Spring Sneak Preview

Forget the groundhog.  No one can predict the weather this year!  This morning we had heavy rain.  It might not be spring , but it will do until spring comes along.  This afternoon I walked about to visit some of my plant friends.  This is Cardinal flower  coming back in front of Ed's wall down by the road.

I hope this a pink foxglove.  If it is white I will not really be disappointed.  Familiar green leaves are so nice to see!

This is a chrysanthemum that seeded on top of Ed's stone wall.  Exposed like that, I didn't think this little plant had a chance.  So far it is showing me!  One tiny stem has become two since I first noticed it in the fall.

No snow to peek  through doesn't stop the snow drops.  I thought about bringing the little bulb on the surface in the house to force.  More likely I will go out tomorrow and  push it into the empty space next to the others.

The front half of the ice plant  turned brown and dry where it was growing over the stone path.  The back half over the soil changed to red.  This plant is new to me, but I like all the green I see coming up under it all.

Many plants here die back to ground level here.  It is always great to see them growing again and this Sedum sieboldi is one of my favorite old friends.  I know it is still February but for me spring was here at least for today!

Late November, Still Looking Good

This afternoon was way to gorgeous not to take the camera out to the garden.  If you think these new Johnny-Jump-Up plants will wait for spring to bloom, think again.  Come cold wind even snow, they  still do their thing.

This is our first year with Ice Plant. When the sun comes out, this plant flowers.  Being frozen for awhile doesn't seem to change that.  I wonder if these will peek out from beneath the snow in the spring?

This Sedum  was planted this year too.  We were late getting it planted, but it looks terrific today.  I feel great about its chance to winter over till spring.

I wanted to take a picture of my rosemary and scented geraniums from outside.  Straight on all I could see was my reflection.  I thought I was so darn smart taking this picture from way off to the side.  Not only is my reflection still there, but it is there twice. Please just ignore that blurry woman in the picture!  Don't my plants look good?

No Time In The Garden This Month

Health issues have denied me time in the garden for all of this month.  Desired plants are on their own and the weeds are rapidly reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.  There is still great beauty to be found if the pictures are carefully limited.  This ice plant is new here this year.  Three were ordered with one totally dead on arrival, the second nearly dead and the third showing some hint of life.  This single plant looks like it will divide with ease next season and soon there will be a row of bright yellow flowers edging this bed in front of the house.

Our cardinal flowers were totally on their own this season.  We usually pot up a dozen plants so that they can be moved inside when frost threatens but this year we found no time for this task.  Left to their own, their display this year is the best ever.  Again we tried to identify plants self sown from seed but weeds moved in and we lost track of the desired seedlings.  Some obviously made it as this is the largest appearance this plant has ever made here.

A close relative of cardinal flower is blue lobelia.  Blue lobelia is a highly invasive true perennial.  Unsure that we wanted this plant to remain, these plants were levered out of the ground with the root masses left on the ground.  Unfazed by this harsh treatment, these plants have flourished.  They need a more remote location away from our tended garden.  It may be too late to move them.

Clara Curtis Chrysanthemums continue to winter over here.  We have enough to plant an acre but how can one discard this hardy beauty?  Spent flowers need to be pinched off but this year that is impossible.

New England Asters have captured and held our fancy for years.  Their purple and yellow flowers just seem a perfect combination.  Hardy beyond belief, they quickly take and hold our enriched planting beds.  Plant breeders have worked with wild stock to create new color combinations.  Several years ago I traded some cash for a sad scrap of a plant.  After four years here it has finally produced a single flower.  It is not shown in this picture.  Every year we see this naturally occurring color sport in roadside ditches.  Never have we been able to steal one of these roadside weeds.  Last year one appeared on land that we own.  It was carefully moved into a planting bed so that we could see if the unnatural color remained.  It has.  This plant has expanded wildly in our rich bed soil.  Many divisions will be taken as we have wanted this plant for several years.

My decline in health may be telling me that it is time to leave these treasured thirty-six acres.  The twenty-one years spent here have been filled with more memorable experiences that one could expect to enjoy in an entire lifetime.  We will wait to see what comes next.