More Iris

Two more iris opened this week.

First, another miniature bearded iris. I don't remember the name of this one. It is not my favorite - I think the colors are washed out and a bit dingy.

Here's a new iris I got as a passalong plant last year. It is supposed to be a rebloomer. We'll see. Even if it's not, I really like it. I haven't had a white iris before.

I'm making an effort to show more long views of the garden. Closeups are great to see the details of a particular plant, but they don't show how that plant fits in the overall landscape. Problem is, I never feel the gardens are cleaned up enough to be picture-worthy. I need to get over that.

Here's the garage garden. The miniature iris is in one of the pots in the foreground. (I really need to get prettier pots.) This bed is mostly purples in the spring. The muscari and anemone I showed previously have been overshadowed (quite literally, you can't even see them anymore) by the columbine just now starting to bloom. You can see one of the columbine flowers by the clematis trellis.

Here's the side yard, with the white iris on the left about a third of the way down.

I finally moved the sticks that had been blocking the path for the last month, just so I could take this picture. Still needs some cleaning up, though. I think those are Echinacea seedlings growing in the path.

April Foliage

The day started out gray and dreary. Then the rains came. Then the wind and storms. I've been inside being lazy all day. It has been so dark I've had to have a light on the whole time.

It is Spring; I want to be outside! I want to look at the trees putting forth their new leaves. I want to watch plants emerging from last year's debris. And I want to show them off for today's Foliage Follow-Up.

I'll just have to content myself with looking at pictures from earlier in the week, like these:

Soft leaves are beginning to show themselves on the weeping Japanese maple.

I didn't have my camera with me when I first spotted these. They looked just like asparagus to me. By the time I remembered to take a picture, they had started to leaf out some. You don't get the whole asparagus effect, here, but maybe you can imagine:

They are really not asparagus, but balloon flowers.

Yesterday I showed off the Pasque Flower. Nearby is this similar plant, the native Anemone patens. I've had it for several years now. I do love the foliage, but it has yet to flower.

I also showed my white bleeding heart yesterday. In the background was this:

Mertensia virginica, Virginia bluebells. If these were going to flower they would be doing so now. But this plant has had a very hard life, and I'm just really happy to see it return at all. We can wait another year for flowers.

And here's something I was not at all happy to see. Several years ago I had a horrible tree-of-heaven taken down. Why is it so horrible? It grows super-fast and procreates like crazy. The entire root of the young plants must be removed, or the trees just grow back. Like this one:

Because it is buried in my out-of-control rosemary, the original seedling got a really good toehold in that spot before I pulled it out. I go most of it, but apparently not all, because it is back again this year. And once again it's had a chance to spread its roots before I noticed it in there. I'm hoping today's rains make the ground nice and soft so I can pull it out tomorrow.

Go see Pam at Digging for links to some more great foliage!

Blooms Away! (The April Bloom Day Post)

I love this time of year, when every day brings something new in the garden. Just two days ago I shared a bunch of flowering plants, but don't you worry! There's lots more to show off today.

First, in honor of Bloom Day (hosted by Carol over at May Dreams Gardens), my first bearded iris of the year opened this morning:

It is a miniature bearded iris called 'Cherry Pop' (I think - labels tend to move). This one seems very early - only a few others are even starting to show flower stalks.

Also in the back, the phlox are in full bloom now. I have lots of moss phlox in various colors, but I especially enjoy the airiness of my one creeping phlox plant

In the upper garden, 'Little Lanterns' Aquilegia are shining:

In the side garden, I can see a new bloom race starting. Last year I planted two bleeding hearts (Dicentra spectabilis), one pink and one white. They are both up this year, with the white one winning the first annual competition:

Around front, the Pasque flower is doing its thing amidst the daffodils:

Skipping to the back alley for just a moment, here's something I don't have in my yard. I don't mind, because I can see it just fine across the alley: Lilac!

Several folks thought this lilac was the subject of my header picture this week, but it is not. Moving back to the front yard, we find one of my favorite spring blooming trees:

Redbud! (Cercis canadensis) Yes, it is still bent from last year's storm damage. But looking cheerfully springy anyway.

