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.

A Close Look at Iris, Photos by Amy

It's fun to focus the camera on the incredible colors and intricate patterns of iris in bloom.  Here  velvety blue petals of 'Silver Edge', Siberian iris, make a beautiful  home for a flower spider, Masumena vatia.

This spider is supposed to be able to change colors to match its surroundings.  Apparently white to yellow is common.  Here the spider looks to me like it has a definite tinge of blue.

I love this shot of Mom's iris.  The velvety purple petal with white streaks and a delicate white edge combine with  ruffled white petals to make a gorgeous photograph.  Amy captured everything but the fragrance.

'Ego' is a perfect name for these deep blue iris.  There is nothing shy about these frilly blossoms.  Perhaps we can consider the black bug in the lower right of the picture to be a beauty mark added to accent the lovely curve of the nearby petal.

Blue flag, Iris versicolor, is a native here in New York.  It is a slender wild relative, but it still shows the deep color and intricate patterns to rival its many well bred iris cousins.

This overhead shot really shows off the gold pattern on the lower petals.  Nature comes up with fascinating designs.  The petals have been nibbled on by some insect.  Most of the iris flowers are experiencing insect attack.  2012 in the Stone Wall Garden appears to be the year of the insect!

It's Usually Safe to Bloom in May

This is Jane's iris.  Beautiful yesterday it melted in the 90 degree heat and is gone today.

Mom's iris is blooming too.  Funny I don't think I ever noticed the beautiful white edge on the petals before.  Our clump of this iris was sadly overgrown.  Ed separated and moved some prime sections this spring even though the traditional season for dividing iris is after they bloom.  We expected no flowers this year because of the untimely move but here is a perfect blossom.  Clusters of flowers should follow next year.

This iris is new to me this year.  It is a family heirloom of Susan's.  Except for the difference in color it and Mom's iris could be fraternal twins.  Both are old varieties with a clarity of form missing from today's giants.  Is there a society whose goal is the preservation of ancient iris varieties?

Ed's Roaring Jelly Siberian iris is blooming beautifully.  Some time will change the color of these flowers and with the drop in temperature they should look great for days.

Our first flower from Ego is open. The rest are coming on fast.  I hate to see the flowers come and go so quickly.  90 is too hot for me and my beautiful iris blossoms.  I was wishing for a break in the weather.  I got my wish but along with it came thunder storms and a power outage.  Heavy rain and wind are hard on iris too.  Now the weather will  be cooler.  I wonder how low it will go?  So far I've seen a predicted low of 41.  I don't even want to think of the f_ _ _ _  word.

With today's heat I was viewing the garden from the living room window.  Right below me in my bed of alliums just outside of the front door was a full grown woodchuck.  I watched while Ed went out to give chase.  The wood chuck ran onto the patio, through the stone square and over to the shade garden.  An athletic leap placed it up in the shade garden.  Then I learned something I did not know about this garden enemy.  Wood chucks can climb trees.  He went right up the locust tree in the center of the shade garden without missing a beat.  This may have been its first time up a tree as it did not know what to do next.  From there I won't add any details.  Let's just fade to black!

Some People Buy Iris

I know that some people buy Iris. We get catalogs filled with all kinds of large , frilly, colorful iris. I can't even imagine how many named irises there are, since they have been a staple for cultivated gardens for so long. I must admit that I have never actually purchased an iris. All my iris are gifts from friends. This year the irises have been happy, and they have blooming like crazy. These  white iris were a gift from Jane. I have these same iris in another spot in the garden and they came from Sabina.

This is Amy's iris. She had never seen it bloom where it was growing before, and it took several years for it to bloom here.

This iris came from my mother. It has been around  as long as I can remember. The flowers are on the small side, but this iris will bloom no matter what. White and purple blossoms are bravely peeking out of the tall weeds in places where you would never believe they could grow.

I received lovely lavender iris  from Joann . The lavender iris that came from  Edith was so similar. At one time I kept the two apart, but now I 'm not sure which is which. In this case one flower reminds me of two friends.

This gorgeous purple iris was another gift from Jane. Last year it got nipped in the bud by frost, but it is making up for it this year.

This tall iris was also a gift from Jane. We have been waiting for this one to bloom and we were not disappointed.

This apricot iris came from Liz. It bloomed beautifully this year. The large frilly blossoms tend to snap their stems when the flowers get wet and this year they have been wet!.

This sunny yellow iris also came from Joann. It does very well here.

The white , yellow, lavender, apricot and mother's iris will all need  resetting this year. Perhaps I can find a friend to pass some of them along to. As I said, I don't buy iris, but sometimes I trade or give them to friends.

Of course I don't mean Siberian iris or Japanese iris or Dutch iris or that iris with the variegated leaves, but you know Iris!

Caged Flowers

Perhaps it's unfair to keep these lovely daffodils in a cage. In truth if they were planted by themselves things would be fine, but the lilies that are planted with them are too much of a temptation for the garden critters to leave them unprotected. Since the weather has cooled these flowers should last for awhile. At the moment we are back to the kind of April weather we are accustomed to, and that includes a probable frost tonight. The Johnny Jump Ups will bloom on no matter what. They make a great addition to our spring salads. The benefits of the garden have started: fresh peppermint and spearmint for tea, Egyptian onions for scallions, chives, chervil, lovage for seasoning. One parsley plant seems to have survived the winter. Ed has planted out spinach and lettuce plants. There is much to be done, but every day in the spring garden brings new rewards.

Yellow Iris

Iris plants start small, perhaps with a single rhizome and expand from there. A happy clump of iris will get so crowded that it stops blooming altogether. They have to be divided. Because of this iris are passed between gardening friends. All of my iris have a history.

These gorgeous yellow iris were given to me by Jo Ann. She got them from a friend as well. It's a wonderful thing to be able to look at something so beautiful and cheerful and have it make you think a dear friend.

Finally some rain fell on the garden. A few cages blew over in the wind, but on the whole the garden is much happier!

Gatchelville Iris

Now that's a name you won't find in any catalog. My grandmother lived in Gatchelville, PA. It was and is, a small place. When I was a child there was a store, a church, and a few houses. I spent many happy hours there.


These iris grew in my grandmother's garden. Mom loved them, and took a piece of iris root with her whenever she moved. Now they are growing here. My sister has them too. Ownership of Grandmother's house has passed from the family. It is my responsibility to keep this iris going. They are planted in several different places in and around the garden.  I have shared them with many gardening friends.  I can take no chances with this family heirloom.


They are not a big showy iris. They don't flop over when it rains. With their deep purple and snow white, I find them elegant and striking. Their fragrance is sublime!

An elaborate bird song caught my attention while I was working in the garden. I ran to the house to get the binoculars thinking of a mockingbird because the song was so varied. The bird who was sitting in the very top of the locust tree near the garden was a brown thrasher. The bird book had little to say about the song of this bird so I searched for and found my bird song disk. After listening to that, I decided we must have the Caruso of brown thrashers living here. He can sing for me anytime.