grows (at the moment) and I use as a cut through.

I digress for a moment to say that some of the Stepables might be problematic for some. Be aware!

It was cold and windy outside. So windy, in fact, that I had to retain one hand on my cart at all times. I navigated around the few others out, mostly nursery employees. I share a nod with a fellow gardener. We're easy to spot out here.

I succumbed to the lure of a double white primrose. Maybe, just maybe it will persevere in my garden. Most primroses don't but I have managed to keep (just) a cowslip for several years now. In fact, I pulled the leaves aside and saw a few tiny sprouts from the cowslip just yesterday. In full bloom, that little cowslip is glorious.

A heuchera, Snow Angel, lured me over. I'm still grieving over one, a variety I hauled back from Washington State that didn't make it. Though this one isn't the same, I do love variegated foliage (who doesn't) and it will be nice addition to the little collection I seem to have going. I'm pretty sure I have Snow Angel already (Is it time to carry a list??), but not as beautiful a specimen as this one.

Another garden shopping trip ends successfully. But, no, there's more! There's a new tool to add, a lawndog sign (useful), seeds and even a variety of an oriental lily I don't have. This all catches my eye while on the way to the checkout.

Waiting in line, I overhear a magic conversation. "What are you buying with your master gardener discount?" I hear a helpful salesperson saying to the person ahead of me. Master Gardener discount?? My ears have perked up. Feeling bold, I ask, "Is that discount for all master gardeners?" I should tell you that I live two counties south of this one (nursery shopping knows no bounds). After a consultation, it is determined that the answer is YES. And, a nice discount it is, fifteen percent.

Can you think of a better way to spend a morning, I ask? Plant-wise, of course.

*****
Returning to work, we receive a delivery. This time of year is great as it begins to get busy in the nursery and plants arrive almost daily. This delivery, however, is one that catches my eye. The plants look very healthy and on the top row of one of the carts are...hellebores. I can hardly wait to put them out but make myself put out the blueberries, blue fescue grasses, some heucheras, a fragrant dianthus, etc.

Finally, it's the hellebores turn. I choose an endcap to display them as I cannot imagine people will pass them by. They are a Pine Knot strain, which pleases me. These are healthy gallon size pots in bloom at a bargain price. As I sort through them, I'm already choosing one for myself or maybe two. I'll be off in a few hours and if they're still there, they're mine.

Time passes and I'm off the clock and shopping. At home, the three hellebores still sit waiting for their new spots. Adding two more, I'm thinking will create an impact, especially with the ones already in bloom in my garden.

I had looked at the English roses, David Austin, no less, and there's one I don't have. If I've said one thing about roses, it's that I'm only buying own root roses from now on. Sigh. These look wonderful, perfect foliage. I can already see the one that will be my choice. Standing there, I try to think of every reason I can not to buy it. There's no space readily available and even the Eglantyne I cut back severely is beginning to show life, so it can't have that spot. I've already bought two New Generation roses that I thought would replace a couple grafted roses that don't make the grade. Is there another one I can replace? I give this serious thought. The truth is this is just a delaying tactic because I know that rose is coming home with me. Another resolution out the window. Make that two. Blown is the own roots thing and the I'll-know-where-it's-going-before-I-buy-it one.

And it's early....where will I be by June??

Anticipation

It's in the air. It's all around. Even Leo aka Garden Cat feels it. He met me as I rounded the corner, running out from one of his favorite spots. I've given up on planting anything there. The sprouting tulips, few white crocus and dianthus only go half way around the dogwood tree. The other half of that circle belongs to Leo. As he rubbed against my leg, I knew he was telling me that The Season is upon us.

Anticipation. Like Carly Simon's old song which kept humming around in my head, the garden has an aura of any day now, but has been making me wait. It's time to start the daily rounds (daily? Who am I kidding...at least twice daily, depending on my work schedule). Things are moving along and changing right before me.

So, as I walked with Leo, I was filled with it. Anticipation. I checked the peonies. We're up to three arising now, none of which has a peony ring. Note to myself to acquire them as I found last year that the ones I already have (five...note that none of those are up) out really helped corral and support the peonies.

