Each Little World

Hellebore seedlings

I planted my first Helleborus foetidus (from Pine Knot Farms) in 2017. It did so well that I added a pair of H. foetidus 'Red Silver' (from Plant Delights) in 2019. Last year I decided to move one of them and lost it over our much hotter and quite dry summer.  

At the end of the season I discovered it left behind a forest of seedlings. I am going to pot some up for me and garden friends. 

I haven't ever had or dealt with Hellebore seedlings. If you have had experience with them, I'd love any advice you care to share. 

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.

Snowdrops mostly alone

When you garden in a climate where winter lasts for months, you fall in love with early spring bloomers. So I didn't think twice about buying these Muscari. But nothing is earlier than Galanthus or snowdrops. I've been keeping track of when snowdrops bloom in my garden since I planted my first one in 2005. They've appeared in February four times, but most years come in mid-March. Only once did they hold off until early April.

I love these little beauties and have slowly been adding them to my garden. I belong to a FB group, "Snowdrops in American Gardens", whose members live all over the country. For weeks they've been posting photos of their snowdrops; many accompanied by Winter Aconites, Crocus, Cyclamen and even Hellebores. Mine more typically share the stage with snow, ice or hail.

After spending time on the snowdrop FB page, I've started thinking I should plant other early bloomers close to my snowdrops so I can enjoy similar scenes. Then I realized I do have Hellebores with my snowdrops. If you look closely you can see the one in the photo below is just starting to push up. I took a series of photos last year so I could quickly identify my various snowdrops this year. But what this really shows is the fact that there are no other visible flowers in this view.

The best combo I've managed so far has been purely accidental; Galanthus 'Magnet' with Heucherella 'Hopscotch' foliage that still looks decent after being buried under snow all winter. 

I planted a few snowdrops amongst Luzula sylvatica 'Solar Flare' thinking that would give me as good a grouping as I'm likely to get.

I went scrolling through my photos to see when my other early bloomers really appear. 

• Snowdrops: typically March f17
• Crocus tommasinianus, Hepatica, Iris reticulata: 2nd week In April
• Hellebore buds are up by mid-April but no significant flowers until the end of April (though I did see some buds pushing up over the weekend)

The good news is it's not my imagination that my snowdrops have no floral companions. The bad news is that my garden's reality trumps this gardener's wishes.

Gardening hipster

I have been a reader of the UK magazine "Gardens Illustrated" since it was first published. My garden girlfriends all read "Fine Gardening," so I subscribed to it and have been very pleased with the content and photos. Garden legend Dan Hinkley was recommending 9 lesser-known shade plants we should all grow in the latest issue.

Imagine my surprise when I realized I've been growing five of them for years. Made me feel really cool. Of course, when I double checked my plant id notes, I discovered that I'm not growing exactly the ones he mentions, but close-enough relatives that I'm giving myself a pat on the back.

Here's the five cousins in my garden:

Begonia grandis 'Heron's Pirouette' is Dan's choice, but I planted my Begonia grandis (above) long before his own variety reached the market. This is a great plant to put in an area where you have spring ephemerals that leave a gaping hole come summer as it comes up late. You can't tell from this photo, but the reverse of the leaves is red and creates a stunning foliage effect when hit by the western sun. 'Heron's Pirouette' has redder stems than the variety I'm growing but that seems the only difference.

Delavay's mayapple (Podophyllum delavayi) is another great foliage plant. It has been a very slow grower for me but last summer it put out a baby leaf. I am looking forward to see what it does this summer. I think it wants more moisture than it may currently get but I am nervous about moving it.

Anemonopsis macrophylla is a late summer beauty whose downward facing flowers are difficult to photograph. But it's swirling stems and delicate flowers are a contrast to so many big bright summer flowers that I wouldn't want to be without it. I mention that because I moved it in late summer 2021 and never saw it last year. If I don't see it this summer I will have to buy another one. 

Hinkley suggests Cypripedium formosanum as an easy lady slipper Orchid to start with. I'm growing two different varieties; one planted in 2008 and the other in 2011. They barely hung on until I decided to move them. That was the charm; I found the spots they wanted and they've done beautifully with no help from me ever since.

I planted two others in recent years and both died almost instantly. So I planted another last autumn and we'll see if that one even makes it through the winter. I am probably going to look for the one Hinkley suggests as it has pleated foliage. That means it wouldn't even have to flower to be a great plant. (Cypripedium 'Hank Small', above)

I am growing a wide variety of Hepaticas but not the one Hinkley suggests, H. transilvanica. I will be searching it out as it is stoloniferous rather than clumping; meaning it would form an impressive display much more quickly than almost every one I am growing. I've opted for Hepaticas with attractive foliage rather than paying attention to growth habit. 

