Spring In 15

This winter has held its first snowfall on the ground right up to today.  The only soil that we have seen is the many time plowed driveway.  The sun is steadily climbing higher in the sky and its warmth is now sufficient to melt lane ice despite the still frozen ground.  We placed the long wall of the house facing south.  It is massive and white and both plants and soil are in view here as a result of reflected heat.

Rose Campion is a European native.  It prefers poor stony ground to carefully enriched garden soil.  Here it has seeded itself in the stone paths adjacent to garden beds where it spreads impressively.  Move it to rich garden soil and it will flower once then vanish.  Its bright purple flowers look great next to its whiteish green leaves.

We are not in agreement as to the identity of these plants.  Daylilies usually form large dense clumps but these plants grow in the shade of a Rose of Sharon tree.  Whatever they are, we welcome them.  They remain green despite temperatures in the mid twenties.

These green leaves may well be Coral Bells that are native to Arizona perhaps in the high country.  They are green and ready to grow and will soon be weeded and mulched.  Moss growing on stone walls looks great also.

These Sweet Williams look like they are suffering but are clearly alive.  My mood has brightened just with the idea that working among the plants will soon be possible.

 

This bright green belongs to my arch enemy Quack Grass.  Despite our decades long battle, this plant will quickly take over my gardens when I am no longer able to kneel on the ground to remove it.  Still, its early growth is bright, green and strong.

These Iris were a gift from Jane.  Sadly she is no longer with us but many of her plants and wall stones remain.  Royal purple will be the color of this plants huge blossoms.  Early division and replanting will help us maintain this treasure.  Of course, clearing last season's leaves will soon happen.  We believe that the insulation provided by last seasons leaves helps the plant survive winter.

 If anyone needs to mark the location of their septic tank, now is the time.  No close placement to basement walls melted this snow.  An underground organic heat source did that job.  That strange dark shape in the foreground is the end of a low stone wall.  Sunlight and heat absorbing stone melted some snow here.

Focus On Some Plants

Yes, it is only January 2nd and some of us are already raring to go.  This tiny little moss bump on an apple tree branch has a nice little start.  Despite the weather realities of January in New York, both the moss and the lichen are actively growing.  The moss ball is doing a nice job of covering evidence of a deer pruned branch.  The presence of the lichen may be a sign that the tree is under attack and will die.

Ingeborg is responsible for the existence of Hazelnuts in our garden.  Our first plant was a gift from her.  This second one was purchased to guarantee that two different plants were here so that pollination would occur.  When the gift tree was delivered, the suggested growth habit of an untrimmed bush rather than a tree with a single trunk was intended to increase the size of the harvest.   Additionally, just letting things grow suits the style of the workman here.

Our foray into gardening several decades ago drew several ladies of years to encourage our efforts with gifts of plants.  This yellow flowered sedum was a gift from Thelma H.  It grows here with weed like tenacity.  We try to limit its growth to the edges of the paths but buckets of it are weeded out every year.  Its yellow colored flowers are a welcome reminder of both Thelma and her impressive garden.  That it is evergreen is a huge bonus.

Coral Bells and Foamflower are related native plants.  Both of them are in the Saxifrage family. When these were purchased we were unaware that Foam flower grows freely in our back woods.   The reddish flowers appear on a thin tall stem providing easy access for hummingbirds.  Attracting hummingbirds and an evergreen growth habit make this plant a winner.  We divide the ever increasing clumps frequently since one can never have too many Coral Bells.

For years the plant Catchfly grew in limited numbers reseeding itself among carefully chosen plants.  It was a gift from Mary Jo and carried on with no help from us. Its flowers are a vibrant pink and a mass of these plants seemed to be in order.  Seed stalks were carefully cut and placed on prepared ground.  A mass of plants resulted.  This patch will provide many plants for placement in other spots.  In addition to the bright flowers, sticky brown rings appear on the stems.  We have no idea how captured flies benefit the plant but that is an interesting bonus.

Foxglove is another plant that makes its own way here.  They freely reseed themselves and some are moved to grow in specific locations.  Several different people provided gifts of this plant.  Its leaves were the original source of the drug digitalis and the leaves are widely recognized as poisonous.  The flowers are attractive and so far no leaves have accidentally appeared in my morning tea. 

Hiding In Plain Sight

I've often thought that weeds in my garden go to great lengths to hide from me.  This Woodsorrell is a prime example!  Here in the Sweet Ciceley it is bright green and matches the height of the  tall plant that surrounds it.  That requires at least eighteen inches of growth.

In the very same bed when  Woodsorrell  is surrounded by Coral Bells it matches the height and color again.  Here a six inch height is sufficient.  It's really kind of neat when you think about it.  With their heart shaped leaves and matching color they do look pretty.  Soon however, bright yellow flowers will give away the location of this weed.  It multiplies only by seed so if  I can get them first before the seed matures, I will.

 I almost missed this Spiderwort flower and the bee because it was  in the shade between the Summer Sweet and the stone wall.  Definitely not a weed, it should not be missed.  I won't say how many fuzzy bee pictures I had to delete, but I got my picture. and my flower.  I'm an old pro at garden hide and seek!

