Camellia pure white
Well, not only has spring jumped forward for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, but it looks as though we are done with frost for this year, weeks in advance of the norm. The Camellias have had a great run of bloom, producing more flowers than we could have imagined.
Camellia pink in abundance
The daffodils and hellebores have provided multiple pickings each day to feed the household vases.
Daily indoor spring flowers
Meanwhile, I go on a daily treasure hunt to see what has popped up from previous plantings. Like the following little treasures.
Erythronium revolutum ‘White Beauty’
Ranzania japonica
Peltoboykinia watanabe
Primula kisoana
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Peppermint Ice’
Oxalis griffithii – Double Flowered
Trillium pusillum ‘Roadrunner’
And then there is the further development of plants I had noted in earlier posts, like this lovely anemonella
Anemonella ‘Green hurricane’
And the last of the adonis.
Adonis amurensis ‘Sandanzaki’
Of particular note are the bloodroots.
Sanguinaria multiplex
These last in flower much longer than the standard species. Similarly, the new semi-double cultivar ‘Snow Cone’ is wonderful in the way that the flowers expand in size each day and lasts about as long as the double-flowered.
Sanguinaria ‘Snow Cone’ next to Corydalis ‘Beth Evans’
Sanguinaria canadensis Snow Cone’
This little beauty came from Garden Visions.
Then there are flowers in the troughs and alpine beds like this very tiny phlox.
Phlox sileniflora
and this colorful geum
Geum reptans
The dwarf columbine has it’s first flowers out
Aquilegia flabellata v. nana
And some of the flowers I’ve noted earlier have continued to expand.
Aubrieta ‘Blue Beauty’
Lewisia longipetala ‘Little Raspberry’
Armeria maritima ‘Victor Reiter’
There is also a very compact, low to the ground ornithogalum that I can’t put a name on at the moment (but it’s lovely even without a name)
Delightful ornithogalum in the alpine bed
Finally, I spent a couple of seasons trying to trace down a single pink anemonella, and I finally have one that is blooming very nicely.
Anemonella ‘Single Pink’
April Delights
Daffodils in conversation
There are so many things happening in the yard right now that it is difficult to keep track of them all. I feel light the perennial puppy dog jumping from one delightful surprise to the other. To begin with the daffodils are exploding in the yard, on the hillside, and in the forest. It seems like a particularly bountiful year for these stellar performers that get ignored by browsing animals.
Narcissus ‘Tropical Sunset’
And the big Magnolia Stellata is fully in bloom
Magnolia stellata
The Hellebores are everywhere with their spectacular but mostly downward facing blooms
Double flowered White Hellebore
Helleborus Double-White
Hellebore double purple
But what really engages me in the spring are the smaller ephemerals that mostly have short but lovely blooming cycle.
Jeffersonia dubia ‘Dark Eyes’
Jeffersonia dubia ‘Dark Eyes’
Hepatica light pink
Hepatica nobilis white
Sanguinaria multiplex
Hacquetia epipactis
Fritillaria stenanthera ‘Cambridge’
Anemonella thalictroides ‘Green Hurricane’
Corydalis solida ‘Gunite’
One of my favorite Corydalis is ‘Beth Evans’
Corydalis solida ‘Beth Evans’
It was delightful to see that not only has this Corydalis seeded itself into the neighboring pathway but it’s also 15 feet away under the holly tree.
I was somewhat surprised that a couple of the Adonis are coming up much later than their brethren.
Adonis amurensis ‘Beni Nadeshiko’
Adonis amurensis ‘Pleniflora’
And my favorite, Adonis amurensis Sandanzaki, is only just now coming into bud.
The alpine beds and troughs also have some early spring flowers in bloom.
Aubrieta ‘Royal Red’
Pulsatilla grandis
Aethionema saxatile
This little Burnt Candytuft was planted in tufa, but has jumped ship and is appearing in various places in the alpine bed.
Nearby is a really nice little sea thrift obligingly staying put on the tufa.
Armeria maritima ‘Victor Reiter’
Nearby is a very early blooming Lewisia
Lewisia longipetala ‘Little Raspberry’
Two years ago I acquired a nice little Draba from Oliver nurseries that is forming a nice compact mound.
