Adonis ‘Fukujukai’ opening up
When the Adonis light up the yard I always feel like a light bulb has been turned on for springtime. Yes, I know that there are still snowy days in our future but the Adonis can usually tolerate that and in the meantime they take full advantage of today’s 50 plus temperatures. When I see them, I have to ask the rhetorical question ‘why doesn’t everyone plant Adonis’? Of course slow-growing, expensive, and not easily available are parts of the answer. But sometimes the good things take patience. The March Bank at Winterthur is full of Adonis. And has been for over one hundred years.
Adonis are part of the ranunculus family and have all the sturdiness that implies as well as the brilliant yellow that runs in the family.
Adonis ‘Fukujukai’
Apparently although Fukujukai is often listed (as I have done in the past) as a cultivar of Adonis amurensis it is actually a naturally occurring sterile triploid hybrid between Adonis ramosa and Adonis multiflora. That would explain it’s vigor and early flowering.
There are other indicators of spring today. The Chinese Witch Hazel is very much in flower as well.
Chinese Witch Hazel (Hamamelis mollis)
And the Winter Aconite is not far behind.
Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)
Even the Jeffersonia is showing buds that it may wish to reclaim after the next cold snap.
Jeffersonia dubia in bud
I was surprised to see the newest of my Fritillaria from Augis’ Bulbs rising up in the Alpine Bed.
Fritillaria stenanthera Karatau
This should be interesting indeed.
Of course the Red Camellia still has no sense of the season. I should end this posting with that out of character plant.
Red Camellia Japonica starting early
First Crocus for 2017
Crocus korolkowii ‘Agalik’
Well the first crocus for this year popped out on a 53 degree day today. Although it gives the illusion of being a double crocus it’s really just double-nosed if such a descriptor can be applied to a crocus. In other words it’s two separate flowers but beautiful nonetheless. Apparently this is not unusual for the species. Rukšans in his marvelous reference ‘Buried Treasures‘ says that as many as 20 flowers can be found coming out of a single corm. I mentioned in an earlier post that you can get these little early blooming gems Augis’ Bulbs in Lithuania but they can also be obtained from Odyssey Bulbs in Massachusetts. How we missed growing this crocus all these years is beyond me.
And close by, just starting to open in the new alpine bed, is the related variety Crocus korokowii ‘Marble Tiger’ with distinct markings on the outside of the petals.
Crocus korolkowii ‘Marble Tiger’
Crocus korolkowii ‘Marble Tiger’
Ironically, in the greenhouse, we have star flower which almost has a similar appearance.
Tristagma sellowianum
Another spot of yellow in the greenhouse is one of the small narcissus.
Narcissus romieuxi ‘Julia Jane’
I noticed today that the first flowers are appearing on an alpine plant that I started from seed last January.
Round-leaved Pennycress (Thlaspi rotundifolium)
This is distinctly unimpressive thus far, though in the Dolomites it had tons of flowers covering the plants, almost like a cushion. I’ll put it outside this spring and maybe it will be more floriferous with a cold winter.
Also blooming in the greenhouse (still) is the South African Cyrtanthus that first came into bloom over a month ago. This is a winner.
Cyrtanthus mackenii
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day January 2017
Algerian Clementine (Citrus clementina)
As you might imagine the lead photo from this month’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day is not growing outside. In fact all these flowers came out while the little Clementine was living in the basement. I find the citrus do quite well in the basement with minimal light and hardly any watering. But once it started to flower like this (it is covered with flowers) I decided I better make room for it in the greenhouse where it might actually get some light. And who knows maybe it will get pollinated as well as I don’t exclude insects from the greenhouse. I had put the citrus in the greenhouse originally and they had lots of disease and insect problems that I now attribute to too much watering. I’ve since slowed my greenhouse watering schedule in the wintertime and perhaps it will work out better this time.
Meanwhile, as the song says ‘The weather outside is frightful’, or at least it’s been cold enough that not much is happening. That’s probably good for the plants in the long run but I can’t help looking at the few things that are starting to grow, as in snowdrops.
