Fall Formed Flower Buds

We still have snow covered ground anyplace where the slope of the ground dilutes the strength of the sunlight but we can walk about and find plants mostly free of snow.  Trailing Arbutus is widely described as impossible to transplant but we have found success.  This native plant is among the early flowers that form their buds in the fall.  It seems reasonable that a flower bud would be fragile and tender but since flowers will be open as soon as four weeks from now an early start is essential.  Oak leaves are covering areas of these plants but any work among possibly frozen or brittle plants will wait for reliable warmth.  The promise of incredibly sweet scented flowers after a winter of isolation is a major mood booster.

  

Pinxter is another native plant that forms its flower buds in the fall.  Our deer herd are fond of eating these buds so wire cages surround the plants at some distance to keep these future flowers beyond their reach.  Sweet scented pink flowers will soon fill this area.  We have found this plant resistant to reproduction.  Root runners are expected but have yet to be seen here.  Many open seed pods indicate that an abundance of seeds were present at the end of last year.  Try as I might, I have yet to see a seed.  They are described as having milkweed like fluff at both ends of the seed.  Seeing that and having seeds to plant are totally unrealized goals.  We will try again this year.

Snow drops are the first to flower, frequently while surrounded by snow making them popular without limit.  Early widespread transplantation makes its native occurrences impossible to describe.  We follow the centuries of moving this plant about totally disregarding the purity of our native plant shade garden.  The Sumac berries cover this ground with bright red seeds.  It seems that every seed germinates so we will spend a great deal of time weeding out baby Sumac trees. 

Becky took a first walk in our main garden near the house.  A deer herd of some size summer feeds on our plants but have been largely absent when deep snow covered this ground.  Retreating snow revealed the heavily chewed on bony remains of one of our deer.  When snow melt is complete, it is unlikely that any fleshy remains will be found.  Coyotes usually pull of pieces and drag them into the cover of Japanese Honeysuckle to eat their meal.  A small pile of bones and fur will be moved to a distant compost pile.  
 

Desperate For Plant Growth

At this time of year snow remains in the shadow of the kame terrace.  Open to full sun, these Snow Drops are the first plants to open flowers here.  These have remained tightly closed buds for days but today's warmth tickled them into opening.  We tend to prefer native plants but these early pure white flowers hold ground in several locations here.

Yellow Aconite is another nonnative that is here because its flowers appear early.  This display appears pitifully small but we know that many more blossoms will quickly follow these.

A recent heavy snowfall that included an ice layer brought down several mature Sumac trees.  Fortunately these old guys were growing on unused ground so they represent nothing more than a mess that needs to be cleaned up.  Working slowly and carefully, an embarrassing large number of days were used to tidy up.  These moss growths on a fallen trunk are attractive.  We will find a way to move then to the shade garden down near the road.  A wood chisel and hammer might result in movable chunks.  We do not know the name of this unique moss since moss names tend to involve a huge number of letters.  If we knew Latin the proper name might translate into Moss Balls.

Another fallen tree trunk is home to this interesting growth.  Here again the name is unknown to us but we do know that this growth wildly responds to moisture.  Even a very cold rain will push this plant to enlarge and open its then reddish pink reproductive organs.  That display is usually brief unless it rains for several days.  In any event that display always impresses.

We are working outside for rather short periods of time.  Cold air and ground quickly turns old hands white but we return after a cup of something hot to drink.

Patiently Waiting ?

This is such a lovely picture of cool white snow on purple striped Pickwick crocuses.  It is the kind of picture I would look at in July and wistfully think of Spring.  The flowers are closed against the chill patiently waiting for the warm spring sun  so that they can open. 

This could be a picture of last spring, but it is not.  These same flowers were open and buzzing with activity nearly a week ago.  Seriously, isn't this a bit much to ask  a gardener to tolerate?

The Winter Aconites and Snow Drops  don't have quite as much snow because are beneath the tree in the shade garden.  They are still closed up tight in the cold. 

This picture was taken on April 14, 2018.  It shows the same plants but is taken from a slightly different angle.  You can see a Cardinal Flower seed head in both pictures.

 As I write this it is nearly 10:00 AM and the temperature is still in the twenties.  I could feel nearly as blue as my Dwarf Iris.   I am waiting impatiently!  I should try to learn a little something from my plants! 

The King Alfred Daffodils are waiting patiently in the snow, all ready to cheer me up with their bright yellow fragrant flowers.  The sun will come out, the flowers will open, the bees will return just not today!

Delights Of Early Spring

Oh wow, spring has finally arrived in the garden.   There are buds forming everywhere but these coltsfoot buds are right next to two bright cheery yellow flowers.  These two flowers are just the beginning.  Leaves will follow the flowers.  Then seed heads resembling dandelions will form.
 

