Camellia sasanqua red
Well the fall camellia next to the garage continues to be our most reliable bloomer for Garden Blogger Bloom Day and the wintertime. It’s hard not to imagine the backyard without the camellias. They are such a continuing delight. The hybrid that I picked up from the camellia society a couple of years ago has been blooming all winter long as well, but the flowers are starting to decrease in size.
Camellia hybrid white/pink
Meanwhile the first of the spring camellias is blooming again.
Camellia japonica red
Some of the other flowers around the yard are pretty reliable participants in the late winter/early spring bloom.
1st Snowdrops
Japanese Quince
Helleborus niger HGC® ‘Jacob’
But it’s worth noting that we have never seen this red heather blooming persistently over the winter.
Krarmer’s Rote Heather (Erica x darleyensis)
It’s also worth noting that I’ve never seen flower buds on the Cyclamen coum in January.
Cyclamen coum flower buds
I wanted to include a picture of the buds on one of the other Hellebores as well. This is a particularly dark foliaged plant with dark red flowers as well. It looks like it wont’ be long till this one is in bloom.
Helleborus ‘Ice and Roses Red’
In the greenhouse we have more Narcissus showing up. This is a particularly nice one (note the buds yet to open)
Narcissus romieuxii ‘Atlas Gold’
We have also decided (in response to Covid) to upgrade our basement lighting and get an early start on the planting year.
New LED light added for starting seeds
And as a result here are the little plants from the seeds that I planted last week on my birthday…
First seedlings for 2021
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day December 2020
Helleborus niger ‘HGC Jacob’
Well it is December so it’s not surprising that the first Hellebore is blooming for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. Helleborus Niger is always well ahead of it’s compatriots in providing winter bloom. Nonetheless it’s still the camellias that are providing the most stunning flowers around our hillside.
Hybrid Fall Camellia
Hybrid Fall Camellia detail
Red Camellia sasanqua
Red Camellia japonica
The camellias are pretty consistently with us for the fall and then on again off again until into the springtime. More surprising is the heather that is blooming right now.
Kramer’s Rote Heather (Erica x darleyensis)
And there is also a little ice plant that is flowering way out of season.
Delosperma cooperi
You can see white tips on the snowdrops and the adonis are also coming into bud.
Adonis buds
But we are expecting 10 inches of snow tomorrow (the first real snow we’ve had this year), and that means the plants are likely to slow down for awhile.
In the greenhouse we have a number of early daffodils in bloom.
Narcissus cantabricus ‘Silver Palace’
And there is also the beautiful wavy-flowered Nerine undulata still flowering after more than a month of bloom.
Nerine undulata
We have put up our traditional live Christmas tree, this time a Canaan Fir.
Canaan Fir Christmas Tree
This will be planted out in the pasture after the holidays.
December 15th is also the first day for choosing seeds from the North American Rock Garden Society’s Seed Exchange. I was up early this morning (late last night) putting in my request for my 35 1st choice seed packets on the list. This is great fun and I would encourage everyone to get involved. There are 2480 taxa available including many rare and unusual varieties that you will not find from commercial sources.
NARGS Seed Exchange
Eranthis and the Daily Walkabout
Eranthis hyemalis
This is a wonderful time of year to watch the Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) emerge from their slumber. They spread every year — into the grass and other parts of the garden. But it’s a nice kind of spreading. Hardly any other plants are doing anything at this time of year and in six weeks from now they will have disappeared till next year. There are some other color forms of the winter aconite, either paler yellow or orange shades, but one of my strong desires has been to grow the white species, Eranthis Pinnatifida. I got one flowering a few years ago, but it didn’t stay with us. Nevertheless, the flower is so intriguing that I keep persisting. I ordered one from Japan last fall and got it planted out in December. I noticed on my daily stroll about the garden that It is growing but it looks like no flowers this year.
Eranthis pinnatifida from Japan
At the same time, and almost so small that i nearly missed it, I found a flowering Eranthis pinnatifida in a seeding pot that I had started in 2016 from seeds obtained from the NARGS seed exchange.
Eranthis pinnatifida
Not only was this little jewel growing but there was another little Eranthis in the same pot. So hope spring eternal someone once said.
The seed exchanges are a wonderful introduction to new plants that you will never see in a commercial catalog. My package from the Alpine Garden society arrived just this week.