Galanthus nivalis
Just as regular as can be, the snowdrops are back again and right on schedule.
We also have a red camellia japonica that always wants to be first off the mark.
Red Camellia opening
Meanwhile the Adonis are very close to blooming.
Adonis amurensis ‘Fukujukai’ in bud
Just a couple more 50 degree days will see these guys opening up with their bright yellow flowers. And then they will stay in bloom until April.
Another flower that is on the verge (stay tuned) is the new crocus that’s been planted in the new alpine bed.
Crocus korolkowii ‘Marble Tiger’
These were in the collection that I ordered from Augis’ Bulbs this year. They have a wonderful selection and you can order by personal check.
The other flowers are in the greenhouse. In addition to the oxalis, the hoop daffodils are still making a show.
Narcissus ‘Taffeta’
Narcissus seedling ex Roy Herold
I also wanted to share the planting of our Christmas tree. We’ve had a family tradition of purchasing a live tree and then planting it outside after Christmas. The first tree was a white pine that was planted 40 years ago in the middle of the backyard. It is probably 40 ft tall at this point. The trees have been moving further from the house by necessity. Most recently we’ve started a little grove at the bottom of the pasture.
Kubota with extensions on bucket to move the Christmas tree
Hollowing out a hole for the Christmas tree
Son Josh helps get this year’s tree (a Douglas Fir) in place
Well, that’s the state of gardening on our hillside today. Let me close with a shot of the Heavenly Bamboo taken this morning after an overnight rain.
Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica)
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day December 2016
Red Cattleya Orchid
Well real winter has arrived just in time for bloom day. I took a walk around the yard and could not discover a single flower outside. That is very rare. I found one camellia bud that was seriously considering blooming.
Red Camellia Bud
But the outside looks to be in for a cold spell. The real flowers are in the greenhouse or in the house at this point. The house spectacular is the red cattleya orchid that blooms every year at about this time.
Red Cattleya Orchid
It has a marvelous fragrance to compliment the exotic flowers. This orchid spends the whole spring, summer,and fall on the porch with zero care, so it’s very nice that it rewards us with these flowers when we bring it inside for the winter.
Another plant that has been sharing it’s flowers with us in the kitchen actually came from the greenhouse. It’s Cyrtanthus mackenii, part of a large genus in the Amaryllis family.
Cyrtanthus mackenii
This south african native blooms for a long period with a succession of long tubular flowers and seems to relish being crowded in the pot.
Cyrtanthus mackenii close-up
Another greenhouse plant that is very consistently flowering after thanksgiving is Daubenya stylosa.
Daubenya stylosa
The beautiful yellow stamens are an absolute magnet for slugs. I didn’t actually know that I had slugs in the greenhouse until the Daubenya started blooming.
There are numerous oxalis still in bloom, such as this purpurea.
Oxalis purpurea ‘Cherry’
The next flowers coming into bloom are the small hoop daffodils. Silver Palace is an example.
Narcissus cantabricus ‘Silver Palace’
Narcissus cantabricus ‘Silver Palace’
I think this is about the third year of blooming and they are starting to fill the pot quite nicely.
I had a little thrilling adventure in the greenhouse last week. I looked at the weather station that I keep in the utility room to monitor the greenhouse temperature and saw, to my dismay, that the temperatures were dipping close to freezing. By 2am the temperature showed to be 33 degrees so I found myself out in the greenhouse checking on the function of the two heaters that I use to keep the temperatures up. They both seemed to be working ok and plants seemed to be handling the cold so I went to bed. In the morning I saw the temperature had dipped to 31 degrees. What then discovered was that I had been looking at the ‘old’ weather station. Last year I put in a new one and moved the ‘old’ sensor to the garage. When I put a new battery in the ‘new’ weather station it dutifully reported temperatures closer to 50 degrees which is more what I had in mind.
