Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, July 2012

Isn't this lovely! I WISH it was my garden but my garden looks more like the photo below

Hosta do not like the heat or suddenly
becoming a sun plant!

While there are a few plants blooming in my yard this month, most are looking rather weary and fried. There are an assortment of coneflowers, helenium, phlox all seeming to "deal" with the drought and heat conditions. Most are looking more like the beleaguered hosta and hydrangea that comprise the majority of my landscape planting. The front is especially hard hit from the loss of the birch tree earlier this summer and are waiting eagerly for me to decide on the replacement tree to once again make them shade plants. (Sorry little plants it may take a few years to get that much shade again)

'David' Phlox in the foreground, and a pink one behind.

Various coneflowers and helenium

Hydrangea 'Little Lime' just getting going.

So meanwhile to escape the heat, well escape it to another location of heat, my cousin and I took a trip east to Pennsylvania to look at some much happier gardens. In four days, including drive time from Indiana we saw two Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes, Longwood Gardens, including a fabulous light installation by Bruce Munro, Chanticleer, and Phipps Conservatory. I'm not sure whether these delighted our senses or caused depression at the sight of our fried gardens. They were enlightening and were all well worth the copious amount of dewy complexion we under went while viewing.

Chanticleer Asian woods garden

They are all wonderful places to visit and we saw many other places we would like to visit as well in addition to visiting these gardens again when it cools down.

Chanticleer great lawn

Longwood Bruce Munro, exhibit

So if you haven't been here's a few teaser pictures.

Longwood Children's garden sunflowers

And who wouldn't love this for
their vending machine!

Longwood's Idea Garden was full of wonderfully colorful
plants that didn't seem to mind the heat at all.

Phipps Conservatory

Phipps Conservatory

Phipps Conservatory

Phipps Conservatory

Spring Forward… way forward it seems.

Siberian Squill

Here just, like much of the rest of the country, spring has erupted with a blast. I fear there won't be anything left to bloom once spring actually arrives!

Spirea 'Ogon'

The record temperature today just caused my Siberian Squill to pop out of the ground and into full bloom in less than a day! I've had this little clump for several years and each year I dig a few up and move some around the yard. Cold and snow don't seem to dampen their spirits but I thing them must be particularly fond of the current weather they way they are blooming this year.

Hellebore 'Ivory Prince'

Just to the right of the Squill is a newly planted little Spirea 'Ogon'. I had one here several years ago but one particularly bad winter did it in and for years I wasn't able to find another one. Last year I happen to be driving by one of the local nurseries and there sitting in their display were just two of them. One wild right turn later this little baby was in my car and ready for planting. I noticed the other day that it is covered with buds with a few of the sweet little white blooms starting to show themselves.

All of my Hellebores are in full bloom, finally, lagging behind some of the others who've been posting their lovely blooms. Last month the Royal Heritage Strain was out in abundance, as were several others but this little Prince was holding out. But he's out there now!

Out back the usual suspects are showing their happy faces. The daffodils are now coming out so by another week of this I should have a full backyard of them. They are all intermixed with lots of other perennials so the foliage can wither down. However I'm just too much of a neat freak I guess I end up cutting them back :(

I don't usually get both beautiful hellebore blooms right beside my daffodils! Maybe by next month I'll have hellebore blooms and hosta, that occupy that bare spot in front of them. Maybe even the daffodils will still be in bloom, who knows.

I've always loved Heathers and have for the most part just considered them annuals in my yard but I just keep hoping one year one will make it thru. I guess if it was going to make it this would be the year. I bought one last year at Lowes, on sale, in anticipation that I probably wouldn't see it this spring but I noticed buds this weekend when cleaning out the bed and today while taking pictures I see they are beginning to open up. So maybe I'll get to enjoy it for another year.

One of my really old clumps of crocus is also up and blooming profusely. They too have been transported all about the yard with transplanting. Currently the crocus are replaced in a month by Hosta 'Shade Parade' so I will have nice round little leaves with spikes for a good portion of the summer! A fun contrast.

Lastly this one lone little spring beauty has popped up in one of my perennial beds. As a child I recall our back yard just covered with these each spring. It was a site and so when it showed up last year it made me happy. I need to find some more of these and cover the back easement with them. Something to beautify it in the spring!

So that's about it for May, I mean April, oh no I mean March. What month is it, anyway!



 

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - February 2012

Well I guess it's time to get back to this blogging. Work has slowed just slightly so February 2012 Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – thanks to Carol Michel of May Dreams Gardens for it's creation – seems to be the perfect reason even though there isn't a lot blooming in my outdoor garden.
There are lots of snowdrops, Galanthus, in bloom and standing ready for the hint of sunshine to open their blooms and and gather it in. They are the usual harbingers of spring, up and blooming long before anything else is up in the garden. I love that the bulbs are so easily distributed. I will frequently dig them up when rearranging the perennials in the beds and just move them along with the plant that is being relocated. The squirrels and other bulb snatchers seem to leave them alone as well.

One, albeit small, advantage of living in a zero-lot line edition is that you can often have conjoined gardens, such is the case with my current northern most neighbor. We consider our back garden as one continuous bed, there is a simple fence on the property line, an addition I added some years ago when the current resident in her home was less than concerned about anything happening in his backyard. When the house with it's blank-slate landscaping was on the market, she decided on it because of my yard. She knew she had someone to learn from and turn her emptiness into a beautiful garden, which she has done. So while these daffodils are not "technically" in my yard, I consider them part of my yard! It's funny that these have chosen to bloom so soon as they are not protected by anything. All of the others around our yards are just up and waiting for a little more warmth.

 

My Hellebores are also ready and waiting for that little added dose of warmth so maybe the anticipated warm-up over the weekend with be just what they need to finally break open and bloom.

Helleborus 'Mrs. Betty Ranicar'

Helleborus 'Pink Lady'

I certainly have an abundance of blooms. Waiting are Helleborus orientalis, Helleborus 'Mrs. Betty Ranicar', Helleborus 'Pink Lady', Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' and others.
They are one of my favorite perennials because the have interest all year. They are great with my hosta, are shade tolerant, and the deer don't care for them, although deer aren't a problem for me.

Phalaenopsis

For now I can enjoy my inside blooming plants. I hold over a number of annuals thanks to a couple of light carts. One I have had for over twenty years now and it lives in my garage. It has a snug fitting cover that keeps everyone quite warm even on the coldest of days. So there are cuttings from various non-hardy specimens, many happy to bloom all winter for me, various geraniums, Gerber daisies, begonias, and, of course, my orchids. I've been very fortunate that several have produced multiple blooms year after year.

Phalaenopsis and Mini-Oncidium Passionata Red Galaxy

A Dragon Wing Begonia and Fuchsia in bud

For now this will have to suffice for blooms but with this unseasonably warm weather approaching I am excited to see what March's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day will bring.