This native plant is a tough customer. We also find it growing from the sometimes worked face of the gravel bank.  It comes up early, grows in ditches and out of cracks in pavement.  These are growing in the stones at the base of the house foundation on the north side.  I was so happy to see them!

Blue Siberian Squill buds are a promise of beauty to come.  The buds are still tight to the ground.   It doesn't take a plant expert to tell the this plant is an alien.  That is fine with me!  I love this plant's little blue flowers with blue pollen!  They are begging to be weeded.

Frequently the first flowers of spring are snow drops.  These were up in February and have been waiting under new snow.  Most of the snow is now gone.  We have had some sun and the buds are opening at last.

Right next door are the winter aconites.  I can actually see these from the house providing I use my binoculars.  After all the white snow, yellow flowers are a delight!

The blossoms look so delicate, but don't be fooled.  Spring ephemerals are tough customers.

March Has Arrived

This first day of March featured both garden work and a walk in the woods.  At our age we need to vary our activities to limit the impact of various physical impairments.  Today we got it right.  After activity ice on the hips was all that was needed to control the pain following outside work.  If we can stay smart, we may get to work every day weather permitting.

Partridge Berry is a native wildflower that persists in our dry woods.  When we happen upon it, the patches are usually small or limited to a single plant.  We encountered a huge group of these plants while exploring a nearby waterfall.  Conditions there favored its growth.  Here the plant is in competition with escaped pasture grasses.  There is little doubt about which plant will survive.  The consequences of early farming activity continues to inhibit the occurrences of our native plants.

These plants were growing under the fallen tree leaves.  I simply cannot understand how covered plants continue to function when fallen leaves block their exposure to life giving sunlight.  Jane has told us of finding arbutus plants in bloom when the only clue to their existence was their scent drifting on the breeze.  She brushed aside the covering leaves to find arbutus plants in full bloom despite the blanket that had hidden them.  Willing to take no chances, I keep my arbutus clear of fallen leaves with careful hand picking.

We planted snow drops near the memorial bench built to mark the final  resting place of Becky's parents.  The pictured plants self seeded from the introduced plants.  They have pushed their new growth above the leaf cover in most spots.  Some leaves have been pierced by the new growth.  The serious bad news here is the appearance of a garlic mustard plant.  We have recently read that garlic mustard puts a chemical into the soil that may limit the growth of desired plants.  It directly attacks the mycorrhizae fungi that aide wildflowers in extracting nutrition from poor woodland soil.  This garlic mustard will have to go.  Garlic mustard is on the eradicate list for 2017.

The mechanics of how seeds naturally dropped on the soil surface form underground bulbs has always puzzled me.  Here bulbs were found growing above the ground.  They were carefully pushed into the soft moist soil.

Becky found this hemlock tree with two trunks growing in the back woods.  The near trunk is dead and it was likely opened by a Pileated Woodpecker.  We frequently hear the sounds of their drilling echoing from the ridges but rarely see them.  The fascinating texture of the exposed dead wood needed to be photographed.  We wonder what creature will find this opening to be a suitable home site.

This tree had the misfortune of taking root along the line separating a field from the woods.  A fence was set to keep the cows in the pasture.  The tree simply grew around the wire.  Seven strands of barbed wire seems excessive but as original strands weakened with rust new wire was simply added.  The fallen fence post shows that the tree survives long after the artificial posts rotted and fell.  We will need leaves to identify the type of tree still growing here.  Scars in the bark limit accurate identification.  The tree is showing buds so identification should be possible when they open.

Spring Ahead

Today is the day that you wake up at 7:00 and think " Oh no! It's really 8:00 ."  It will take me a few days to acclimate to the new time.  I'll be hungry before lunch and hungry before dinner.   I would be wide awake at bedtime, but this was a beautiful day and Ed and I both made much of it in the garden.  I just had to clean up the bed where these beautiful Dutch Iris are blooming.  They deserve it.  Most years they peek out of snow but not this year.  I know spring is on the way when these hardy flowers make their appearance.  Rain is in the forecast for the next several days.  Cool wet days will extend the bloom time of these early jewels.

Snow drops have pushed their way through Ed's  layer of mulch.  Finally they are blooming too!

Ed spent the morning cleaning up his daylily bed.  I worked on the Black-eyed Susan bed in the foreground.  It was sunny and comfortable.  It was nice to spend some time working in the same area of the garden.  Later Ed headed off on his own.  I  was focused on cutting back the lavender bee balm.  The dead stems were tall this year.  I didn't have a lot of trouble cutting the stems, but it never ceases to amaze me how those round seed heads can catch on everything.