Just ask this Gerbera if 50 degrees is more the temperature that it enjoys…
Red Gerbera
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day November 2016
Daphne collina x cneorum
It seems appropriate for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day to give due credit to this little dwarf Daphne which has bloomed on and off in the Alpine bed since April. The flowers (like most Daphnes) are very fragrant and the plant has prospered in the Alpine bed despite my placing it in a spot between two rocks where it seemed to me most appropriate to its small size. And it’s much bigger now, though still very pleasing.
Even the Winter Daphne which I moved into the sunshine this year after torturing it in the deep shade for several years seems to be enjoying its exposure to the elements.
Winter Daphne (Daphne odora)
It’s out by the front fence in some of the poorest soil on our hillside. We shall see how it survives. The Edgeworthia, its new neighbor, has put out some fat buds so maybe it’s not as bad a location as I imagined.
Our weather has flirted with frost but we haven’t really had a hard, killing frost yet. That has let some of the hardier plants continue to flower. Here are just a few of them.
Snapdragons
Chrysanthemum
Pineapple Sage
A few remaining Fall Crocus
Lantana
The Lantana is one of the feature plants that will tell me when it has gotten really cold, and I should take the citrus to the basement.
As we go back to the Alpine bed, another plant that has bloomed for a long time (essentially nine months) is the Erodium chrysanthum.
Erodium chrysanthum
It’s close relative, the alpine geranium, is also fond of flowering every day.
Alpine Geranium (Erodium reichardii ‘Roseum’)
What has been particularly surprising this fall is the Delphinium cashmerianum.
Delphinium cashmerianum
Delphinium cashmerianum full plant
Retreating finally into the greenhouse (which will be my refuge before long) I want to share the bright red flowers of the a little Aptenia that I grew from a cutting (thank you Marianne!)
Aptenia cordifolia ‘Red Apple’
And the tiny little flowers of Polyxena ensifolia which looks much bigger on the web.
Polyxena ensifolia
Perhaps mine will grow up some day…
Besides myriad Oxalis, there is also a pot of Cyclamen worthy of note.
Cyclamen hederifolium ‘Perlenteppich’
These are pure white with lovely leaves.
Finally I will finish up with the first Camellia of this season. Beth picked it before I could photograph it in place, but it’s another reminder of what an extended Fall season we have had.
Camellia japonica
Catching up with the Fall
Delphinium cashmerianum
I am way behind on reporting on garden developments here on Ball Rd. I walked around last weekend to try to catch up with what has been happening (mostly what persists in growing despite the lack of rain hereabouts). I was quite pleased and surprised to see that the first flowers have appeared on a little delphinium that I had placed in the new Alpine bed (more about that in a future post). I grew this one from seed (obtained from the Scottish Rock Garden Club seed exchange) planted last February. As I look at the plant I’m dubious that the name is correct. The leaves are much more narrow than shown in the online pictures of D. cashmerianum.
Delphinium cashmerianum
There are a lot of species of Delphiniums so I’ll have to live with it for a while to see if I can hone in on the correct name.
It’s been so dry that I haven’t had a lot of new flowers for quite some time. I did see that the Mahonia by the front door has it’s yellow flowers showing.
Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’
The big question is whether we’ve found a spot where it will successfully survive the winter.
There are many annuals still about in the vegetable garden. I’ve shown the Tithonia many times now. But out front the Gaillardia deserves some commendation for persistence.
Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’
And there was a solitary rose in flower next to the garage. It was just about perfect with a wonderful fragrance.
Blush pink Rose
I know longer remember the name, but it seems to me it had something to do with ‘blush’.
There a couple of instances of Bottle Gentians having escaped in the garden behind the garage. I’ve never been that keen on flowers that never open, but they are beginning to win me over with stubborn endurance.
Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii)
And it you look closely while walking in the back yard you can see crocus blooming in the lawn.
Crocus speciosus ‘Conqueror’
Crocus cartwrightianus alba
But even as the flowers are waning during this Indian Summer, the greenhouse is abounding with the bright green growth of many bulbs. Daffodils, triteleia, tritonia, ferraria, moraea, freesia, lachenalia, and more are sending up new shoots. And the oxalis are in full bloom now. Here is a sampling. Notice how variable the leaves are from the clover-like bowieii , to the wonderfully textured melanosticta, and to the very narrow hirta.
