Bits and Pieces...2009 Edition

....for lack of a better category for miscellaneous things...

So, I'm doing my complete looking around (after discovering I missed the first two blooms on FIRESTARTER...tragedy for sure...)...you know, the morning and evening browsing...and I realized how much I let go by me this year...already....

Not wanting that to continue, I noticed the Japanese Iris seedlings blooming....


What's especially neat about these...is that I did absolutely nothing. Now, I like that. Garden on auto pilot or something. I'm happy enough with their (self) placement and I especially like that they are different from their parents.

Here's a close up of one of the seedling(s) blooms...


Here's a parental unit (a choice of three...two dark purples, different shades,
and a white that hasn't made an appearance yet..)


Because I just like it, a sort of glamor shot...


These are , of course, the Japanese Iris that do not grow anywhere near water...and, as I say every year, we are not telling them differently.

I always enjoy the surprises that gardens bring every year. There are the losses...and the gains...Last year, I didn't get around to mulching some of my more tender things and then there was the erosion caused by clogged gutters (which did get fixed last summer)....given all that, I'm not surprised the dwarf canna (or any non potted cannas) hasn't made an appearance....however, go figure, a couple of tuberose braved these elements and are up (yea)....because I just couldn't do without tuberose (although there are many things I am finding out I can do without...lol), I do have a pot full of them...but, anyway, the butterfly ginger is returning...and look here, what is blooming...


Somebody forgot to tell the dahlia(s) it wasn't supposed to make it...This one is actually standing proud and tall, while it's partner is lying on the ground (stakes, anyone?)....those pesky four o'clocks are trying to fool me and come up in hard to get to places...I'm determined to eradicate them....right now, they are ahead.

The roses are pretty much done with their big flush of blooms...some will bloom intermittently, though...this one is still going strong...Gardenia...the fragrance is more rosey to me rather than gardenia-like as its name would imply...and, I must rag about this...I am supposed to have the shrub form but am entirely convinced I have the climber as it throws up these great arching canes...not a good thing where it is planted (with those Japanese Iris)...but, it is pretty...


Such easy lilies...these Lollipop ones...in full bloom now...Asiatics for those that care...


An astilbe that I meant to plant last year with the others...blooming away in its pot...again...poor thing...perhaps I will get you in the ground this year...perhaps..


And finally, I've noticed some daylily scapes curving...nothing to impede them, so who knows...but interesting...


Tomorrow, perhaps, I will show you my newest 'pets', working pets, that is...

Bits and Pieces

We can't just stop with that last glaring post, now can we? Here are some shots from yesterday (I'm so far behind...):


The first of the peonies, an unknown single, with Dutch iris (above).


Sometimes, foliage is every bit as beautiful as flowers (above)...an emerging Japanese Maple (one of the Full Moon ones...I'll have to check my tags (no label!) for the exact name)...


A very appropriate three blooms on some Wake Robin Trilliums (above).


Freckles viola taking the 'be fruitful and multiply' thing seriously (above). I've decided this is a good thing...a cute viola covering the ground is better than troublesome weeds.


I'll end for now with Dogwood blooms...what's not to like?

Lettuce and Other Stuff

So, I'm out and about running errands and I see lettuce starts. Of course, I have lettuce seeds at home, but...I confess, I'm interested. The price of a nine pack is less that a package of triple washed lettuce at the grocery. And, I see a Red Sails pack that is ready for picking now...hmmmm (that's what thinking sounds like)...

It just so happens that I actually (a first) have a place I can plant some lettuce. I should back up and say that my yard is hard orange clay. Not exactly soil (soil? How kind of me.) that one can just drop things in. It has taken me years (emphasis required) of work and countless bags of amendments, but there actually are spots now where one can...plant...without backbreaking labor. Amazing. Usually, I would scout out a spot and drag bags around. I either pocket plant or build up. Lately, there's more of the building up as my digging days are behind me (I hope).

I have very little blank space (ask the dogs). It occurs to me that those spots I am saving for tomatoes could host lettuce. Then, when it's too hot for lettuce (Mayish, I'm thinking), out they go, add some more amendments and in go the tomatoes! Sounds like a plan, right? I'm game.




In fact, I'm so motivated that I actually also planted some peas. How many years have I thought about that (but not done it)?? Well, we'll see how they do....their trellises are not exactly the best and who knows if the weather will cooperate, but, hey, sometimes you experiment.

Best of all, I had a little salad...almost home grown (very tasty)...so, no matter what happens, I got my money's worth.



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As the early blooms begin to pick up steam, it's hard to keep up...but I try...so, here's a few more things:


I thought this crocus was a bit unusual. Most of mine have stripes (that have stripes, of course) on nearly all the petals...like these:


The Roman Hyacinth (one bulb) has apparently increased! Multiple stems this year! And, with our mild winter, I didn't get the usual frozen one first.


Saucer Magnolia right on schedule (for it)...early...this means a freeze could be in our future (let's hope not):


Look closely and you'll see a bird's nest:


The first of the tulips surrounded by larkspur seedlings:


An early daffodil, an unknown, though I think if I could find a daffodil hunter, it might be identified with that distinctive orange ring:


What's interesting with daffodils is that one day you might have one open....then by late afternoon or surely by the next morning, the whole group bursts into bloom...and they last for a number of days.