I'm not interested in a couple of the other plants Hinkley suggests; one due to its color and the other its size. But his last two favorites have caught my eye; this spring I will see if anyone is selling them locally. 

Cleveland inspiration

Whenever we drive out east to visit my family, we always make an overnight stop in Cleveland, Ohio. We make our base at a perfect small hotel in an old mansion. It's across the street from the botanic garden and around the corner from the art museum. 

Last June we spent a day at the Cleveland Museum of Art. But I snapped these photos in the driveway and along the street at the Cleveland Botanical Garden when we strolled past it on our way to the museum. Since these plantings were not inside the garden proper, I didn't get ids.

I love these curbside plantings as they use swaths of tough plants and always give me ideas to try at home. These Alliums seedheads are the perfect counterpoint to the blossoms on the dark Ninebark behind them. I think the brown tones look even better with the Ninebark than the Alliums in bloom.

Lamb's Ears always seem to be used as an accent plant. This hot, dry driveway is the perfect situation to spread them out and let the velvet foliage contrast with the concrete.

This is a very unusual and quirky combination. The purple-leafed Redbud tree has so little trunk height that it's branches make it a ground cover plant; a rather fascinating sight. But I am not keen on the yellow Yews; I'd use a blue conifer instead.

Add a row of one plant — Alliums again — for contrast in a bed of large trees and shrubs. Then put a different plant with similar color flowers dow low at the front of the border. What an effect those two plants make in the midst of their much larger companions.

Alliums again! But the real star of this bed is Itea virginica aka sweetspire. It adds a lot of drama to the rest of the plantings; much more so than the dwarf varieties of it would do.

IVOM: By the book

Late last fall Typepad did some kind of massive update that screwed up my blog for a week or so. At first I was annoyed and frantic. Once I calmed down I began to think about what I might do with my unexpected free time.

In December of 2020 I made a 20-page magazine via Blurb.com. "A Christmas Miscellany" contained old family photos, pictures of my holiday decor and three family-related Christmas stories I'd originally written as newspaper columns back when I worked at a daily paper. I gave the book as a Christmas present to my sisters, nieces and nephew and a few close friends.

I was so pleased with my Christmas effort that I stared a 48 page 7" x 7" book called "The White Album." It was going to be white flowers and winter garden shots. 

I abandoned it when I got too busy with other things. Now I looked it up again and decided to finish it. Luckily I found a few notes I'd saved that helped me figure out everything I forgotten in the two years since I last made a book. 

I finished that book and did two others between Oct. 25 and Nov. 17. I did these just for me; a way to remember hundreds of moments in my garden for the day when I am no longer living in the midst of it. 

Back cover of the autumn book. This is also 7" x 7" and runs 152 pages. 

IVOM is the third in this 7" x 7" series of garden books. It is 140 pages. I'm not sure how many more I will do at this size, but I expect at least a couple more to showcase spring and summer in the garden. 

Currently I'm working on a small one about our ducks and a 6" x 9" book on "The Sweet History of my Dining Table." They are very satisfying projects that also include learning a new computer program, taking new photos and finding old photos from the blog that need to be resized. Like any art project it's all about the process.

HOW THIS ALL BEGAN:

Mark had two of his photos selected for a competitive exhibit this past fall. We went to the opening and stayed for the excellent lecture by the judge, Aline Smithson. I was particularly struck when she pointed out that my generation is the last one to have had the experience of shooting film, taking the roll to the local drugstore to get it developed, followed by the thill of picking it up and discovering what we had captured — or didn't.

She also emphasized how technology is constantly changing and there is no guarantee that we will be able to access our images when we want them again. Prints — real, physical prints on paper — are the only archival way to retain our treasured images. 

Mark has done almost 30 books of all different sizes, kinds of paper and subjects. I decided it was time to join him; though I consider mine more like scrapbooks than photographic art publications. They are essentially vanity publications but I am happy with them; knowing that I can look at my house and garden when and wherever I want once my images are committed to paper. 

You can look through my books page by page without buying them if you are curious. Here's a link to see the three I've recently done. Click on the preview link and full-screen. You can also find Mark's books on Blurb.com here. Scroll down to see them all.