Seed Exchange package from the AGS
But I have already started many seeds obtained from NARGS, the SRGC, and individual seed vendors.
Seed Exchange plantings
Also in the greenhouse is the first of the Ferrarias to bloom this year.
Ferraria crispa
Ferrarias are very easy to grow and easily one of the most unusual flowers you will ever set eyes on. The curls around the edge have a fractal quality to them.
I also just brought the first of many Scilla peruviana into the house to enjoy.
Scilla peruviana
But getting back to the daily walkabout, I would be remiss not to note that many crocus and snowdrops are appearing around the yard.
Crocus tommasinianus
And the first Primula is showing it’s flowers as well.
Primula vulgaris
Like the Winter Aconite, these are happy to spread into the lawn.
A more unusual spotting from the walkabout was to see the first pink color in one of the Saxifrages in a trough.
Saxifraga ‘Valerie Keevil’
This little jewel flowered in April last year.
And I also noticed in the alpine bed that one of the Callianthemums from Japan that I planted in December has a bud on it!
Callianthemum miyabeanum
These plants are really hard to find in the U.S. and my thanks to Yuzawa Engei for the wonderful packing to get it here.
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 Sept 2018
Yellow Chysanthemums
Well, it’s been a strange time for flowers on this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. While we have dodged the hurricane bullet that hit the folks in the Carolinas, the weather has been unusual to say the least. To date we have had over 52 inches of rain compared to the normal of 29 inches through mid-September. On the one hand we have the traditional flowers for September like the mums shown above. And some remarkable Dahlias from the garden.
Dahlia ‘Winkie Colonel’
Dahlia ‘AC Ben’
But we have also had the Apples drop most of there leaves in July and August and they are now re-blooming.
Apple Blossom in September
Many other trees have dropped their leaves and the Azaleas out front are blooming again.
Azalea reblooming in September
Despite the strange weather there are still a set of interesting flowers to find around the yard, for example this Roscoea.
Roscoea purpurea ‘Spice Island’
And in the greenhouse the rather unusual large Scilla maderensis is flowering once again.
Scilla maderensis
Some other items of note include this six foot tall Canna that came from a friend this year.
Canna ‘Bengal Tiger’
The Knockout Roses are continuing to bloom.
Rose ‘Knockout Pink’
And the Perennial Pea is blooming once again despite our attempts to remove it.
Lathyrus latifolius
We have found that Phlox also reappears from long ago planting with or without our tending to it.
Self-seeded Phlox
And in the orchard the Blue Sage has been in continuous bloom since late spring.
Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea)
Some of our outside work is getting set aside because of several nests of Yellowjackets. They took up residence in one our large pots on the deck and also in the ground by one of the raised beds. These guys seem impervious to chemicals and according to the web can be quite dangerous (not something we want to test since I for one am allergic to wasp venom) and there are hundreds of them.
Yellow jacket wasp
Finally, let me note that this is time for packing up your seeds to send off to the various seed exchanges. By becoming a seed donor, you get first choice when you participate in the seed exchanges organizations. Check out the North American Rock Garden Society for example.
Packing up Seeds
Collecting Seeds
Blackberry Lily (Iris domestica) seeds
Seeing some of the fall seeds is a good reminder that it’s a good time to pack up all those seeds you’ve been carefully collecting all season long to share with the various seed exchanges. You did remember to do that right? If you didn’t it’s still not too late. Many flowers hold their seeds well through the summer and into the fall. They are not always so easy to see and harvest as the blackberry lily (which by the way is a bit too common for most seed exchanges). Some of the species Peonies are still carrying their seeds right now.
Paonia obovata alba seeds
Generally, however, it takes a bit more effort to select and harvest seeds.
As an example I picked a few handfuls of Primula sieboldii back in June and put them in an uncovered plastic bowl. This week I put these primula seeds through my seed strainers. You don’t have to have seed strainers but it makes the process a lot easier. Mine were designed for sifting for gold but the process is the same. They stack one on top of the other and the gold (seed) sifts down to the bottom tray. Here are a few pictures showing the process.
Screen 1
Primula sieboldii with seed pod highlighted
Screen 2
Screen 3
Screen 4
The resulting Primula sieboldii seeds from screen 4
As inspiration here are the original Primula sieboldii which I obtained the seeds from.