Draba rigida
A surprise to me this year was a little Saxifrage that came from Wrightman’s Alpines two years ago.
Saxifraga ‘Valerie Keevil’
It’s growing in a very protected location on the shady side of an eastern-facing trough and if it flowered last year I totally missed it.
I shouldn’t ignore the greenhouse which continues to produces some South African gem every week. The latest is a 2 1/2 foot tall Ixia that came from the Pacific Bulb Society last fall.
Ixia hybrid
I would be remiss if I did not mention the Edgeworthia by the front road.
Edgeworthia chrysantha
It seems they are much hardier in Maryland than I expected.
Finally I need to share an example of the Camellias which also prove to be much hardier than one should really anticipate.
Camellia japonica Pink with dozens of flower buds.
Now it’s time to go out into the yard and see what else is blooming.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day March 2019
Ferraria ferrariola in the greenhouse
Well, I guess it’s a typical March Bloom Day. The weather has oscillated from snowfall to 60 degrees of beautiful. The last snow we had was last week and it disappeared almost as fast as it came. With 70 degrees yesterday.
March 9 snow
Heather in the snow (Kramer’s Rote Heather)
But this week we are back to spring bulbs in abundance.
Winter Aconite in abundance
The Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) are spreading vigorously and my thought is take some of the seed that appears this year and help things along by spreading it other places.
The first Iris has popped up in the front yard beneath the Stewartia
First Iris
And the first Scilla are flowering in the woods.
Puschkinia scilloides
A very special Hellebore is preceeding its brethren with charming striped flowers.
Helleborus thibetanus
And the Adonis are still flowering in various parts of the yard. Especially nice is the orange variant, Adonis amurensis ‘Chichibu Beni’
Adonis amurensis ‘Chichibu Beni’
In the alpine bed the Draba is the first to appear
Draba hispanica growing in a piece of tufa rock
And beside it the first flowers are appearing on the Aubretia.
Aubretia
In the greenhouse, where I tend to think of it as South African spring, the exotic Ferrarias are capturing a lot interest at the moment.
Ferraria sp.
There a number of other unusual flowers at the moment that make nice indoor treats
Babiana purpurea
Geissorhiza inaequalis
Moraea vegetata
But for the indoors I have to give the most credit to the Clivias which have been spectacular this year.
Spectacular Yellow Clivia
Hall of Clivia at the front door
Springtime is here!
Adonis ‘Fukujukai’
We are finally having a real springtime experience. It seemed like it would never come. The Adonis have been waiting and waiting for some sunny days. Even in the snow (which we had last week) the Adonis were so ready to move on to spring.
Adonis in the snow
The snowdrops have been testifying that they too were ready to get on with springtime.
Snowdrops in the snow
So that when we had several days with sun this week everyone started to show their flowers.
Adonis ‘Fukujukai’
Adonis amurensis ‘Chichibu Beni’
Adonis amurensis ‘Chichibu Beni’
Winter Aconite in abundance
Eranthis hyemalis ‘Schwefelglanz’
First crocus
I even found a couple of snowdrops that had seeded into the grass, something I’ve never seen here before.
Snowdrop in the grass
This encouraged me to scrape back some leaves and I managed to uncover a Helleborus thibetanus in flower. It’s such a charmer forerunner of the main crop of Hellebores.
Helleborus thibetanus
Meanwhile the greenhouse has continued to yield some lovely exotics like the Lachenalia and a very fragrant Tulbaghia.
Lachinalia unicolor
as well as a beautiful Freesia.
Freesia ‘Red River’
It is however, hard to exceed the Clivias for overall impact. Twice a year these african natives put forth long last colorful stalks and survive on minimal care.
Orange Clivia miniata
Yellow Clivia
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day February 2019
Moraea elegans
I thought I would start this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day post with a bright and cheerful Moraea from the greenhouse. This is one of the prettiest bulbs in existence. It flowers for only a short time, so I was glad to catch it just as it opened. It’s also been reclassified as Homeria where it becomes a noxious weed according to the USDA. Since it’s hard to keep growing even in cultivation it’s hard to understand how it earned that distinction.
