Rain For Tomorrow

When we first started this garden, Crocus were planted in embarrassing numbers.  Cages kept the deer away but this single flower is nearly all that remains now.  Voles moved in and we have been unable to end them.  We need to accept that this plant is here no more.

 

Bluets have been introduced to our gardens many times.  A friend had a lawn area filled with them downhill from the septic drain field.  Constant moist ground and frequent hits with the lawn mower prompted them to spread wildly.  These four plants placed themselves in this gap in the stone wall and continue to hold on but just barely.

This wire cage may be responsible for their continued existence here.

 

This plant is either Squirrel Corn or Dutchman's Breeches.  The correct identity will wait until the plants are larger and perhaps in bloom.  The pulled to the surface root mass went unnoticed until the picture was seen.  The deer hoof prints caught and held my attention.  A wire cage can be seen nearby but protects something else.  Following tomorrow's forecasted heavy rain, this will be replanted.

Kathrine Hodgekin's Dutch Iris are protected by a wire cage.  We have no tenable explanation for why these remain while the nearby Crocus are almost gone.

This Hepatica plant was nearly stepped on by a deer.  The invasion of wire cages is hard to look at but so is the near destruction of a treasured plant.

Our Shooting Star has a dandelion for a very close neighbor.  Loosening the soil before removing the interloper will be attempted but we fully expect the deep dandelion root to break guaranteeing that plant's return.

We went nonnative for this early blooming treasure.  Wind Flower is its name and very soon its bright blossoms will cover this ground.  Here we use a wire cage to mark its location  protecting it from both animals and the sometimes careless gardener since it will soon disappear..  We expect impressive growth following tomorrow's southern rain.  Who said that nothing worthwhile ever came from Delaware? 
 

Walk In The Garden With Me

I'm taking a walk in the native plant garden.  I would love to take you with me.  Please stay on the path and don't be afraid to ask any questions you may have.  I may or may not have the answers.  This is a Greater Yellow Lady'slipper.  Back again this year, this plant should not be missed!  It actually had four buds, but one day a flower drooped and the next day it was gone.  Three flowers are still terrific!

 If I remember correctly, the wild ginger was planted here first.  Ed planted the stump last year.  This year the black cohosh that Jane gave me so long ago was transplanted right behind the stump.  The rock polypody is new.  The little flowers are a  baby woodland phlox that grew from a piece that I stuck in Ed's carefully prepared soil early this spring.

The gorgeous original  clump woodland phlox  is back again this spring.  The pale blue flowers make a lovely companion for the smooth Solomon's seal.  In the evening the flowers seem to glow and the clump can be seen from the road if you slow down  to look at gardens like I do.

The early meadow rue plants are here for their second year and I am delighted to have proof that  just like I thought I do have a male and a female plant.  A few leaves of the mother plant show in the lower right of the picture.  The tiny pale green seedlings are baby meadow rue plants.  We could never have too many of these delicate looking plants!  I will watch these grow and transplant them to fill in empty spots.

Red columbine  and white shooting stars were transplanted this spring from the shade garden up by the house.  Clearly they are happy in their new home.  Virtual garden walks are not as much fun as real ones.  On the other hand I can taake this walk again in December if I want to do that. So can you!

Forest Floor Springs To Life

It seems that snow cover was deep and continuous just a few days ago.  Unseasonable early warmth ended the snow quickly and perennial plants are now rapidly appearing.  Shooting star was purchased from cultivated stock several years ago.  Apparently foraging rodents have no taste for it as the emerging bright green shoots are numerous.  Its dried stalks were allowed to drop seed at will so we will be looking for more of these close by.   The three leaved plant is a wild columbine that grows here like a weed.  Its numbers will have to be kept in check.

Fringed polygala is evergreen but at this time of year its leaves are reddish.  The green leaves speckled with brown are new.  Trout lilies corms were inadvertently moved with the polygala and they are also highly prized.  We will see no lily flowers until each plant presents two leaves.  A number of years must pass as the corm reforms itself deeper and deeper in the soil each year.  Expecting no flowers yet, we were thrilled just to see the single leaves.  Another look is needed to see if we have twins yet.

Aconite frequently blooms while surrounded by snow.  This year the depth of the snow cover held the plant dormant until the snow was gone.  Clear bright yellow flowers like this lift my spirits now.

This bleeding heart has been modified from its natural wild form.  More compact and covered with deep bright flowers, we find it to be an improvement over its close by wild cousin.  The dark green oval leaves belong to a weed that remained unseen because of its early appearance.

This squirrel corn remains despite its inadvertent disturbance several years ago.  Now Becky is called in to closely watch my weeding activities here early in the season.

Many of these plants are woodland natives but appear here in our artificial shade garden.  A single locust tree provides both the shade and the fallen leaves and stems.  We will complete the filling of the wild shade garden with natural soil washed from the woods and diverted into a collection area near the lane.  The more demanding wild flowers will be replanted in this more natural soil.

Frigid, Freezing, Garden Frustration

Record low temperatures are forecast for tonight followed by two more days of frigid cold.  We have taken what precautions we could but the bulk of our garden will have to take the cold's full impact. There has been no blueberry harvest here in two years.  A June hard freeze took the berries in 2010 and the June drought took them last year.  These blossoms will be brown tomorrow.  Hannaford Food Markets sell frozen Maine wild blueberries so our habit of eating this fruit on our cereal continues, but it's not the same.

Earlier frosts have burned the leaf tips of these Blue bead lilies, Clintonia.  It is doubtful that the adjacent poke weed stalk will generate enough heat to protect its neighbors tonight.  Notice the wild cherry blossoms that litter the ground.  Whether or not they set fruit is unknown.  Our resident chipmunks rely on cherry seeds as a large part of their diet.  These adorable rascals also feed on our plants so a winter die off by them would have an up side for us.

This shooting star, Dodecatheon has put up a noble fight with the cold.  Several times we have found its frosted leaves pale and shriveled but for now it looks great.  Farmers consider this a nuisance plant as its leaves sour the cows milk if eaten.  Having no cows, we cultivate this beautiful weed.

Thirty pots of lilies remain outside in the tarp covered sod house.  A three gallon pot filled with wet soil requires considerable effort by me to move it into the basement.  Four pots were carried in and we will begin again with these if the rest succumb to the cold.  In the interest of science we will record the temperature inside of the tarp protected area tomorrow morning. We will also take note of who, if anyone survives.