Each Little World

Bulb surprise

For years, I've had great luck with bulb orders; I've usually received exactly what I ordered. So it is very frustrating when you discover six months later that what you ordered is not what's currently blooming in your garden. This saga all began with Lilium asiaticum 'Forever Susan.' I planted 'Susan' after admiring her in a friend's garden.

When I discovered how overpowering she was visually, I planted some Lilium asiaticum 'Landini' (below) across the path to calm that intense color down. 'Susan' is so prolific I've given bulbs away. I've bought 'Landini' bulbs four times from three different sources. It just doesn't seem to like my garden as it only lasts a season or two. 

My latest attempt to add more 'Landini' resulted in this lily. 

No idea of its name and it's much larger than 'Forever Susan' and looks out of place compared to my other lilies. Maybe if the 'Fusion' lilies return (below), I should forget the dark color and stick with orange on both sides of the path.

Or maybe I should complement 'Susan' with a different flower altogether; something like Digitalis ferruginea, the rusty foxglove.

Then again, the surprise lily looks rather nice in a bathroom bouquet with my new shower curtain. You have to look closely to see the dark red Astilbe blooms; they almost fade into the fabric design.

(I dragged a green stool into the bathroom to be able to take this picture).

June blooms

The garden is full of lilies; Martagons in full bloom and others just on the verge of flowering. The current high temps should push the late ones open as it shortens the bloom span of the early ones. Here's a sampling. 

This unknown white variety popped up amongst my red ones a few years ago.

Martagon 'Mrs. R.O. Backhouse'. I love the way the lily buds echo the color of the foxgloves.

Martagon 'Claude Shride'

The bud count on these is amazing.

Penstemon 'Dark Tower' with Allium 'Summer Drummer', a very tall and very late bloomer. Also quite small compared to many Alliums. 

The last bulbs

I thought I had rescued all the plants I wanted to save out of my Traffic Island Garden last summer when the road work was postponed. Not quite.

I didn't realize I'd forgotten Muscari paradoxum until it appeared this week. This is a dense, dark and large Muscari that is a favorite of mine. 

I dug out a coupe of nice clumps and pulled out the forgotten orange Tulip as well. This sunny bed, with more gravel than soil, has been the best spot I've ever had for Tulips.

I just dashed out to grab the bulbs when the workmen weren't around and it didn't feel too dangerous to be working out in the construction zone. By the time that workman got back into the trench I was ready to head to the safety of my garden across the street.

I expect this raised planting bed will be a memory next week as they move closer to our house putting in the massive sewer piping. This week they ran the new gas line from the street to our house and hooked it up. I don't think those guys did so much as bend a leaf. No plant was damaged in that project. Pretty amazing crew.

Slogging along

Our cool, rainy weekend weather continues today, with the addition of high winds. We're sitting in front of the fire with coffee, computers and stacks of books. But one of us is doing better than the other.

We were up before 5 am this morning for Mark's 6 am appointment for his second cataract surgery. Everything went well, but he's currently holding a pair of reading glasses up to his good eye in order to read. He can't fit them over the big protective covering on his eye. He gets to remove the patch tomorrow and will have a set of matching eyes which will make life much easier again. For the moment, he looks like a crazy old guy!

By the end of the week I'm hoping I can move all the fancy-leaved Begonias, orchids and pots of Byzantine gladiola bulbs outdoors at last. Our living room is so stuffed with plants you can hardly move.

No matter where you go, there's a plant shoved in every little bit of space.

The good new is that new growth suddenly appeared. These mail-order bulbs arrived so early and have done nothing until now. I was convinced I had just thrown some money away. Now I am thrilled as I loved these flowers when I grew them last summer

But right now, I think I'll crawl back into bed and sleep until it warms up again.

IVOM: Before the whatever

I dashed out around 8 a.m. Sunday morning during a break in the weather to check my rain gauge: .57" overnight. The brief moment of sun didn't last long. The 10 day forecast is mostly rain, snow and freezing overnight low temperatures. 

The recent week of heat marked the end my snowdrops, so I picked a bunch to enjoy indoors last Monday. 

I took a number of photos from different directions. trying to get the flowers and the details of the cup and saucer. I think the Hellebores are from an early blooming H. niger. The ferns are leftover fronds from last season. 

I am interested in trying to draw this grouping. It may not happen but I took the photos so I would have more than my memory to work from.

I put this vase together on Saturday knowing the rain was on its way. The yellow Fritillaria raddeana is half its height. I cut off most of the stem to fit it into this small flower-brick style vase.

I planted a small group of Narcissus 'Arctic Bells' last autumn and am thrilled with their sweet presence. Though many of my Hepaticas have tags, I can usually only identify them once their foliage is up as that is the reason I've purchased many of them.

The big pale daffodils are N. 'Beersheba' and the tiny white stalks are the blooms of native Pachysandra, P. procumbent. They have beautiful foliage but are very slow growers. 

A surfeit of snowdrops

The big end of March snow storm, followed by cold, kept the snowdrops in a waiting game. A few hits of sun and warmer temps caused an explosion at the end of last week. I went out and picked a number of different varieties. But I'd forgotten most of their names by the time I got them into a vase.

Glanthus nivalis fore pleno 'Blewbury Tart' is so unusual that it's easy to recognize.

I thought I was picking a few stems of G. 'White Dreams,' but when I looked more closely the yellow coloration tells me I am wrong. I am growing two yellow forms and I know where they are planted, so I am confused. 

This is most likely G. fore pleno 'Hippolyta.' Or could it be G. 'Dionysus'? 

