As the Snow Goes

Every day the snow shrinks a little. As the snow goes more of the garden is revealed. The stone walls are uncovered, but we are still waiting for the stone paths to appear from their winter blanket. Every spring I am greeted with many small catchfly plants. They are rampant self seeders, but I love their bright pink flowers, and the hummingbirds agree, so I always let some of them stay. The truth is I'm very happy to see them!




The hens and chicks look like they have had a terrific winter. It will be awhile longer before the entire clump is revealed. It's so nice to see them peeking out from beneath the snow ice. Today huge snowflakes are falling. It's pretty, but at this point I would prefer rain!

Ed has planted Dahlia roots in pots. Last year the mid-March planted tubers were in bloom by July 1st. We had blossoms for a full three months. There is one possible snag. The root masses were still moist when they were placed in the galvanized can. He may have planted compost in the pots. It's official, stone wall garden 2011 has begun.

Sempervivium: Live Forever

This clump of Hens and Chicks grows atop the stone wall that forms the entrance to the basement of the house.  It is filling in the space between the stones.  As individual rosettes become large and crowded, they send up a flower stalk and go to seed.  After that the rosette dies.  Along with that, small rosettes grow from beneath the plant like chicks under a mother hen.  This plant knows how to reproduce.



The dried seed heads look a bit like flowers, but they are dry, brown and contain small black seeds. One advantage to a garden blog over a a garden journal is that it allows you to go back in time.  "Hens and Chicks" typed in the search box at the upper left of your screen will take you back to see how this plant looked last year.  Pictures of the developing flower stalk, the flowers and last years seed heads are right there for you to see.



Something new is going on with the hens and chicks this year.  Some of last year's seeds have found a place between the stones.  Tiny little chicks are growing there.  It was the color that caught my attention.  These plants are so small you might call them Chicklets!  My Hens and Chicks are happily increasing their numbers.  That's really good news because these plants do have predators.  Sometimes in the winter under the snow, mice eat these plants.  I've lost them before, but now that they are coming up from seed Sempervivium it is!