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This morning's weather is windy, rainy and the temperature is currently 48°F. This gardener is spending the day indoors. I'm looking forward, however, to a warm weekend which should make the garden explode with blooms and the gardener explode with joy.
Cimicifuga racemosa 'Chocoholic' emerging through Primulas (below).
Trillium sessile starting to open.
This is only my third vase this month. Gray days and a week of overnight freezing temps have kept my garden in stasis. Last year we had snow during the last week in April so I shouldn't complain. Yet, looking back, I see a greater variety of flowers in my vases than are blooming this year at the same time.
Our neighbors have a huge old Forsythia 'Beatrix Farrand' growing next to our fence. We convinced them to prune it rather than cut it back as we love it coming through the fence into our garden. Along with the Forsythia twiglet, I clipped some Euonymous and stems of Spirea 'Golden Thumbellina'.
But the stars of this display are the daffodils, N. 'Beersheba'. This daff was introduced by Rev George H Engleheart in 1923 when he was in his 70s. It became popular, as the first all-white trumpet daffodil of its size, according to John Grimshaw. In fact, the flower emerges with a creamy yellow trumpet that fades to white. According to Old House Gardens, where I bought my bulbs, this variety "won high praise from Guy Wilson, the century’s greatest daffodil breeder, as 'a flower of arresting beauty and outstanding purity.' " I totally agree.
Linking to Rambling in the Garden, who hosts this most enjoyable Monday meme where you can see all sorts of spring garden flowers in vases.
Given the fact that time is the one luxury I have plenty of at the moment, I decided I should start one of those projects that I've been thinking about forever. Over a number of years, I have used free and public sources to discover as much family history as possible. I now have three matching scrapbooks to compile all this info: One for my grandparents and prior generations; one for my birth family and one for the 30+ years that Mark and I have been together.
A few years ago I came up with a number of themes — school days, nesting, fashions, sisters — to help me divide up the photos and memorabilia into groupings that would cross generations. Each one got a labeled accordion folder housed in a computer paper box. That setup let me easily add things to the right group as I came across them. Most recently I started to go through all my old photographs to add the best ones to the folders. By the time I am finished, I will be ready to shred anything that doesn't make it into these folders.
In the pre-digital era, I organized all our photo prints and negatives in an archival storage system from Light Impressions. It is a great method for finding and preserving print images, even though the company has now gone out of business. When my mom died, all the photos she had amassed got evenly divided among the four Brazill sisters. Any photos that I don't use in these scrapbooks will be offered to my sisters and then disposed of. There are a lot of under-or-over-exposed photos, or just plain bad pix; no reason to hang onto them.
For the moment, everything has been put away while the garden calls. I keep waiting for a few rainy days to get back to this project but the rain keeps bypassing us for the most part.
I am thrilled Erythronium 'White Splendor' flowered despite a week of overnight temperatures below freezing.
I am equally happy that all five tubers I planted appeared; the start of a nice little swath of this beauty.
i would grow this variety for the foliage alone, even though it is ephemeral.
But I really wanted to see the flowers in person so I could add some other ephemerals to keep them company.
I love to see early bloomers in UK gardens, but it is much harder to create a similar scene in the Upper Midwest in April. Ed Lyons' recent post about Corydalis — on the WHPS FB page — spurred me to make a few purchases to befriend the Erythroniums.
Corydalis glaucescens 'Pink Beauty'
C. integra.
Corydalis solida 'Vermion Dawn'
Subtle variations on a theme. Hopefully not to subtle to create a eye-catching spring display next year.
I have a baker's dozen of Peonies in my garden; one is a tree Peony (P. suffruticosa), a few are traditional herbaceous garden Peonies (P. lactiflora) and the rest are species Peonies, including a couple of clumps grown from seedlings discovered near the mother plants. As gorgeous as the flowers are, Peonies are one plant that I find fascinating at every stage, including its first appearance in spring.
This is P. obvata var. alba emerging.
A clump of her seedlings growing into a nice plant.