I paused for a moment and looked back and down. Just checking around the Saucer Magnolia to see what bulbs are emerging. And there it was, the image you see above (sorry, still learning about photos and placement is apparently difficult for me): First Daffodil of The Season!! Note the date, March 5, 2006....it officially begins! Whether the calendar says it or not, for me, spring has sprung!

From here on out, I anticipate something new to see everyday! Now, I really think I just...gotta garden!

******

I have some other photos to share, but am having difficulty placing them. So, I'll try some individual posts.

Random Thoughts

It came! The mega quantity of Fox/Bobcat stuff is here! It's heavier than I realized and....stinks. Hmmm. I didn't recall the smaller quantities having an odor. It also didn't cover as much ground as I anticipated, but perhaps I was more generous in quantity than I needed to be. Anyway, my husband walks outside, sniffs the air, and announces "We have a skunk." Looking up from my perch where I am inspecting vole holes, I smartly reply, "It's fox/bobcat, of course." As if anyone could tell.

*****

The other day I went shopping with perfectly good intentions of buying shoes. A general mundane sort of task that is necessary. So, I ask myself, how did I end up in the department with ceramic pots and garden gewgaws? It's as if gardening is so ingrained in me that even the simpliest of tasks changes without any stream of consciousness. The pots were rather nice and reasonably priced. (I bought two. Shoes, I can buy any day, right?)

*****

Seed starting. I mean to. Well, I mean I have, actually. Lots and lots of daylilies are growing in my dining room. Hundreds, in fact. It's kind of like the lottery. Out of all these daylilies just may come something so spectacular as to turn the daylily world on its head. I won't find out for two years, the usual time frame for bloom for daylilies started from seed.

I've set aside a tray for planting other things. Tomatoes and peppers, some annuals, and a few herbs, the usual suspects. It's just that the daylilies have filled my head this year. Maybe I will just buy these things, these ordinary backbone-of-the-summer-garden plants. Maybe not. There's still time.

Last year, I wintered sowed many things. More than I got around to planting, I'm ashamed to say. The past two years, I enjoyed putting my seeds for all kinds of things into milk jugs and other containers and letting them do it all themselves on my deck. It's easy (lots of information on gardenweb in the winter sowing forum).

This year, you may have guessed it...the only seeds I've winter sown are...daylilies. Daylilies on shelves with lights (the more pampered ones) and daylilies in windows are the indoor cousins of the poor ones outside. I was informed by my family that the lights on the daylilies in the dining room can be seen from the road outside and clearly are lighting the way for aliens from outer space. Well, maybe daylily loving ones.

*****

One of my favorite things to do before going to sleep is to read. While I love a good murder mystery, I don't like to read them then (because I will stay up all night reading, for one, and second, because I like pleasant dreams, not who-done-it worries). My favorite reads at bedtime are garden books. Or garden magazines, if I'm really tired, as I can just enjoy the pictures. I truly do dream of flowers and gardening. I'm considering writing about some of my favorite garden books here. For a while, I did little garden book reviews for our local master gardener association newsletter. It began to feel like a chore or a school assignment that was due. Pretty silly as it was strictly voluntary. I'll think about it some more.

*****

Reminder to myself to work on posting pictures. I gave it one little unsuccesful try. I have a few pictures of the early crocus, the snowdrops and the hellebores. Oh, and the snow from that other weekend. It seems I can only post one picture at a time? There must be a way to post them all. Gotta get in picture taking shape! Spring will be bursting out here before I'm ready (with the camera).

Sam (the cat) is sitting here. He reminds me that other things and events demand my attention. The daylilies in the dining room haven't been checked for at least...what...a couple hours? Okay....until later....I gotta garden (even if it is in the dining room).

Can It Be Saved?