G. nivalis 'Greenish.'

I love these little charmers despite getting confused about who's who. Sometimes the best kept notes are still not enough.

IVOM: Small vases

Warmer temperatures have finally pushed the garden into providing flowers for the house. I filled two small vases for Easter display.

These Helleborus niger flowers were up and ready to open last December when winter arrived. I buried them under leaves and discovered they'd broken through the leaves this past week and were flowering in a big group. I think the winter chill gave them the pink tinge on the edges of the flowers.

I cut the three biggest flowers and put them in a vase with last year's native Pachysandra foliage. I love this foliage plant but it grows sooo slowly.

I used my favorite small purple glass vase that always comes out at Easter. Perfect color container for the earliest spring bulbs.

I cut a stem of Helleborus torquatus for its dark foliage, but the flowers are still just tight buds. I added a pair of Iris histories 'George' and two Crocus tommasinianus. At least I think they are both Tommies, though the colors are quite different from each other. 

I am sure I make almost identical groupings of flowers in the same vases each year at this time. That may mean I am stuck for new ideas and new flowers. Or that I am more of a traditionalist than I like to admit.

March madness

I was out in the garden Friday checking on emerging snowdrops and Hellebores.

Galanthus 'Magnet'

Helleborus 'New York Night'. The leaves on most of the Hellebores were flat on the ground around the flower buds. I cut them off and set them aside, thinking I'd toss them over the plants if the weather took a turn for the worse.

Saturday morning I woke up to very different garden; the turn for the worse had arrived. I sat around, just checking every couple of hours to see how much more snow had fallen. We were at 6" when I got up at 6:30 am. It was up to 8" by 8 am and 10" at 10 am — the time that the day-long textile workshop I signed up for in January was beginning

Luckily they offered a Zoom component for those of us stuck at home due to the weather. I've only done Zoom lectures or chats with friends. This experience was an eye opener in terms of what students and many employees have been dealing with since the start of the pandemic. Not easy trying to do serious work on Zoom.

The windows on the north and south sides of the house had melting snow on them, suggesting how whirling the wind was. Both snow photos were taken through the windows which suggests why they are not my best ever images.

I visually measure snow depth using the wooden bridge over the dry stream (below). This time I went outside with a yardstick to get the 10" measure.

I've lived in snow states my whole life, so this weather wasn't all that surprising. My personal weather theory is that at the end of the winter season — just when you are frantic for spring — you will get the snow that you missed at the beginning of the season. Unhappy to be proven right again.

Slo mo

Every time I check the weather, the forecast has changed. Rain has turned to chance of light snow or frozen mix despite daytime temps barely dropping below 40°F for the next ten days. Monday and Tuesday were mostly sunny and we hit 50°F both days, so there has been progress in the garden — just not with the snowdrops. Most still have barely appeared. But other things have. 

Paeonia japonica. I aways leave Peony stems in place in the autumn to mark the location come spring. Since they arrive early I want to be sure I don't step in the danger zone.

Paeonia mairei, a Chinese woodland Peony that blooms very early and can take some shade. I like Peony buds as much as the flowers. 

Since I planted a few Tulips acuminata in this bed last fall, that's what I am assuming these leaves represent. I caged them as soon as I took the photo. No other spring bulbs are showing anywhere else. 

Last spring, I planted three Galanthus 'Mrs. Macnamara' "in the green." Whether the other two will flower is unclear. 

At the same time I planted two bulbs of G. 'Wasp.' Clearly they are very happy. I'll be happy when they opens their "wings" and look more waspish.

Hamamelis vernalis is the spring-blooming witch hazel. Alas, it is not a Wisconsin native as I assumed when I planted it. Very insignificant flowers and a poor shot by the gardener. But you get the idea: The Carex growing beneath it is more interesting.

One of the drawbacks of Witch Hazels is the fact that they hold their leaves for a long time which often obscures the flowers. Luckily this is the only branch with foliage still on it. The green ribbon marks a tree that our aborist is treating.

It's Spring! I guess.

Nothing says spring to me like the velvety green of moss after the snow melts.

As I walked west along the the stepping stones late Sunday morning, I looked up and the picture wasn't nearly as springy as I wished. Though the back garden faces south, the slopes keep snow in place until the temps really warm up. 

It was sunny, but the temperature was only in the low 20 degrees F. ( around -6.66°C.) The stone steps up the Tea House slope were still mostly buried. 

As was the west side of the building. 

The gardens at the top of the slope get the most sun in the back garden. This is Helleborus torquatus on March 5th.

Two weeks later on March 19th.

Just a foot or two away is Helleborus 'New York NIght', here on March 5th.

March 19th. I can see the difference but it is rather marginal.

Galanthus 'Jonathan' is near the two Hellebores but this is the first I've seen him. 

The plants in the above photos are all to the left of this snowy path. The shadows from the big shrubs and the fence keep it snowy up here. 

I found lots of typical spring scenes: twigs and branches on the ground, lots of pine cones scattered about and a few bulbs that were dug up by critters last fall.

When I took this photo of Galanthus 'Magnet' on March 5th, another snow storm was on the way.

Despite the recent cold and snow, they just keep pushing forward. 

The weather forecast for this week includes  a few days of rain with rising temperatures into the 40°s F. Those two things should clear away the snow. If plants start to make their moves, at least I'll be able to see them. 

These photos are not exactly inspiring, but they are an ideal record for me. As you all know, there's nothing better than being able to go back and see what was happening on specific dates year to year. Last year we had light snow on March 19th and 25th. I picked my first snowdrops for vases on March 27th.