I usually leave Peony stems over the winter so I can easily find these early risers. This is P. Japonica on March 10th.
P. japonica on April 17, fully budded and leafed out but not quite ready to bloom
P. mairei on March 10.
P. mairei is just waiting for the cold weather to end to bloom.
P. 'Burnished Bronze' absolutely glows at this season.
My newest Peony, planted last autumn, is 'Golden Angel' whose stems clearly emerge red/gold unlike any of my other Peonies. The leaves have yellow tones, complementing the yellow flowers.
P. 'Nosegay' is another early bloomer; a cross between P. mlokosewitschi and P. tennufolia.
Another seedling; most likely P. japonica.
P. vetchii and P. mlokosewitschii are barely visible while P. ludlowii has not made an appearance at all. P. ludlowii has never bloomed for me, but its foliage makes a tropical statement so I don't mind the lack of flowers.
These are the books I've been reading in between a stack of garden titles.
"The Splendid and the Vile" by Erik Larson.
What can one say; Larson does it again. This was a very inspiring and moving book to read: A country and its leadership where the majority was doing the right thing and pulling together. Made me weep at the political crisis we are embroiled in, with no chance of resolving except by the coming election. Will we all still be quarantined by then? Knowing the devastation wrought by Walker in Wisconsin and still being enacted by the GOP-dominated legislature, I know that even electing a Democratic presidential candidate will be only the first tiny step. It will take a lot longer to undo Trump’s destruction than it took to create it.
Central Press/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images/downloaded from The NYTimes
"The Wife Between Us" by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.
How do two people write a book together that flows so seamlessly? I wonder if they each wrote one of the alternating chapters about the two main characters; who knows? One more title in the mode of “Gone Girl” where the book suddenly turns 180 degrees and does it again and again. Never quite what you thought was happening or where you thought it might end up. A great escape book for this moment.
"1947: Where Now Begins" by Elisabeth Asbrink.
I thought it would be interesting, maybe fun, to read about the world in the year I was born. Wrong. Though the war had ended, it seemed like economic and mental depression, hatred, and aggression were as strong as ever and being acted out in different ways around the world. The few positive notes could not stand up to the onslaught of disturbing information. Made myself finish it, but would not say I really enjoyed it; though Asbrink is an excellent writer.
Mathew Brady
Henry James with his father in NYC in 1854
"A Chance Meeting: Intertwined Lives of American Writers and Artists 1854-1967" by Rachel Cohen.
I started this two different times in the years it’s been on my bookshelves. Not sure why I stopped, other than the fact that it is book crammed full of information, stories, musings, reflections by the author and her subjects on art and literature. Beautiful writing and a brilliant concept. A slow read but endlessly satisfying at every turn.
The book opens with the very young Henry James having his photo taken, along with his father, by Mathew Brady in NYC in 1854 and ends with Norman Mailer and Robert Lowell at the March on the Pentagon in 1969. In-between we meet Whitman, US Grant, Twain, Steichen, Steiglitz, Stein, Baldwin. Everyone to-ing and fro-ing in the most amazing dances across the years.
Since I am a big fan of foliage plants I usually am unfazed if a plant with attractive leaves never flowers. I must admit, however, that it is a thrill when they do suddenly burst into bloom.
Now that Erythronium 'White Splendor' is in bud for the first time, I am hoping this week's freezing overnight temps don't kill them before I have a chance to see the flowers.
I moved this Bergenia ciliata around the garden until I found the perfect spot. Perhaps it is thanking me by blooming at last. The flowers of B. ciliata are much more attractive to my eye than the blooms on my other Bergenias.
When I went to the grocery store at 7 a.m. yesterday for the senior shopping hour, the temperature was 22°F. This morning it was 24°F. Tonight's overnight low is supposed to get up to 28°F and tomorrow's 33°F with a chance of snow flurries.
This is not uncommon for April but it had been deceptively pleasant and I was hoping we would not have all these typical up and down days. At the moment, I would rather complain about the weather than the President.