Another variety of iris reticulata...this was a little mix...will the yellows make an appearance...who knows.


The very first flowers on one variety of creeping phlox. There's a Korean Spice Viburnum above this one and I noticed the buds swelling on it...won't be long!


And, lastly, Glory of the Snow, thankfully, no snow...

Well, that's all I have time for now....it's a bright and sunny day...I think it's calling me.

Bits and Pieces 102407

After whining about our lack of rain, it is with delight that I inform you that it is raining!! Yes! Right now, in fact. Picture a big smile on my face....

This past weekend, DH and I attended Lilyhemmer in PA. It probably deserves its own post, so I'll just say it was so fun!

The weekend before, I attended the RADS Banquet in Richmond where Jamie Gossard was the guest speaker. Can you say Daylilies, Daylilies, Daylilies?? More on this later, too...maybe with the Lilyhemmer one.

Amazingly, I have a daylily blooming. It's BUTTERED POPCORN and this has been a fabulous rebloom it has gifted me with this month. Not a fancy daylily by today's modern standards, but a workhorse plant.


The veggies are done. The last tomato plant, Sungold, is now gone along with all the peppers. I might still squeeze a final harvest of basil. We'll see (I do love pesto...more on that....one of these days...over at Gotta Eat).



The roses have been blooming and putting on a nice display...even with no water...


My South Carolina Tea Olive continues to pour out fragrant blooms:


Here's my fig tree...which is from a cutting off of the one at the Mary Washington House. This fruit won't have time to ripen, sadly....I am counting on my neighbor down the street to help me wrap this tree for winter. I've not done this in the past and it basically dies down and then has to start all over again. She wrapped hers last year and has been eating lots of figs. I'm eager to give it a try (the wrapping...and the eating!).



This is a bit of what's going on around here....

Bits and Pieces: Off to SC

I hope you enjoyed the Tobacco with the No Smoking sign for Wordless Wednesday! Just a little humor! You might have noticed that I've put out a string of posts...I hope several days worth because I'll be gone for a few days...and I hope you'll miss me! I'm off to visit my sister in SC and, naturally, taking the opportunity to take in a gardening symposium. It's been two years since I was last there (also for a symposium!) and I'm looking forward to seeing spring in full flush.

They may be a zone 7 there also, but it is nothing like mine! Last time I was there, I became enamoured of Clematis Armandii and now have one in my own garden. There's a very nice nursery near where I'll be, so I'm planning to check out what they have new. Let's see, I have a few "South Carolina" memories in my garden: tea olive, banana shrub and various perennials including a Dianthus 'Baths Pink' that is now quite sizable. I'm looking forward to walking around the lake with my sister and seeing azaleas in bloom but, hopefully, no alligators!

I'll be back for Green Thumb Sunday; so in the meantime, keep writing all that good stuff and I'll look forward to seeing what you've been up to when I get back.

Gotta Garden

Bits and Pieces

When I left this morning, snow was on the ground. Here's Topolino, a tiny daffodil, in the snow:


By the time I returned this afternoon, most of the snow was gone:


Yes, that's crocus beside Topolino (it is tiny) and the soggy mess in front of it is a daylily.

If you wondered, they were concerned down at Lewis Ginter for some of their new plantings:


I didn't linger at Lewis Ginter today as I had walked around on Thursday evening. Bits of snow were falling, a tiny bit here, a tiny bit there. I doubt they'll really get any snow, but the temperature had definitely dropped since arriving. Besides, I had missions to do back at home!

This is oddly interesting. You're looking at a clump of Barrett Browning, a daffodil that is single flowered. Look right in the center of the picture. Isn't that wild! What have we here? Three buds coming out! I can't wait to see what's going on here! I have had this daffodil for years. Two years ago, I dug it up and divided the bulbs into two spots. It bloomed fine last year, although the color was a bit off, possibly due to the fertilizer I had used.




Don't you like smart flowers? These crocus are cold and not wasting energy!


As are these tulips:


February Gold was not and is not bothered by the weather:


We're scheduled to be quite cold tonight and tomorrow night. After that, we're looking good for the next eight days or so (as far as the weather report goes)! At least as far as freezing goes...
Thanks for the kind thoughts regarding my saucer magnolia. I'm sure it has helped! It is located south/southwest near the side of my house but also somewhat protected, I think, by my neighbor's house. Yes, it has had a spring where all the buds turned brown, but the last few years (knock on wood), it has seemed to manage spring a bit better. Even if it loses some buds to cold, it continues to put out new ones. It intermittently blooms for quite a while, actually. Really, when you consider its humble origins (a simple grocery store impulse purchase...bare root) and that it is not one of the later blooming saucer magnolias (which would have been wiser...but also more expensive), it does pretty well.

Here are a couple buds today which managed through yesterday's snow, ice and cold:


And finally, this hellebore has been going on since December!

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All pictures clickable.