Strawberry jewels

Last year we replanted strawberries after disease had taken hold in our old row.  I first put in 25 Jewel strawberries in a double row 18″ apart with pinebark mulch.  Those 25 were allowed to expand and expand they did.  I would say that the mesh of strawberries is about three foot wide and so dense as to exclude most weeds.

Double row of Jewel Strawberries

They have been extraordinarily productive.  We’ve been bringing in a very large bowel of strawberries every night and predominantly from this patch.  Later on last year, near the end of June I added another 50 plants (Allstar & Cavendish) and those have been contributing too, but not nearly so many as the jewel plants.  Somehow in my unreasonable fear that we would not have enough strawberries, I added another 25 strawberry plants this spring (Cabot).  I think we will need help picking next year.

3 nights of strawberry picking

Meanwhile on the flower front much has been happening.  I was really pleased to see the Martagon lily ‘Arabian Knight’ flowering for the first time.

Martagon Lily ‘Arabian Knight’

I love the way the Martagons have a completely different profile from the normal lily hybrids.  The foliage itself makes a statement.  We’ve also have the first flower on a small Chinese lily that I got from Far Reaches this year.

Lilium duchartrei

This is said to spread underground so that should be fun.  I wouldn’t mind a clump of these little guys.

I was more than pleased to see that a couple of my favorite Arisaemas (fargesii and candidissimum) have finally decided to emerge.  Take a note for future years that I should not expect or dig in these areas until June.

Arisaema fargesii

There are a number of little rain lilies popping out in the greenhouse right now.  They are all a bit tender for this area, but I may give them a shot at outside exposure when I have enough of them in hand.  For the moment I just take out to sit on the back porch.

Habranthus brachyandrus

Zephyranthes rosea

Habranthus tubispathus var. texensis

Zephyranthes dichromantha

You can see from the pictures that these little bulbs are multiplying in there pots, but it’s hard to compete with the oxalis which REALLY multiply in the pots.  I started separating out the oxalis from 2013 plantings this year as they went dormant and the original 1-3 bulbs have expanded a lot.

Oxalis flava ‘Yellow’

Oxalis flava ‘Yellow’ yield

They can be kept in a bag until August when they will be ready to go again for fall/winter blooming in the greenhouse.  As a reminder the Oxalis in the greenhouse are nothing like the little pests you find in the garden.

Oxalis flava – yellow

Thinking of the greenhouse, there is a South American bulb with gorgeous deep blue flowers that has been blooming steadily for the last two weeks.

Gelasine elongata

I always enjoy seeing these new bulbs or seeds bloom for the first time.  I recently planted out several Anemone multifida ‘Rubra’ that I grew from the NARGS seed exchange in 2014.

Anemone multifida ‘Rubra’

Similarly this little Dianthus that I planted in tufa was grown from the NARGS 2014 seed exchange.

Dianthus spiculifolius

Speaking of seed exchanges, now is the time to be gathering seed from the early flowering plants.  For many of them, like the Jeffersonia, you have to watching carefully to see that you get the seeds before the wind and the insects do…

Harvesting Jeffersonia dubia seeds

Jeffersonia dubia seeds

Identifying the seeds for these large seeded plants is pretty straightforward but many plants are pretty tricky.  Helps you appreciated what goes on for a more wide-ranging seed collector like BotanyCA.

I had a perfectly wonderful time at the NARGS annual meeting, but that deserves a posting in itself.  I will say that I brought back a number of exotic plants including this little Conandron that I’ve put in the alpine bed.

Conandron ramondioides

The alpine bed continues to be very successful.  I’ve added another Lewisia since they seem to like it so much.

Lewisia longipetala ‘Little Peach’

And the alpine aster has returned from last year.

Aster alpina

Out in the main garden beds the astrantia is coming into bloom, along with the horned poppies.

Astrantia ‘Moulin Rouge’

Yellow Horned Poppy (Glaucium flavum)

Orange Horned Poppy (Glaucium flavum var. aurantiacum)

There is one little garden mystery.  Somehow a european spotted orchid has appeared on the opposite side of the yard from where it bloomed last year (and where it has no flower buds this year).  I have no memory of having planted one in this spot.  But nonetheless it seems to be happily blooming away.

Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Let me close with the first thing I check in the morning — the spuria iris.

Spuria Iris ‘Cinnebar Red’

Spuria iris ‘Stella Irene’