Also blooming: white daffs, pink and red tulips, muscari, geranium (one flower), violets (everywhere), candytuft, pansy, anemone (almost done), rosemary, blueberries


My friend Merf, a new and fascinating lifeblogger, created a new link party today: Friday Favorites. What are my favorites this week? In spring, that is easy to answer: whatever is blooming!

Dont Tread on Me!

I was starting to clean out the last garden bed on the terrace a few weeks ago. I found an uprooted plant tag from the new peony I planted late last year. Now, where did I plant that peony? Did it survive my neglect after I planted it?

I didn't see any sign of it where I thought I'd put it, so I kept on weeding. When I stood up, I realized I'd bee nkneeling right on top of it! Unfortunately, it had already started growing, and I'd broken off its two emerging shoots:

Oops! What are the chances it will regrow?



...



Pretty good, it turns out. Here's what it looked like this evening:

Whew!

I doubt it will flower this year, but at least it is alive. Hopefully it will gain some strength this year and give me flowers next year.

Declining Daffodils

My daffodils are declining.

Not just because it is mid-April and their peak bloom time has passed. I mean I have fewer of them. Lots and lots of foliage, but not a lot of flowers.

See all that beautiful foliage? Those few flowers in front are all I got.

Have the bulbs increased too much and crowded each other out, not allowing bulbs to form large enough to flower? Have the increases gone ever-deeper into the soil and prevented blooms? Is there some other problem?

I think I need to dig them up and divide them, I just don't know when to do it. I don't think I should do this now, that would stress them too much when they need to be storing up for next year. Can I divide them in early summer after the foliage has faded? That would be the best time for me, as I'd know exactly where they are, and they will still be on my mind. But new bulbs are planted in mid-late fall, so is that the best time to divide as well? Probably.

So I'll try to remember to do that in the fall. The bulbs will already be formed at whatever size they are going to be, so I doubt I'll get many flowers next year, either. But I have to start somewhere.

I started cutting the faded flowers in the side garden today, for my great daffodil count (which won't be so great this year). Today's cuttings: 80. I've gotten most of the yellows and the early whites. The later whites along the front walk are still going strong.

Why are these spread out and full of blooms? Because every time I plant something in this bed I accidentally dig up a bunch of bulbs and have to replant them. So they've been accidentally divided many times over the last few years. I even moved some to below the wall. They are in too much shade there, but many are blooming.

So I think I have an answer to one question: divide those daffodils!

4/29/2011 update
Final 2011 daff count: 175
2010: 282
2009: 347

Thriving on Neglect

So I didn't get out to the yard much this weekend. The poor weather Friday and Saturday (combined with working) meant I got into some indoor projects. While it was warmer today, the forecasted sun never materialized to beckon me outside. I managed to drag myself out there this afternoon to take a look around. Guess what? Spring is springing even without my help.

Here's my garage garden, in various shades of purple

There's moss phlox, anemone, muscari, creeping phlox, violets, and a very early geranium bloom.
Here's a closer look at that far end:


A few struggling tulips in the side garden


A few tulips and moss phlox, with some leftover crocus, on the patio terrace.


Blueberries!

This one could be problematic - the other blueberries haven't opened their buds yet, so I don't know if this plant will get pollinated.

I haven't even started the spring cleanup in the right terrace bed (I always seem to leave one part of a chore undone), but the Iberis (candytuft), Euphorbia myrsinites, and moss phlox are putting on their spring show anyway.

Yes, my garden thrives on neglect!

Snow Foolery

My parents live in New England, where they've had a great deal of snow this winter. Even more than normal. To give some perspective, here's a photo from their house in January, the day before another 10" of snow fell:


By late March, the snow was finally melting. There were even swaths of bare ground in the sunniest spots. Then Mother Nature played an evil April Fool's trick. Here was the scene when my parents awoke this morning:


Back in northern Virginia, it was a cool but (fortunately) dry start to April. But just last Sunday we had our own dusting of snow. I'd thought it was safe to put away the winter gear. I was wrong.







The snow was already melting by the time I went out to take pictures, and was all gone my mid-morning.