Each Little World

Wordless Wednesday

IVOM: The end and the beginning

Last week it rained on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Then it started to snow on Friday. Saturday and Sunday, the overnight lows went down to 17°F.

I went out yesterday afternoon to see if there were any flowers to bring indoors. The first bloom I came across was a small dried Hydrangea arborescens flower that had flown over the fence from my east side neighbor. The shrub it came from is actually one that had been growing on my side of the fence and travelled underneath into their garden. I dug mine out years ago, so it was rather fun to get one of the flowers. 

I clipped a frond of an autumn fern to join it in a tiny wood-fired vase by Tony Gebauer of Door County. The raku vase is by the late Wisconsin artist John Natale. 

My earliest snowdrops (Galanthus varieties) were fallen over or closed up again. I decided to pick a few in hopes they'd open and perk up indoors. Voila!

The ones with green tips are G. nivalis viridapice. The ones spread wide open are G. 'Magnet', the rest are likely G. plicatus 'Dionysus'.

My grandmother's tiny Chinese cloisonné vase is the perfect container for them. 

Looking for inspiration

Visiting other gardens is considered one of the best ways to be inspired with ideas for our own gardens. I find I get as many great ideas and bits of information trolling the web as I do visiting a garden in person. Here are a few online images that have recently sparked my imagination. 

I love Carexes and discovered this photo on the website of Plant Delights Nursery. I think this is a brilliant combination of color, form and texture. The grass is Carex retroflexa 'Bonnie and Clyde' but the Heuchera is not identified since the point of the picture is to sell the Carex. This image proves that two plants — the right two plants — can create a show-stopping moment. 

I have been growing bronze fennel in my garden but it doesn't do much visually for me. Nothing like this giant fennel in the garden of Dan Pearson in the UK. It went on my wish list the moment I saw this photo in the British House and Garden magazine. I am in love with plants that will tower above me. 

This is Rodgersia podophylla in the gardens at Cady's Falls Nursery in Vt. But it's surrounded by Barberries and Peonies, plants that like the sun. Rodgersias like the shade. But this image suggests they may be able to take more sun than I've been giving mine. This one looks so happy and healthy that I am probably going to move my slowpoke plant this spring. 

Author Matt Mattus has plants and ideas and information galore on his blog, Growing With Plants. In this photo of his early spring garden, he's done something it never occurred to me to do. He's put at least three different varieties of Fritillaries in three different colors around this urn filled with pansies. I've always put my Frits in different areas of the garden far away from each other. No more.

I saw this garden image on the blog of The Frustrated Gardener in the UK. Like Matt Mattus, he's another obsessive gardener sharing tons of advice, ideas and information. I grow a lot of Toadlilies (Tricyrtis sp.) and Heuchera but I've never seen them used as ground covers like this. The angle of the photo is a bit confusing because my Tricyrtis like this variety are at least two feet tall. What a thrill it would be to turn a corner and discover swaths of these plants that you could walk between.

I've planted the most floriferous area in my garden with a lot of pink, lavender and purple flowers. I wold love to add this plant, Lysimachia purpurea. It could be tucked in anywhere and would give a wonderful burst of color without overwhelming its neighbors. I've yet to find it for sale anywhere but I hopeful.

Have you got a blog, magazine or Youtube video channel that is your go-to source for ideas?

Early spring in the garden

Monday was sunny with a high temperature of 72°F., absolutely gorgeous. It was so bright I had trouble shooting any photos before it started to rain Tuesday morning. The rainy weather is forecast to continue through Friday. It's too early to try to do much in the garden, so I am just sitting back and enjoying the rain. 

This Aidiantum venustum emerged from the snow bright green. Usually the foliage is brown and needs to be cut back. I'll be watching to see what it does next. 

This Helleborus niger was blooming from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I cut so many stems for indoors that these are all that remain.

It's twin across the path never manages a winter show. It's sending up all its flowers now.

Galanthus 'Magnet' was pushing up faster than any of my other snowdrops. Here's hoping the rain doesn't damage them before i have a chance to enjoy them. 

Rain!

After a very dry winter, it rained most of Thursday and right into Friday. Since the ground is still fairly frozen, it was good that it was a gentle rain that caused no problems at our house and garden. As the rain initially started to fall very lightly, it made the dry spots under the furniture look like snowy remnants. 