Nearby is a little scilla from Syria
Scilla cilicica
Like many of the small squills, this one has startling dark purple anthers
Outside the greenhouse the world has a few flowers but mostly it’s all in anticipation of things to come after the ice and snow of the last week.
In particular the snowdrops have been doing their part.
Galanthus elwesii
Galanthus nivalis f. pleniflorus ‘Blewbury Tart’
And the Winter Aconite are just beginning to appear.
Winter Aconiter (Eranthis hyemalis)
but most of the rest are playing a waiting game
Adonis ‘Fukujukai’ waiting in the wings
Adonis ‘Fukujukai’
Paonia caucasica in bud
Pictures of trees and shrubs show why the flowers are not in a big hurry yet.
American Holly
Dwarf Cryptomeria covered in ice
I think it’s fair to guess that by this time next month we will be covered in flowers.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day January 2019
Well a couple a snowfalls have put a definite damper on our flower show for this January Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. The view out the back door gives a sense of our surroundings this mid-January day.
Backyard after fresh snowfall
Nonetheless there are couple of stalwarts that have seen fit to bloom despite the snow.
Pink Camellia
I have no idea the name of this camellia. I brought it back from California in my lap many years ago as one gallon $2.99 supermarket acquisition. I grew many years in the basement before I realized that the camellias were likely hardy enough to survive outside. For a winter like this one where we have yet to see temperatures below twenty degrees, this plant will flower from December onward. When it’s freezing cold the flowers will get browned off at the edges but usually we can grab a nice bud in the opening stage and enjoy it in the house before that happens.
And, of course, if they are not covered by snow, the snowdrops will persist in flowering well into spring.
Snowdrops
The other flowers for us are from the greenhouse.
Firelight Gold daffodil on block wall
Narcissus bulbocodium ‘Firelight Gold’
Notice the number of buds forming in this pot. I will definitely need to divide these after they go dormant.
Narcissus Roy Herold seedling
Beyond the greenhouse it’s also worth looking at flowers in preparation, for example the Edgeworthia
Edgeworthia buds
And some remarkably early Jeffersonia dubia
Jeffersonia dubia (early)
I amazed each year the early appearance of flowers on this single Jeffersonia dubia. It looks like it is predisposed to flower much sooner than Jeffersonia ought to be waking up.
I’ll close with a picture of the large pileated woodpecker that has been working on our big tulip poplar…
Pileated Woodpecker
Alpine Success
Papaver alpinum
Five years ago I had the notion of building a 3 foot by 14 foot raised bed on the side of the greenhouse that would simulate alpine conditions with a well draining stony soil that was over 2 feet deep. You have to work at it to convince alpines to be happy in the Maryland climate. The construction was long and hard. Just moving 84 cubic feet of soil is a chore. But I was more that pleased with the result (think of it as a giant trough). Things which were difficult to grow now became rambunctious. Although the bed was fast draining, it also retained moisture well so that watering was not a big issue. I built the bed on the shady side of the greenhouse and discovered that while that worked well for some things my notion of the Aubreita cascading over the wall didn’t work because, strangely enough, it grew towards the sun which was on the other side of the greenhouse. So I have begun to tailor the planting on that side to things which were happy with a bit of shade, such as a couple of nice dwarf Rhododendrons.
Rhododendron ‘Ginny Gee’
Meanwhile there a number of plants like the dwarf Aruncus and two Daphnes that seem to be very happy.
Alpine bed on the shady side
In the meantime I decided to build a second Alpine Bed on the other side of the greenhouse which have a sunnier outlook. I finished that construction project last year and this is the second growing season for the sunny side. There have been a number of successes for that side and the latest is seeing the little Alpine Poppy for the first time yesterday.
Papaver alpinum
This came from seed obtained from the Scottish Rock Garden Society‘s annual seed exchange in 2017. I got only this single plant from the seeding and it sat quite tiny and unmoving through the 2017 season. But I had read that it wants a cold winter before flowering and indeed this seems to be the case. From the Poppy’s point of view it’s in a very appropriate mountain environment.
Alpine Poppy in the Alpine Bed
Overall the sunny Alpine Bed looks really nice as spring begins.