My last rhododendron is on the critical list. Full of buds, it is preparing for another glorious season. However, the voles have other ideas. Since they first appeared several years ago, voles have become my gardening nightmare. Last year, I used a product that was powdered/dehydrated fox/bobcat urine and it seemed to keep them on the move. The dirty secret is that voles return. Mr. Fox/Bobcat must be applied fairly regularly to keep them on the move. I noticed the first holes several days ago. Only this morning did I order a large quantity of my weapon...shoulda, woulda, coulda that I had done it immediately upon seeing the holes.

Now, I have more holes and their racetracks. Worse of all, this rhodo is leaning out over the walkway, something it has never done. Attempting to push it back, I could feel the give. Sigh. Last year, they destroyed a Carol Mackie daphne. Daphnes are notorious for not liking their feet disturbed. Having their roots eaten combined with the rodents' tunneling was more than it could take. Sadly. The fothergillia that struggled until I finally decided to put it out of its misery showed terrible damage when I dug it up. Nasty, nasty voles.

My two cats, Sam and Leo, are good hunters. Their first year, they alone were enough to send the voles scurrying. Now, either the voles are in larger quantity or they are distracted by other critters to hunt or...who knows...maybe sleeping inside in the warmth and a full belly has made hunting less attractive. At any rate, as of today, the voles are winning.

Rabbits are still a problem, but not nearly to the extent they were before the arrival of Sam and Leo. In my yard, the rabbits have radar for the saffron crocus. It must be especially delicious and they had no trouble finding the new patch clear across the yard. One of my small Japanese maples has had the ends nibbled on and a new dianthus from Heronswood (more on that in another post) that was doing fantastic, now has been nibbled almost to the ground. Will they survive? The Japanese maple most certainly will but it needs to get some height on it to keep it out of their range. Grow, grow, grow. The dianthus, only time will tell if it can come back from the severe munching it has endured.

So, on this day when spring is attempting to break out, I am reminded that gardening is about more than just the beauty and delight it brings. It's also warfare.

Did I mention that I saw my first daffodil blooming? It was yesterday at the MWH where things are always a bit of ahead of my garden. It was a single solid yellow bloom. As you might imagine, it stood out like a beacon.

The daffodil was a nice reminder. There is joy in the simple pleasures and delights of gardening. But for me, it's back to the war. The voles have issued a challenge.

Even with the voles, you know, I still just .... gotta garden.

Gotta Garden

So, I did it. And here it begins...a place to journal, discuss, exclaim and celebrate all that gardening brings to my life. A place to think aloud...scary, maybe, but I'm ready to try.

Today. A beautiful, glorious day to be outside. Perfect weather. Roses to be pruned and magnolia branches to clean up. Last weekend's storm was not as benign as it seemed. It turns out there's six bags full, four of magnolia and two of rose prunings.

Still, there's time to walk around and see what's popping up. The first of the crocus are blooming, a pale yellow variety that is always early. Surprisingly, a yellow-orange variety with dark stripes on the outside of the petals also has a couple buds open. I don't remember them and part of me wonders if they are the result of seedlings. They are in an area with mixed crocus, but the color is new this year.

The snowdrops continue to hang on. They've been out for a couple weeks. Three patches this year and it reminds me that I'd still like to add a couple more.

Some of the hellebores are blooming. A white with purple splotches and a deep burgundy are returns from last year. New this year are two grown at Pine Knot Farms. One is especially pretty and is from the Pine Knot Strain. I purchased them after hearing the owners give wonderful lectures at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden a couple weeks ago.

Sweet box, daphne odora, viburnum Pink Dawn are about to burst into bloom. The two witch hazels are blooming. The supposed-to-be yellow which is a rich orangey color and my fragrant yellow are not fazed by whatever weather nature brings.

Earlier, part of this perfect day was spent at Mary's House. Mary Washington's House, that is, in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia. Volunteering in her garden is satisfying on so many levels. The other gardeners are enjoyable and interesting. Holly the Horticulturist is a wealth of information and makes everyone there feel they make a valuable contribution.

Okay. That's about it for today. This is a learning process and I guess there's nothing like getting started. My husband suggests the name of my blog should be Got Garden?...like, of course, Got Milk. Maybe. All I know is I just...gotta garden.