A look back at 2022

As gardening years go, 2022 was an unusual one. We had three major garden tours: One each in June, July and August. Won't ever do that again. I felt like all I did was get the garden in shape for other people. It was fun on one level, but it also kept me from just hanging out in my own garden.

This coming garden season I will be alone in my garden as the city will be tearing up our street for a summer-long project. So I will get to see if I really prefer that.

Here's a more detailed look back at 2022. 

JANUARY

I ordered more plants on-lilne at the start of the year than ever before. I'm not sure if I've even got room for much else, but I am currently getting emails from nurseries left and right. 

FEBRUARY

When Mark built the fence across the back of our property, he encased the old cherry tree that was growing there. We should have taken it down but we were using any extra cash for garden design and plants in those days. The tree finally came out in February making it possible to see the spectacular Dawn Redwood in our neighbor's garden.

I love watching the arborists work in the most awkward situations. 

MARCH

The Witch Hazel put on a great show before any other plants were pushing up.

APRIL

April Food's Day gave us snow and then the temps started climbing quickly . . .

until it snowed again mid-month. Pretty common weather for us.

MAY 

For the first time in long time, I planted multiple containers. Some had shrubs waiting for a final home, some were filled with bulbs or houseplants like Begonias. A big Buttonbush shrub in a pot is temporarily filling the space where half of a large Pagoda dogwood died over the winter. 

JUNE

We drove out to Vermont at the beginning of the month for my sister's memorial celebration, which was a lovely event. I dug these Primroses out of her garden to add to my garden as a way to remember her. 

A week after we got home, Mark had surgery for his A-fib and the following week the Garden Blogger's Fling visited us. Lots of fun to see long time blogger friends and meet new ones.

We we so pleased that at least a couple of people actually went into the Tea House and sat down. (I downloaded this photo from the Fling site and don't have any id's.)

JULY

I took advantage of the city putting off tearing up our street to invite members of the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society to stop by. This photo is by Steven King, the new president of the Wisconsin Daylily Society. I love the images he and other visitors took of the garden. So often standing in places where I had never thought to stop with my camera before. 

AUGUST

The first week of August I took advantage of early sales and bought even more plants. These are all from our local nursery, K & A.

SEPTEMBER

I spent a chunk of the month ripping out and redoing areas that had never quite been finished or had become problematic for many reasons. Two new shrubs were added in this narrow bed on the west side of the house. 

OCTOBER

We had spectacular fall color everywhere in the garden and it lasted and lasted. A memorable autumn. 

We took out another old and diseased evergreen tree (you can see the stump below), along with a Korean maple that had succumbed to verticillium wilt. Our arborists also did pruning on the trees that had suffered winter damage. 

NOVEMBER

All the problems I had with Typepad got me thinking about archival projects. I've kept years of big and little journals on the garden, trips, menus and parties. Now I've started making some physical books to remember the garden down the road when we're no longer living here.

DECEMBER

On December 9th we had such heavy wet snow that Mark went out to try to clean off the trees. I went out the following week to do the same after the next snow fall. On Thursday, Dec. 23, I noted that it was -7°F (and felt like -29°F, according to WeatherBug) at 9 p.m. The next Thursday, Dec. 29, the high was 50*F. which made the snow disappear overnight. Not really sure what to expect next.

Though we have a lot of winter left to get through here, I'm anxious to get out in the garden and hopeful that most of my new plantings will have successfully weathered our winter. 

A Week of Flowers: Day 3

Red candelabra Primroses shout across the garden to the blooms of Calycanthus raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine' which are even more intensely colored.

C. 'Hartlage Wine' was bred for large flowers. Alas, it lost its fragrance to achieve those big blooms.

To see what flowers other gardeners are featuring, visit Cathy at Words and Herbs who's hosting this meme.

A Week of Flowers: Day 2

Does spring get any better than the moment the Hellebores start to bloom? These are among my favorites for their unusual color.

H. torquata

H. 'Jade Tiger'

H. 'New York NIght'

To see what flowers other gardeners are sharing, visit Cathy at Words and Herbs who's hosting this meme.

A Week of Flowers: Day 1

This combination of plants provides one of my favorite moments in the spring garden. The group includes Epimedium 'Crime Scene' with Primula kisoana and the emerging foliage of Cimicifuga racemosa 'Hillside Black Beauty' (now know as Actea simplex, Atropurpurea group).

Thinking spring is the perfect antidote to the very Novermber-ish weather we're having. To see what's sparking other gardener's memories, visit Cathy at Words and Herbs who's hosting this meme.