Alpine bed on the sunny side
The Stachys and the Aubreita show every sign of diving over the wall the way I had hoped.
Stachys lavandulifolius
Hidden amidst the Aubreita is a fabulous eye-catching group of ice plants
Delosperma congestum ‘Gold Nugget’
This is from the highest part of the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa and despite it’s succulent nature it is complete hardy here.
Other happy residents of the sunny Alpine Bed are growing out of the tufa rock.
Aethionema saxitile
Armeria maritima ‘Victor Reiter’
Suffice it to say I really enjoy the Alpine Beds!
Around the corner, at the front of the greenhouse is the first of my troughs with a now six year-old planting of Vitaliana, another alpine native.
Vitaliana primuliflora
Of course there is life outside of the Alpine beds, and I should share the posting on jewels in our garden from Dan Weil. He spent last Saturday on his stomach crawling around the yard taking some very nice images of the little spring ephemerals in our yard. Dan is an artist (paint and photography) with considerable talent and looking at other parts of his website is also rewarding.
In closing, the Kwanzan Cherry came into bloom yesterday, always a lovely milestone for the season.
Kwanzan Cherry
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day April 2018
Sanguinaria canadensis ‘Snow Cone’
It’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day time and one of the fun parts of posting the monthly flowers is discovering those things that I had forgotten that I previously planted. Amongst those is the Snow Cone Bloodroot pictured above. All Bloodroots are good, this one is just a notch above.
Another newcomer to this blog is the single pink Anemonella from Hillside Nursery. I went on quest last year for a strong pink Anemonella after seeing one at my son’s house in previous years. He has since lost that plant which was exceptionally pink compared to the normal ‘Pink Pearl’ as it is now marketed. In any case the one gracing our flower bed is very nice indeed.
Anemonella thalictroides ‘Single Pink’
Another Anemonella variant that I posted on recently is Green Hurricane.
Anemonella thalictroides ‘Green Hurricane’
Many of the Anemone’s are flowering right now too, including this very complex nemerosa.
Anemone nemorosa ‘bracteata pleniflora’
Close by are the Corydalis.
Corydalis solida ssp. incisa ‘Vermion Snow’
Corydalis turtschaninovii ‘Eric the Red’
This one, as I’ve noted before is named for the leaves, not the beautiful blue flowers.
One cannot pass by the Camellia bed which has many of the spring ephemerals without seeing one of my favorite trilliums.
Trillium pusillum ‘Roadrunner’
And the Leucojum are like snowdrops on steroids
Leucojum vernum
Even this far into April the Hellebores continue to provide wonderful flowers. One that particularly catches my eye is Amethyst Gem.
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Amethyst Gem’
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Amethyst Gem’
This year I decided to give the Primula kisoana another try. You have to be cautious with this because it wants to spread, so I put it in with the other thugs.
Primula kisoana
I had a minor revelation this week when I thought I had finally succeeded in bring a Shortia into bloom. However, it turns out just to be Shortia lookalike, but pretty nonetheless.
Oxalis griffithii – Double Flowered
Back in the Alpine beds we have several returnees from previous years.
Aquilegia flabellata v. nana
Androsace barbulata
Primula allionii ‘Wharfedale Ling’
and a new Iris/potentilla combination
Iris babadaghica and Potentilla neumanniana ‘Orange Flame’
And it’s also worth noting that while I tend to get caught up in the small spring ephemerals, there are many other flowers about. The early Rhododendron in the front yard is always spectacular.
Rhododendren carolinianum
Rhododendren carolinianum
There are many, many Daffodils, both in the yard and in the woods/pasture.
Narcissus ‘Monte Carlo’ in the woods
And the various fruit trees are mostly just coming into bloom. The apricot is finished, the cherries and peaches just starting, and the Kieffer Pear is flowering as though there is no tomorrow.
Wild Cherries blooming in the woods
Kieffer pear tree
Kieffer pear tree blossoms
As I close this post, it’s worth noting that this spring is well behind previous years in terms of the number and progress of things in bloom. But I’m good with that. It gives more time to appreciate everything as it’s happening.