Each Little World

A green December

The storms that swept through the Midwest on Wednesday night did little serious damage near us. We lost power during the night and the winds sounded scary; in the morning everything looked the same as it had the day before and for a number of days before that. It has been fascinating to walk around the garden and see what plants still have not given up despite frosts and lack of rain. 

Polystichum makinoi with Adiantum venustum

The fronds are turning purplish-bronze but they are still mainly upright. I am not sure if it's the result of the fern's own hardiness or its protected location. 

Both my newest and oldest clumps of Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance' are all standing tall and looking perfectly happy. I wish they had their autumn coloration now as well as in the spring. 

I put in two plants of Asarum splendens in 2019. Last summer I divided them and spread them around a bit. So far it has not been as aggressive as the native variety; nor has it gone dormant the moment it got cold. It is lovely to have that foliage instead of a big bare spot. 

I put a piece of Arum italicum 'Ghost' from the large mother plant in with this variegated ivy. The ivy makes the Arum foliage have a much more yellow cast than I ever noticed in the location. 

Epimedium 'Domino' has never slowed down. It's been a drama queen all season. 

I'm enjoying the sight of all this greenery in the garden; but I'm definitely ready for the moisture and insulation of some snow.

The Ginkgoes give up

We'd been watching our Ginkgo trees to see if the leaves were going to manage to turn their lovely buttery yellow color before they came down. The answer again is NO! One of the dwarf trees was just about there but the big tree and the other dwarf were just an acid green on their way to yellow. Last Tuesday night the temperature went below 25°F. In the morning we looked out and the leaves were all on the ground and draped over every shrub and object nearly.

The first freeze

For all the years we had the pond, I always noted when it froze over for the first time in the autumn and when he thawed in the spring. Though our new water feature is much smaller, I am going to use it as my weather guide. 

As was so often the case with the big pond, it froze this first week of November. It froze solid, in fact on Wednesday, Nov. 3rd. We haven't decided yet if we will leave it uncovered to freeze and thaw all winter or if we need to cover it for protection.  

Wet weather continues

While much of the country is suffering from record high temperatures, we are making up for all the rainstorms that passed us by in April, May and throughout most of June. It rained last Thursday, Friday, Saturday and slowed down with mere drizzles on Sunday. The garden is perking up, but it's too wet to work or add all the plants that have been waiting to get in the ground.

The good news is that most of the rain has been slow and steady with no excessive downpours. Tuesday's 1.04" gave us a total of 2.03" in a little less than a week. Enough to keep the deck wet so that the soles of my Naot shoes make a decorative pattern every time I step outside. The rain has the weeds popping up everywhere, so I will try and get them under control today if it doesn't rain again.

 

Overwhelmed by weather

We've pretty much gone from endless frosty nights right into high summer. We had our first 90°F. (32.22°C.) day on May 1st and we're currently in a cycle of extremely hot days with no rain in sight. The garden is bone dry having barely gotten 5 inches of rain since April 1st. I know that sounds wonderful to some of you (like Kris Peterson in Southern California) but it is definitely not our normal. Nor are these temperatures.

I am a woman who is happy at 75° and starts fading fast when the temperature moves into the 80s. We had such cold temps in May that I put off planting many of the things I got online and even some local purchases. Now with the hot, dry weather it looks like I have my own nursery there are so many potted plants wanting attention. 

We are moving forward with our garden projects, but the weather makes everything a slog. I am out before 7 a.m. watering and then working in the shade to the degree possible. 

I've been using all my energy to plant and keep the garden watered. And to help Mark when he needs it. This is all a long-winded way to explain why I haven't been blogging here or commenting on your posts. Hoping to get this gorgeous Buttonbush planted today. It has grown at least five times the size it was when it arrived from White Flower Farm. Very excited to add this native shrub to the garden. 

A cold Spring

Last night's overnight low temperature was 30°F. (-1.11° C.). Tonight and tomorrow night are going to be even a few degrees colder. Our last frost date is early May, so these temps aren't that surprising. But April began with unseasonably warm days that pushed the garden quickly into overdrive.

Last year my Martagon lilies, among other plants, never flowered due to frost kill. This time I am not taking any chances. Peonies, lilies, and assorted new shrubs all got covered.

The garden is a crazy assortment of bags, bins and sheets! The question is: Will it kill things to leave them covered all day since it's going to be cloudy and only get up to the low 40°F.? Can't decided if I want to chance it.

But it is a chore to cover and uncover all these plants for three days running. Ugh.

Early birds

It has been warm enough that the early spring plants are popping up quickly. The only problem is that this coming week has overnight lows going down to 20°F.

Since they are early bloomers they may be fine with a big chill, but I don't want to take that chance. I'm covering them today with evergreen branches — just in case I am being too optimistic. The branches will be easy to remove and light enough not to harm anything. 

Iris reticulata

 One of the first Hellebores I ever bought, Royal Heritage Strain. I moved it a few years ago and it has settled in with no problems

Another old clump of Royal Heritage Strain Hellebores.