Oxalis bowieii
Oxalis luteola glauca
Oxalis hirta ‘Gothenburg’
Oxalis melanosticta ‘Ken Aslet’
Oxalis pardalis
Oxalis bench with O. pardalis and O. luteum glauca
Oxalis flava yellow next to O. hirta ‘Gothenburg’
Lastly a Cyrtanthus hybrid that has been living in the house for two weeks now.
Cyrtanthus elatus x montanus
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day September 2016
Nasturtium
It has been a generally hot and dry (read depressing) summer for our garden). In early August we awoke to find that we had drawn down the well with watering and so had to forego our normal watering plan. So my looks around the garden prior to Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day were fewer than they might otherwise have been. We did still water Beth’s new raised bed and the Nasturtiums and Calendulas have responded by blooming all summer long and into the Fall.
Calendula
Many of the other flowers in bloom are a testament to how well some species can survive in adversity.
Alstroemeria ‘Sweet Laura’
Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum)
Venturing out onto our ultra-dry hillside which never gets watered at all anymore, I found several champions of the survival school.
Buddleia
Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
Crepe Myrtle
Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’
Notice the spider on the Lemon Queen and it’s very adaptive coloration.
Spider on Lemon Queen
The butterflies are also very attracted to Lemon Queen.
butterfly on Lemon Queen
I also saw a lovely Monarch Butterfly on the Tithonia in the vegetable garden.
Monarch on Tithonia
One very noteworthy Fall-blooming flower is the Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’. I’m becoming more of a fan every year and it’s a good thing because it keeps spreading of its own volition.
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
Another fall bloomer was a bit of a surprise. This Sweet Autumn Clematis was something I pulled out three years ago and I was surprised to see it return in two separate places this year.
Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora)
It’s a lovely flower but can get too aggressive if left to its own devices. I will probably try to transplant it to the woods.
In the alpine beds I have two erodiums that are returning to bloom right now.
Erodium chrysantha
Erodium
In the greenhouse I have just finished restarting all the oxalis. At the same time the Bulbine has come back into flower.
Bulbine frutescens
And one of the cyclamens has taken on a very distinctive flowering by simply spilling over the edge of the pot with a great many flowers and no leaves at all.
Cyclamen graecum
Lastly just to note that man (or woman) does not live by flowers alone. The raspberries are joining the apples as delectable fruits to be harvested this month.
raspberries ready for harvest again
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day August 2016
Gentiana paradoxa
I find myself at the beach for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, but before leaving I snapped a few shots of the flowering activity around our hillside. The gentian pictured above is a vigorous spreader in the Alpine bed that is a reliable harbinger of fall. The feathery insides of the flower make it one of the prettiest flowers I know.
The rest of the yard is dominated by the hardy annuals and sturdy perennials that can make it through a dry Maryland summer. A great example is the state flower, Black-eyed Susans, that dominates our front bed.
Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta)
In the vegetable garden we often grow Mexican Sunflower (Sithonia) which are very attractive to butterflies.
Tithonia
There a number of plants that deserve special praise for returning one or more times during the summer.
Clematis ‘Roguchi’
Asclepias ‘Hello Yellow’
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
The salvia is not supposed to be hardy in our area, but it has returned reliably for 5 years now.
The two lobelias, red and blue, are winners for an August garden.
Lobelia cardinalis
Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Amongst the shrubs, the Hydrangea ‘Limelight makes a long and lovely showing.
Hydrangea ‘Limelight’
From the greenhouse a number of the formosa lilies are in full flower.
lilium formosanum
And the small Herbertia texensis is putting out it’s complex flowers.
Herbertia texensis
Let me close, because the beach is calling, with a wildlife image from the garden. I found this remarkably lovely caterpillar on a tree peony leaf.
Caterpillar (American Dagger Moth?)