On the bright side, this has been an absolutely fabulous spring for moving plants and I have been taking full advantage. My "list" is almost complete. In addition I've moved dozens of other plants to what I hope will be better spots-some have been languishing for years. In doing so I've opened up space in existing gardens that I didn't even know I had. Lately all my free time (when I'm not sleeping, working or in the garden) has been spent poring over plant catalogs. Now if I could just find everything I want...nurseries have been slow to stock.
Even though parts of my garden appear colorful now, very little is actually blooming. Planting bulbs has not been high on my priority list for the past few falls. I plan my garden for late season interest and don't allocate much space to spring bloomers. Usually I'm so busy in the spring I often don't even notice what's in bloom. So let's take a look...
What few Hellebores I have are looking spiffy. I have them scattered throughout the garden but as I look at pictures of various gardens I can see the why some people mass them in one spot. Another project for another list.
Forsythia is not one of my favorite shrubs but this variegated Forsythia x intermedia 'Fiesta' is worth growing for the season spanning foliage. If I had my act together on the bulb front I'd underplant it with some Chionadoxa or Scilla siberica.
Pieris are also putting on a fine show. 'Valley Valentine' is a favorite.
I think this one is 'Little Heath'. My other variegated Pieris is much larger and in the ten plus years it's been in my garden I've never seen a flower. If it didn't have such clean, attractive foliage it would have been banished long ago.
Bulb remnants from the days I used to plant them. Anemone blanda have naturalized in many parts of my garden by hitching rides on plants I've moved.
To get my fingers into container planting shape I planted a few pansies.
Primrose-why don't I grow more of these?
Not your grandmother's Pachysandra. P. procumbens is an easy to grow clumping woodland plant. Although it is evergreen, I usually cut off all the winter weary foliage.
Not blooming I know, but it might as well be. Sedum 'Angelina' virtually glows this time of year.
And here's one for anyone who thinks I should be better utilizing my camera (i.e. not on the automatic setting). After eight and a half years I thought it might be to my advantage to peruse the manual. In just a few minutes I learned all sorts of tricks. Over the weekend I played around briefly with the manual settings. Both the picture of the sedum above and the Prunus persica 'Bonfire' buds below were taken with the camera set to "M". Right now I don't have the time to spend reading and practicing but I do intend to explore it all further.
My usual thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this useful and entertaining monthly event.
Sue~
How wonderful to see spring doing some of what it should be doing! Your gardens certainly give me hope after the terrible rotten ice storm experience I've had. Indoor camping at home is not my favorite. I've never dared try Pieris in the great white north... Oh well, I'll be spending money on the trees for the next few years. I hope to have some color eventually!
ReplyDeleteGood going on reading the manual and giving it a whirl!!!
I've done the indoor camping thing and it's not fun. Maybe the trees won't need as mucg attention as you think. Even so, your garden is so well established that a year or two off from plant acqusitions won't hurt it at all. Chin up, Marie!
DeleteIt's nice to see how much you do have going on this non-spring. This year I seem to be noticing a lot of pieris in full glory -- it must like such cool early weather. I have a Valley Valentine that is new and still tiny, but it blooms its little heart out. Yours looks great and the white one is pretty too. Happy spring.
ReplyDeleteMany Rhododendrons seem to struggle in my garden but Pieris do well. Go figure. Happy Spring Laurrie!
DeleteYou have A LOT coming up!
ReplyDeleteRight now I only have daffodils and hyacinth blooming. Are those tulips coming up with the variegated foliage and rose colored bud? No sign of tulips here in Branford!
Yes, those are some sort of early greigii tulips with variegated foliage. I used to have a couple of good sized clumps but they've disappeared over time.
DeleteNice job on the manual settings Sue ! It's all about practice (and advice from Deanne) ...I always regret not planting more bulbs..I swear I'll do better next year! Love your Hellebores.
ReplyDeleteDon't give me too much credit with the camera just yet. Since I can't swing a new one right now I figured maybe I could better use the old one. We'll see.
DeleteYou are more brave than I am...I have had my point and shoot camera for 5 years and have never used the manual settings.
ReplyDeleteMy son tried to explain things to me when I received the camera but I am electronically challenged. Keep up the good work!
Your flowers are looking very pretty and healthy!
I'm attacking the photography knowledge in small bites. Basically I'm lazy so I always look for the quickest way to get things done but I figure I'm smart enough to read a manual and figure out how to do something new :).
DeleteI love that 'Valley Valentine' pieris. It's a type I haven't seen in my travels and I'm always looking for interesting pieris since, so far, local deer don't seem to like them.
ReplyDeleteYou have many blooms to practice 'shooting' ... enjoy.
Broken Arrow has it listed in the catalog, Joene. They also are listing a cultivar called 'Passion Frost' with variegated foliage and red flowers. I may have to check that one out on my next visit.
DeleteI'm of the "spread the hellebores around" group. It's wonderful to have some happy flowers in many different parts of the garden. Yours are looking wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely keep them spread around but I have an empty spot where I think a grouping of them might work interspersed with some bulbs and other small shade plants.
DeleteNice hellebores and forsythia. Why oh why would you stop planting bulbs? The ones you have are lovely, especially the blue anemone.
ReplyDeleteTime in the fall is why I stopped planting bulbs. It generally takes me at least a month of weekends to get all the leaves out of here and by then it's Thanksgiving (if I'm lucky). By the time I clean up the tubers, and all the tropical stuff that needs to be repotted and brought in I'm sick of gardening. This year I'm just going to place a bulb order so I won't have any choice but to plant them :).
DeleteHi Sue, thanks for stopping by my blog. I love your Valley Valentine!! I am a big fan of Pieris, what a great shrub.
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot going on in your garden, happy bloom day!
You have so much garden still to come! That's one of my favorite things, waking up and seeing what's new.
ReplyDeleteLots of great blooms in your garden! It won't be long now until the brugmansias can come out of hiding! I just dragged mine out along with the Abyssinian bananas. Such an exciting time of year for us. The delicious anticipation and wishing for more time to get things in shape for the season!
ReplyDeleteTo me it doesn't look like spring is MIA. You have quite a lot going on in your garden already. Things are pretty bleak here with our recent ice storm. Spring is really MIA in the Midwest.
ReplyDeleteThat is a pretty impressive showing for someone who so regularly moans that there has been no spring this year. It must look (relatively) great. And, good work on trying something new with your camera. I like the last photo with the crisp details on the buds and the narrow depth of field. That blurring is what the photo wonks call "bokeh." It looks good. Keep on keeping on.
ReplyDeleteI think there is plenty going on your garden, especially given the cold weather. My favorite - those primroses. Wow. If I lived in a suitable climate, I would have loads. Love that color.
ReplyDeleteSue, you look to be about 2 weeks ahead - my goodness this has been a cold spring hasn't it. After saying how much I dislike Pieris, I've found several posts with perfectly excellent plants. I'm thinking it must be just that much warmer to grow them properly. Your Hellebore are heavenly. It really does look spring has arrived in your neck of the woods, just lovely. B
ReplyDeleteI see this and I feel so happy knowing htat spring finally really is on its way here :)
ReplyDelete"Nice hellebores and forsythia"
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed very lovely as well as stunning images.. Great capture.
Spring is exploding here. It seems to be trying hard to make up for the wretchedness of March. I think everything looks great! :o) How are your fingers holding up after all that pansy planting? ;o)
ReplyDeleteSpring's supposed to be underway here... but we've had snow as recently as the 22nd of April, and the Tulip Festival in my area is due to start next weekend.
ReplyDelete