Helleborus niger 'Sunset Group' has large flowers that face outward and foliage that lies flat, making a very nice display. 

Helleborus foetidus 'Red Silver,' aka Bear Claw Hellebore, is looking gorgeous. It's come through two winters very nicely.

The flowers are usually less dramatic on mine than in warmer climates.

One of the Hepaticas finally showing some color. This one can be seen across the garden once it's in bloom.

Two clumps of Crocus tommasinianus 'Lavender Striped' emerging through the old foliage of Japanese Blood Grass. 

Erythronium 'Pagoda' are up before any of my other Erythroniums have made made an appearance. 

Luzula 'Solar Flare' interplanted with snowdrops; an idea I adopted from Adrain Bloom's garden in the U.K. The big rock has lichens all over it that are the same color as the Luzula.

Before the cold weather hits us, I made a dwarf display of these early season favorites. 

I couldn't resist placing it near this painting as the colors seemed to echo each other to me. 

Is winter over yet"

The temperature yesterday hit 39°F. That is the first time our temps have been above freezing since Jan. 21st. The photo below was taken on Dec.30th after a big storm.

This is the view after Sunday's snowfall (2/21/2021). Compare the hoops marking the edge of the path and the wooden bridge to see how much more snow has fallen in the last two months. Interesting that is still not enough to completely disguise the two big piles of broken concrete leftover from underneath the old deck. I doubt that this week's warmer temperatures will be enough to make in dent in the snow cover. I certainly don't expect to see snowdrops on February 29th as I did last year. 

Despite being tire of snow, I love how it just keeps building up on the arms of the bench without falling off.  With this much snow on the ground our garden is a booby-trapped landscape with shrubs, rocks, water, steps, walls and all sorts of buried surprises.

I snapped all of these through the window with my phone which explains the weird colors. The snow was already at the top of my highest boots at the end of January, so I am not even trying to get out into the garden with a camera. 

Looking back at the garden year

I usually do a January post about the highs and lows of the prior year in my garden. I started to write one weeks ago, but could not really bear to think that much about the last year. But Kris Peterson, who gardens in southern California and blogs at Late to the Garden Party, inspired me with her recent post highlighting lovely moments in her garden each month. As she pointed out, our gardens were our refuge this past year. I don't think I've spent more time or enjoyed myself more in my garden than in 2020. Here are some of my favorite moments.

JANUARY: This month is almost always cold and snowy in Wisconsin, so my gardening is virtual. Most mornings I've started the day with dreamy stories and photos of houses and gardens via emails from the UK version of House and Garden magazine. Below: The Jinny Blom designed garden at Chalkland Farm in winter via HG magazine.

FEBRURARY: I began gardening in order to have flowers and herbs to put in a vase. I am especially drawn to containers, like this one, that look equally good with or without flowers. This was one of the last purchases I made before lockdown. 

MARCH: Our delightful pair of ducks flew in right on schedule; a moment of normalcy in this very unusual year. 

APRIL: I was delirious as each new plant pushed up in the spring and spent a good chunk of the month on my stomach attempting to capture all of it with a camera. Erythronium 'White Splendor'

MAY: I spent much of this last gardening year pulling out weeds that had become "groundcvoers" and replacing them with an assortment of native Carex species. Flowers of Halesia tetraptera (Carolina Silverbell) have fallen on the Carex in this photo. That tree came out late in the summer but I'll always remember this moment. 

JUNE: It was a glorious year for Peonies of every type. 

JULY: One of my favorite views is this foliage grouping on the slope below the Tea House. Clockwise from left front: Hosta 'Spritzer,' Cornus 'Golden Shadows,' Adiantum pedatum,  Tiarella 'Running Tapestry,' Carex Divulsa, Brunnera macrophylla 'Alexander's Great,' Deinanthe caerula and Heuchera 'Autumn Haze'  

AUGUST: My last haul from the late, and very great local nursery, Flower Factory. I can barely imagine where i will find such big beautiful plants, both the every day and the unusual, in the future. We have many good local nurseries but nothing quite like David and Nancy Nedvek's Flower Factory.

SEPTEMBER: At last my hardy Begonia is finally big enough to make a stunning statement. 

OCTOBER: Our gorgeous new deck, made of Ipe wood, was finished in time for us to sit outdoors and enjoy it until the snow arrived. 

NOVEMBER: An autumn filled with intense fall color on perennials, shrubs, trees and grasses. 

DECEMBER: This was the scene in the garden in early December and it looked the same after a late December storm. Very likely it will continue to look this way until March or April. But I am not going to think about that. 

Snow again

A number of months ago, I saw a headline saying the Old Farmer's Almanac was predicting a long, snowy winter. That was an article and a subject I did not want to pursue. But another big storm this month has me worried that perhaps that weather report was correct. 

I took these two photos out the library window this morning. Luckily this snow was not as heavy and wet as the last storm. I am just guessing at the amount of snow that came down, but it appears that it could easily be five inches if you look at the depth of it on the bridge in the image below.