Previews Of Coming Attractions

Gosh I miss my plants!  Today's weirdly warm weather allowed for a quick preview of coming attractions in the garden. This perfect little round clump of bluets in the garden down by the road means there will be beautiful little blue flowers arriving in the spring.  They are not to be missed!

This coral bells will be a coming attraction for the hummingbirds in the neighborhood.  True it has been nibbled on a little, but the mound of foliage with slender stems and tiny reddish pink bells will come back strong and have me all a buzz along with the hummingbirds!

This perennial flax is clearly planning to  put on a show of beautiful blue flowers.  Each delicate pale green feathery stem will have blue flowers on the top.  Individual flowers fade quickly, but keep coming and the plant looks great from spring to fall.  For me it is a must see!

Ed's pinxter is a budded and ready for it's dazzling pink display coming in May.  If you have never seen this native plant in person, you have missed something very special!

Cardinal flower is having a special grand opening here in 2018.  These magnificent stunning red native plants loved by hummingbirds and gardeners alike are still in the production phase.  We will tell more when spring arrives.  The rain has begun and our sneak preview is over for now.

Dew Spider Webs Add Beauty To The Garden

This spider web on the coral bells is one of those interesting ones with a tubular hole in the center.  I don't see a spider lurking in there, but if I were a spider and could build a web like this, that is exactly where I would hang out!
 

The spider web on the Rose of Sharon looks all relaxed and curvy.  I have to wonder if when the dew dries this one will tighten up.  Perhaps some spiders are more laid back than others!  Without the dew droplets these small webs  are nearly impossible to see!

The Summer sweet bush holds a  small rather chaotic looking web.   Perhaps it met with an accident after it was spun or maybe not all spiders follow the plans exactly.  I still like the way the dew drops look on this one!

Next to a single Clara Curtis chrysanthemum flower is a classic spider web.  This spider might be small and brown, but she is a talented spinner. If I were a spider, I would be tickled pink if I made a web like this one!  These are only a small sampling of the spiders' traps that lie waiting for bugs in the garden.  I for one wish them good hunting.

Deer Everywhere

June has seen at best a single rainstorm that gave us less than one tenth of an inch of rainfall.  Weather systems carrying moisture pass either north or south of us.  Our plants are nearly surviving on the dew that forms each night.  A chosen few get a sprinkling can of well water during the early hours of the day.   Hours are spent each day carrying water to the plants.  I have become such a regular part of this scene that a bird recently landed atop my hat like I was a fountain in a park!  That was a first for me.

This coral bells is directly in front of me in the first photo.  The deer seldom come inside of the square but the field grasses are crunchy dry.  Moist plants that received water from the sprinkling can appear to now be at risk.  More wire cages might be an answer but one of my larger rectangular cages was flipped on its back by some animal.  That has never happened here before.

This white phlox is to my right in the first photo.  Cut stem ends show that a deer trimmed this plant to the height of the cage.  Phlox are at risk early in the year but the foragers have moved on to other food sources by now in a normal year.  Taller cages are unsightly but may become necessary.

We call this plant Inga's mallow in memory of the gardener that first gave us this plant.  It self seeds and so far it faithfully reappears each year.  The rusty old cylindrical wire cage was placed early since the deer love to eat this plant.  The plant is far too beautiful to risk losing so protection is a must.

The potatoes receive daily attention.  Two five gallon cans and both sprinkling cans are filled with water and trucked to the garden near the woods.  Hand weeding and hilling revealed dampness just under the surface of the soil.  This was a welcome sight as I was unsure that my meager efforts were supplying adequate moisture.  Yesterday I was working on hands and knees at the far end of these plants.  I looked up to see twin fawns standing just outside of the fenced area.  Their first reaction was to freeze motionless.  This gave me a good long look at them.  Then mother called her offspring and they bounded into the tall growth at wood's edge.  Despite the deer damage recently inflicted onto my plants, seeing two fawns up close was a real thrill.

Elusive Frost

This morning found the valley filled with fog and the grass coated white.  Desperate for frost pictures, I went out in the knuckle numbing cold.  The temperature was just above freezing.  If frost did form overnight the morning fog transformed it to frozen water droplets.  Light lacy frost crystal pictures will wait for another day.

Bluets in flower are treasured here any day.  November flowers are extra special as out of season rarities.  Two years ago these clumps were moved here.  It appears that they have established themselves.

A wild  Golden Alexanders seed cluster resembles a fireworks star burst.  The granular nature of the frozen moisture is clear on both the plant and the spider web.

Wild blackberry leaves are an under rated source of fall color.  Spiders are everywhere!

High bush blueberries display a unique fall color.  No fruit has appeared on these bushes for two consecutive years.  Drought caused the plants to drop their fruit this year.  A good survival strategy for the plant but no berries for us again.  Last year a late hard freeze took the blossoms.  Next year could be a good berry year.

Coral bells are the only non native plant pictured today.  The varied nature of the ice deposits made this a must use photo.

A hard frost will happen sometime soon.  Hopefully clear pictures of feathery frost sculptures will follow.