Dane County Judge Jill Karofsky won a dominant victory in last week’s Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race, defeating Justice Dan Kelly for the ten-year term. I will just say that we were stunned and ecstatic Monday night to hear the news. The information below is taken directly from The NYTimes.
LAUREN JUSTICE/NYTIMES
"The victory, by upward of 120,000 votes as of Monday night, came as a shock to Republicans and Democrats alike in Wisconsin, where contests for president, governor and the state’s high court in the last four years have all been decided by about 30,000 votes or less. It followed weeks of Democratic anger over Republicans’ insistence on holding elections amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms. Karofsky’s surprise triumph came after Republicans in the State Legislature, and later conservatives on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, rebuffed Democratic efforts to move the date of the elections — held last week but with the results delayed until Monday by a federal judge — or send mail ballots to all voters because of the pandemic.
The decisive Democratic win offered a signal that the party, highly energized and mobilized heading into 2020, could organize and execute a winning get-out-the-vote program against strident Republican efforts to limit voter turnout in a narrowly divided state widely expected to be crucial in this fall’s presidential election."
. . .
I was unable to download this great map showing how the vote split urban/rural with the larger cities voting Democratic and most of the countryside voting GOP. The usual wealthy suburbs voted Republican as well.
Our weather the last few days has been very changeable with sun, rain, wind and snow showers putting an end to some of my early spring blossoms. Luckily my Easter display didn't need anything but a pair of small bouquets. This one features a Trillium sessile in bud, an unknown Hellebore and Iris reticulata 'George'.
I have a lot of Hellebores in my garden but many were planted before I started paying attention to their names. Helleborus niger 'Sunset Group' — the white flower — is the only one in this bouquet I can name. This is a wonderful variety with short, sturdy stems that hold the flowers outward! The old foliage lies flat so the flowers are visible.
I decided to do my usual Easter display as a way to make things look normal, even if life doesn't feel normal at the moment. I am probably the only person who adds a vase of dried Chinese lantern pods to a spring arrangement.
But those orange pods look great with my collection of carrots. Mark is a carrot fancier so I always gave him a non-edible version in his easter basket. No Easter baskets this year as I totally forgot about the holiday the last time I was at the grocery store.
My 1970s sock bunny came from a wonderful little shop called "Home Made Goods" in Chicago.
I love felt creations and have a variety of veggies as well as this beautifully-dressed bunny babe.
I once almost bought a winter coat that was bright yellow and embroidered all over, which probably explains why I am so taken with this bunny.
Hope you have a safe and healthy weekend.
I remember the very first time I was able to identify an emerging plant by its barely visible foliage. It was a big leap forward in my gardening confidence. These days I have a bad habit of moving plants around at the end of the summer. I am glad, therefore, that some plants are so identifiable from the get-go that I don't have to waste any time or energy wondering what's what at this time of year.
. . .
Hepaticas tend to look like a pile of dryer lint caught in garden debris as they emerge.
Every Primula has foliage that is distinct as it emerges. This is P. kisoana which functions as a ground cover in my garden.
Primula japonica gets long leaves and pretty much works as a foliage plant most of the year for me.
It was a thrill to find the Digitalis/foxgove seedlings that I transplanted last autumn.
First up and last down are the Geranium macrorrhizum.
Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman's breeches) looks delicate but is a tough plant that spreads where it wants to; as an ephemeral that's not really a problem. One plant, purchased 20 years ago, is all over my garden in sweet swaths.
Iris cristata snakes around to create a problem-free ground cover. I love the way it looks now, giving no clue to its appearance at bloom time.
Lilium martagon zooms up early and doesn't let cold or snow slow it down.
Luckily this one still had its tag. I knew what I had planted here in 2018, even if I could not remember its name or recall seeing it come up in this dramatic fashion last spring. Euphorbia paulustris, a plant that can have its roots in water, which is exactly what this is doing adjacent to the upper pool.
Being able to go out in the garden to see what has appeared or changed overnight, makes it much easier to be excited about getting up in the morning these days.