I woke up Saturday morning to discover the rain had turned into snow at some point during the night.

And turned back to rain, filling the garden with spring greens.

Though our few warm days were lovely, I am much happier to be getting some rain as spring is starting. 

Glad I put out my rain gauge so I could measure the precipitation in my garden: .87" (2.20 cm.) More rain is forecast midweek. 

Not on the tour

I walked by this house last summer on my way to a neighboring property whose garden was on the tour my friend and I were doing. I had to stop and snap a couple of photos because I thought this was a textbook lesson in creating a low maintenance, private space in a front yard. The ground cover here is some type of Lirope. You can just see the seating area off to the side.

I'm guessing the tree here is a tricolor beech. I am not crazy about the addition of the yellow flowers; too jarring a contrast for me. If I wanted a strong contrast I would use some shade of orange. I would add more of the blueish grass down in front and some silver foliage to repeat the color of the rock. Perhaps a pink or soft red daylily and a small shrub like 'My Monet' Wegelia. Maybe a big blue Hosta for drama.

I don't know about you, but I can't help mentally critiqing and redesigning landscapes when I walk by — tour or no tour. 

Simple solutions

Despite a couple of warm days, my garden is still mostly in winter mode. So I'm sharing images from more of last summer's garden tours.

I've visited Ken Nordlund's garden many times over the years. Each time I come away with ideas. Last summer I was struck by the number of simple combinations he uses to great effect. As a Carex fan, I loved this Carex getting to be the star all on its own. I was amused by its lush, healthy appearance compared to the neighbor's grass on the other side of the fence. 

Miscanthus and lamb's ears offer a delightful contrast in scale and texture. 

Another grass paired with the patterned foliage of a Canna is a simple but striking combo.

In our climate zone, Hostas and Heuchera are garden stalwarts. I love this grouping that straightforwardly acknowledges what attractive workhorses they are. But what raises this planting up a notch are those sweet little grasses providing a dramatic change in color, texture and scale. 

Local gal meets drama queen in this pairing. In the Upper Midwest it is hard to find a garden that doesn't have daylilies. They can take everything our climate throws at them. Here it creates a glamorous combination paired with a similarly colored Dahlia. 

The Dahlia's dark foliage adds just the contrast this combo needs to set it off. It would be worth the effort it takes to overwinter Dahlias here to be able to enjoy such a gorgeous scene in one's garden. 

IVOM: Something old

I noticed a group of Sedum flower heads glowing in the late winter sunshine when I was walking in the garden before last week's snow. I clipped a few stems and put them into the vase that had been standing in solitary glory on the dining room table. 

More and more I'm drawn to vases that look as beautiful empty as when filled with flowers. This one by ceramic artist Delores Fortuna is a perfect example. 

Every side is different, giving one a multitude of display options. The color and sparseness of seed heads and dried flower heads that are still standing at the end of winter make then ideal companions for this container. The vase is 11 and 1/2 inches high and the disc-like collar at the top is 7 inches in diameter. 

I'm hoping this week's warm weather will give me some early blooms from my garden for next week's container. I am so ready to be able to play in the garden again.

Spring meets winter

There's still snow on the ground and it's cold outside; only 19°F. (-7° C.) at noon and supposedly only feels like 9°F. But my snowdrops "in the green" from Carolyn's Shade Garden in Pennsylvania arrived in the mail just now. 

I potted them up and will plant them out next week when it's warmer. I can see snowdrops, planted in the garden in years past, poking through in the sunniest spots.

I should have some flowering blooming next week. I can't wait. That's Galanthus 'Wasp' on the left and G. 'Mrs. Macnamara' on the right. 

Remembering Rose Schneiderman

"What the woman who labors wants is the right to live, not simply exist — the right to life as the rich woman has the right to life, and the sun and music and art. You have nothing that the humblest worker has not a right to have also. The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too. Help, you women of privilege, give her the ballot to fight with."

Rose Schneiderman (April 6, 1882 – August 11, 1972), a social justice activist, suffragist and labor union leader in the early 20th Century, popularized the phrase "bread and roses" in her many speeches. 

Her words inspired James Oppenheim to write the poem “Bread and Roses”, which was later set to music. It remains a labor anthem to this day. Here is a short PBS documentary on Schneiderman; a woman whose work made a positive impact on our lives before many of us were even born.