GBBD 5.15. 2019: A day late

I spent GBBD in the garden: planting the things that have been sitting in their pots waiting for the rain to stop. I also managed to plant almost everything that arrived yesterday. We had a few gorgeous days at the beginning of this week; so everything flew out of my head except playing in the garden.

Imagine my surprise when I caught up with your blogs last night and discovered what I'd missed. I snapped these photos under a very gray sky early this morning before the next round of rainy weather began.

TRILLIUMS

If a plant does well in my garden, I tend to plant all its variations. This is the mother Trillium grandiflorum that was here when we arrived. I'm guessing it was a gift to the original home owners from their neighbors who often brought back native plants when they went to their cabin up north. I've taken clumps from the edges of this plant to start two others in the garden that are doing well. 

This Trillium is so happy in my garden that it planted itself in the dry clay where the trackhoe drove to create our pond. 

Trillium grandiflorum 'Flore Plenum' is such a slow grower that I may splurge and add a second plant to this little clump. 

Trillium luteum

Trillium sessile with a nameless Primula sieboldii and emerging foliage of Cimicifuga racemosa 'Brunette'.

EPIMEDIUMS

The Epimdiums that have been in my garden since the 1990s are now big swaths which I think I love even more than the pricey specials that I've bought over the years. 

E. rubrum grows along both sides of the driveway.

The flowers tend to appear barely ahead of the leaves but they still make a statement.

This group is mostly yellow and white varieties that have been divided over the years to create this large mass. 

There is quite a variation in leaf size and coloration as well.

E. grandiflorum ssp. koreana 'La Rocaille' from Harold Epstein's garden of the same name is planted with an unknown orange-flowered variety as you go around the corner in the above photo.

E. 'Domino' has barely started to bloom while others are almost finished flowering. 

E. x youngianum 'Pink Star' is a smaller variety which makes it perfect for the front of the border. 

E. grandiflorum 'Lilac Fairy' is a fast grower that I have divided many times over the years. 

PRIMULA

Primroses are one of the plants that I started growing before I kept track of the names of everything in the garden. I have drumsticks and candelabras and the lovely P. veris. This group  includes P. kisoana on the left and P. sieboldii 'Drag Queen' on the right.

A nameless pass-along P. kisoana from a gardening friend. 

P. juliae 'Wanda' which I bought last weekend at the plant sale of Rita Thomas, whose beautiful garden is a local treasure. 

Since Rita's plant had a name tag, I was able to identify this one already growing in my garden as another variety of P. juliae. That's Epimedium 'Crime Scene' in the background. 

Comments

[Kris P]

I'm glad you didn't just let Bloom Day pass unobserved. Swaths of Epimediums! That's my idea of garden bliss. I may throw logic out the window and plant an Epimedium in the fall on the off chance that all those experts are wrong about their climate range.

[Lisa at Greenbow]

Your garden is looking mighty good. I love all of those epimediums. It is amazing how many different ones there are. Primroses are so cute. Those vibrant colors make spring sing.