By lunchtime we were both hungry and tired.  Ed wanted to go right back outside after lunch, but I needed a little rest.  After a short nap, we headed back outside for the afternoon.  It is important to enjoy wonderful days in March.  Sometimes they are rare.

The bed in front of the house was chosen for our afternoon fun.  Ed worked here close to the curved stone walls.  I worked in front of the house.  Several hours went by, but it is early in the season .  We were both getting tired and a little sore.  When we came back inside we discovered that it was time for dinner.  When I look out the living room window the progress we are making on this year's garden makes me very happy.  We have rain in the forecast.  I think for the gardeners here and the plants in the garden that might make for another perfect day!

Closed until ?

Mother Nature is menopausal here this year.  Her hot and cold flashes are brutal.  There are more winter aconite flowers now, but you can tell by the way the leaves look that it is freezing out there. The flowers will be closed until the next hot flash hits.

The snow drops are closed even tighter.  I find it more difficult to patiently wait when there is no snow cover.  A little blanket of white makes me feel the plants are protected even if it is a thin one.  Now my plants are out there bare,  uncovered and shivering in the cold. Gardening friends further south and even those at a slightly lower elevation are showing crocus and open snow drops.  I admit it.  I am green with envy.  I think I heard next week will be warmer.  Perhaps another hot flash is coming.  I'm ready!

Fast Forward To Spring.

Now the spring flowers are coming fast. Usually I watch these Giant Glory of the Snow come up surrounded by white.  Frost in the morning gives way to temperatures in the high sixties.

My Dutch iris are beautiful, but are usually past before the crocuses bloom.

The snow drops have more competition for pollinators.  The peepers are peeping. The birds are singing.  All of a sudden there are beds to clean, plants to trim, weeds to pull, seeds to plant
and the grass is beginning to grow.  I found a fresh robin's egg shell in the flower bed down by the road.  New life is quickly emerging everywhere.  After all that waiting, we are suddenly falling behind.  I'm a little sore and tired, but I'm as twitterpated as the birds.  The fresh air and sunshine is exhilarating.  Only the stench from the fields of fermented cow manure dampens my spirits and that's just until the wind changes or it is plowed under.

What's Going On Out There?

It rained pretty hard during the night. The rain stopped for a short while this morning and Ed and I went outside to walk around an get a look at the garden.  It was way too wet to actually do anything out there.  Hmm... This looks a little like a Big Foot footprint.

I stuck my bright pink size 9 boot in there so you could see the size.  This is not a footprint however.  You can see by all the stems cut on the diagonal that the creator of this garden bald spot is rabbits.  Whether they spent time here under the snow or are intending to build a future nest, they are not welcome here.

Here is another one in the Siberian Iris.   We'll have to check on these as soon as it is dry enough to work in the garden. Beat it bunnies!  Move out or face the consequences. As far as we are concerned spring is here and the gardeners are taking over!

We still have some snow in the garden.  The recently uncovered foxgloves look nice and green.  Today's continuing rain should get rid of the rest of the icy snow.

With just a little warmth and sunlight, my Dutch iris should pop into bloom!

At last my snow drops are making an appearance. Their buds are just the very beginning of the promise of beauty to come.

Our Clara Curtis mums are holding back in this chilly rain, but that's  temporary I'm sure.

Sunday gloves is the first of Ed's day lilies to surface.  It's hard to contain our excitement.  I've had enough for now however.  My fingers hurt from the cold and like the flower buds in the garden I'm waiting for a warm sunny day before I really show my face out in the garden  for any length of time.

First Flowers And New Growth

Up until today these winter aconites have been closed up tight, but this morning the sun was shining, the air warm and some flies were awake.  I was buzzed by one as I walked over to the shade garden to take this picture.  Pollinators are just what the flowers have been waiting for. When you are a flower there  is no point in flashing your beauty if there is no one there to appreciate it.

Granted we are off to a slow start.  So far only a few of the snow drops have deigned to open up.  Some of them are still closed tight, playing it cool and  waiting for more activity.  There are a couple of nice little rose campion plants in this spot.  They will have to be carefully moved .  A small rosette the first year grows to a large one with flowers the next.  There is no room for them here at the base of my tree peony.

I could only find one open Dutch iris flower this morning, but by afternoon several more were open. I observed a few bees on the flowers. Every spring I delight in these beautiful  hardy little iris.

Ed's October sky asters are coming alive.  Last years' stems will have to be lopped off to make room for the new growth.

This baby foxglove looks pretty good.  It is sheltered by the stone square and coming up beneath the summer sweet.  Some of foxgloves in other places  don't look quite this good.

We were just a little late getting a protective cage over these crocus plants.  They were nipped in the bud, but it looks like they are going to try to open anyway.  You can count on the plants to make their best effort no matter what.  For them and for us spring is a new beginning.