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
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day December 2018
Well, it’s very cold and wet at mid-December and though I searched around I could find nothing in the way of flowers outside. I won’t count the weeds even though a scraggly dandelion tried to rise up to greet me. Instead we turn to the greenhouse where some reliable December flowers are happening.
The hoop-petticoat daffodils with their little megaphone shaped flowers are the earliest of the daffodils that we grow, typically flowering in early December in the greenhouse. They are native to Spain and are widely spread around the iberian peninsula and Morocco. I received mine from the Pacific Bulb Society in one of their many bulb exchanges. In fact most of the flowers I am about to share came from the PBS.
A favorite for it’s early blooming is a South African plant, Daubenya stylosa.
It’s bright color is an attractor for humans and it is also a magnet for slugs.
This fall I planted a few more Hyacinthoides which are striking for the blue interior flower parts.
An old reliable flower for this season is the first of our freesias to bloom.
As it turns out we have one more flower contributor for this season. The Amazon lily, which lives in the house for the cold weather, is putting out flowers.
So that about wraps it up for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. Here are the newly planted seeds and bulbs from the PBS that will show up on this blog in the future.
And outside the closest we come to flowering are the big fat buds on the camellia which asks only for mid-winter thaw…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day November 2018
Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis lutea)
Yesterday’s Bloom Day began with a snowstorm that ended up depositing 6 inches by the end of the day. Early on you could still see the corydalis pictured above and one of the camellias in the front yard.
Camellia sasanqua ‘October Magic’ in the snow
Anticipating the snow, I had taken pictures around the yard the day before, including the same camellia.
Camellia sasanqua ‘October Magic’
Yet another fall blooming camellia was in the side yard.
Camellia x ‘Survivor’
Hardiness is generally not a problem for camellias in our area but getting blooms at the right time can sometimes be problematical. The spring blooming camellias are loaded with buds but they will sometimes pop open in a December thaw only to be burned off in the next freeze.
Also still blooming this week before the snowfall was the blue sage in the orchard.
Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea)
This sage has been in constant bloom since early summer. Similarly the Viola jooi in the Alpine bed has come back into bloom again.
Viola jooi
There aren’t a lot of other flowers right now because we finally had our first freeze last week and many things got burned off. One last remnant is this knockout rose.
Knockout Rose ‘Pink’
In preparation for the freeze, we covered up the newly planted Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’.
Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’
This is the third try for this lovely Mahonia which is only marginally hardy here. We are hoping that covering it up will help it get through the winter.
We also gathered pine needles from the driveway and made a little nest for the pomegranate planted in the orchard.
White Pine needles on the driveway
Pomegranate tucked in for the winter surrounded by the last few zinnias
This is another of those plants where we are pushing the survival limits.
Otherwise we need to go into the greenhouse for flowers in November.
Oxalis in the greenhouse
Oxalis asinia
Oxalis caprina
Oxalis luteola just opening
In closing I want to share an early November picture of a lovely Amur Maple in the front yard.
Amur Maple (Acer ginnala)
In some areas of the country this is seen as invasive but for us it’s been very well behaved and a seasonal favorite.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day October 2018
Anemone x hybrida ‘Whirlwind’
As has been the case for many other October Garden Blogger Bloom Days the double flowered Anemone Japonica hybrid shown above has been the bell-ringer. It produces many outstanding flowers and they can be cut and brought into the house. It is modestly aggressive like all of it’s kin, but they pull out easily when they go where you don’t want them.
Another fall favorite are the various toad lilies. Probably the most abundant for us is Trycyrtis ‘Sinonome’
Trycyrtis ‘Sinonome’
It goes well with the New England Asters that are nearby
New England Aster
I was pleased to find that two spring plantings of fall camellias have produced flowers this year.
Camellia sasanqua ‘White’
Camellia sasanqua ‘October Magic’
This last one is loaded with flowers, maybe 20-30 buds.
Two Roses from the springtime have some very nice buds to remind us of what they will do for us next year.
Rosa ‘Crocus Rose’ (David Austin)
Rosa ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ (David Austin)
Back in the Alpine Garden one of the Daphnes is flowering once again. And with a marvelous fragrance of course.
Daphne collina x cneorum
And in a small trough that I inherited and can take no credit for there is a lovely little red sedum that has been flowering for the last month.
Sedum (cauticola?)
We have a number of plants in pots that will have to find a nice place for the winter. One of them is the Plectranthus sitting on the back porch. It has been a real winner.
Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’
Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’
Another non-hardy plant that is flowering strongly for the first time for us in Nerine Sarniensis. It looks like it will produce many offsets in the future.
Nerine sarniensis
In the greenhouse are many little pots of Cyclamen graecum. While they are not hardy, they are quite willing to jump into neighboring pots.
Cyclamen graecum
As a postscript I should add that this has been a really strange season for many trees, including our apples. However the Kieffer Pears have outdone themselves, producing so many pears that a major branch of the tree broke off. I have been having daily sandwiches of brie and pear. Highly recommended.
Kieffer Pear
Well that’s about it for our garden, what about yours?