Primula sieboldii in April
As a word to the wise, which I wasn’t with some very nice Allium seeds, don’t put seeds that are still moist in a sealed container, or they will just rot over the summer.
In the end I sent off 22 packs of seeds to the Alpine Garden Society, the Scottish Rock Garden Society, and the North American Rock Garden Society. Besides sharing with others this will give the donor first pick privileges when the seeds are distributed this winter.
Traveling in the Springtime
Paonia ostii
We were gone for a week in mid-April and as might be expected you will miss some things at this time of year as part of price of traveling. We bought the above Osti’s Peony from Wrightman’s Alpines as a very small plant in 2015 so this was first time we were to see it in bloom, and we almost missed it. Similarly a very dwarf yellow Rhododendron that we got just last year from McCue Gardens was already past its peak in flowering when we got back.
Rhododendron ‘Wren’
Another one we missed was the first of the Molly the witch peonies. However, the second one still had a flower bud opening. I keep planting them in the hopes that I will end up the yellow flowers the Mollys are famous for.
Paeonia mlokosewitschii
Similarly, but more unfortunate, the Dryas octopetala that had three buds had already finished blooming by the time we returned. We had planted seeds of the Dryas last year after enjoying them when we went to the Dolomites. Fortunately there were still a lot of flowers to enjoy upon our return. Especially a few more Peonies.
Paeonia obovata var. ‘Willmottiae’
Paonia perigrina
Tree Peony Light Pink
Another of Arisaemas has popped up.
Arisaema sikokianum
It is particularly striking with the bright white spadix.
Various of the Euphorbias are lighting up the garden as well as several dwarf Iris flowers.
Euphorbia polychroma
Dwarf Iris orange
In a couple of spots we have lovely little blue Corydalis flowers.
Corydalis ‘Eric the Red’ (named for the leaves)
Back in alpine bed, the Kidney Vetch that I started from seed obtained from BotanyCa is growing very strongly.
Astragalus vulneria v. coccoina
Nearby is a lovely white Pasque Flower that my son grew from seed obtained from the AGS seed exchange in 2012.
Pulsatilla hallerii slavica
And one last flower is the first Clematis of the season.
Clematis ‘Niobe’
And let me close out this post with the note that if you focus on foliage you are never disappointed by missing the flowers.
Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Viridis’
Jewels of Spring
Hepatica americana pink
It’s that time of year when I wish each day would linger so that we can enjoy all the jewels of springtime that are popping up day by day. I’m so busy outside that I’ve not kept up with recording all the flowers coming into bloom right now. The spring ephemerals are always at the top of my enjoyment list. Many of them are small, transitory, and wonderfully beautiful. Hepaticas come to mind with their small hairy leaves and colorful stamens.
Hepatica japonica purple
Hepatica japonica red and white
But there are many competitors for my eye. Here are a few that have come in the last few weeks.
Chionodoxa forbesii ‘Blue Giant’
Chionodoxa forbesii ‘Pink Giant’
Pulsatilla grandis
Primula allionii ‘Wharfefdale Ling’
Geum reptans
This is a new plant grown from seed obtained from the Scottish Rock Garden Club seed exchange last year.
Corydalis kusnetzovii x C.solida ‘Cherry Lady’
A new addition from Augis Bulbs last summer.
Corydalis solida ‘Beth Evans’
Erythronium dens-canis ‘Rose Queen’
Jeffersonia diphylla
Sanguinaria canadensis ‘Multiplex’
Arisaema ringens
Anemone blanda ‘Violet Star’
Spring Beauty ‘Clatonia virginica’
Fessia hohenackeri (note the stamens)
A favorite combo – Chionodoxa and Anemone blanda
Of course, even in springtime the greenhouse is contributing it’s part.
Ferraria ferrariola
Moraea sp. MM 03-04a blue
Tritonia ‘Bermuda Sands’
Scilla peruviana
A wonderful plant. I have some outside as well and last year they managed to flower.
Paradisea lusitanica
This comes on a 3 1/2 foot stalk. I’m going to try putting it outside this year. It’s marginally hardy in our area and it would be wonderful if it succeeds.
And then lastly the greenhouse provided a lot of color to the house
Clivia in the Entryway