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.

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!

Buds And Bluebirds

This morning started with the welcome sight of male bluebirds checking out the houses that can be seen from my kitchen window.  What could be a better day brightener with your morning coffee than that?  A walk around the garden revealed buds on the winter aconite.  I thought they might open today, but the bright sunshine was replaced with grey clouds.  One thing spring ephemerals know is when to close up tight and when to open.  There is no point in having your tender parts hanging out when no pollinators are flying around.

Ed took his garden twine to the back garden and tied up the fences in the wilderness garden.  It may not keep the deer from stepping on his garlic, but at least they will have to make  the effort  of jumping the fence to do it.  It was obvious that he had a wonderful time just being outside doing something in the garden.  He came back to the house just in time for lunch.  Clouds are moving in. We will see what tomorrow brings.

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.

Warmth, Wind And New Spring Arrivals

Today was warm and windy .   Flowers that were buds yesterday are open wide today.  The deep brilliant  blue of these scilla makes me sigh with contentment.  You do have to lie down on the ground with the camera  to get this view. I even managed to get back up without help!

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This patch of snow in summer went from bud to flower in one day.  Planted in a fairly large group, these look great even from a distance.

This large planting of Ducth iris is outstanding.  I think every bud is open now.  Some of the others that have been open longer have faded in the heat and hot sun. They were great while they lasted.   If the forecast is correct tomorrow will bring a return to cold.  These flowers can take that . If anything it will make them last longer.

Today there were 4 winter aconite flowers.  Yesterday  the plant was barely visible.  Their cheery yellow can also stand up to the cold.

I'm always delighted to see the emergence of my squirrel corn plants.  These delicate looking plants and unusual flowers sometimes get uprooted , I don't know that it is squirrels who do it, but they got their name somehow. This spring ephemeral wildflower is always short lived, but wonderful to see just the same.

So if tomorrow does turn out to be cold with sleet, these  flowers should brave the elements with ease.  I probably will not be as beautifully gracious about it, but I'll make it too.  I heard the peepers tonight.  Spring is here even the little frogs know it!

Comings and Goings In The Garden

Before breakfast this  morning there were deer to chase from the garden.  It was cold so Ed did his  deer scaring by shouting out the opened living room window.  Begrudgingly they left and headed for the tree line.  We also had a kind of visitor we seldom see here.  A human clad in orange vest and hard hat was  busily entering the numbers from our electric  pole into his machine.  As we watched he climbed up the hill, made a bee line past the house, and crossed the grass toward the tree line.  Clearly he was headed to his next assigned pole.  Ed and I marveled as he headed up the hill climbing up and over a downed tree. Then he continued on up the ridiculously steep hill into the pines.  We can only assume he continued on through the brambles then down the hill in the back to arrive at the neighbors' electric pole.  We had not been here long before we discovered that  the shortest distance to the back might be a straight line, but meandering paths are a much easier way to get there.  The deer and all the other critters that hang out here know that too.

When I did venture out with the camera, I was not happy to find that the deer had been munching on my bluets in the shade garden.  It's bad enough that they take a big bite, but when they don't actually eat the plant it really ticks me off.

It got to be quite nice out toward the middle of the day. Ed took his baby lettuce plants outside for  a little time on the wall to enjoy the spring breeze.  Air circulation makes for stronger plants.  Cleaning out the bluebird boxes was on his to do list today.

Little plants are sending up new shoots everywhere.  I'm pretty sure these are Glory of the Snow making an appearance.

After lunch I went back out with the camera.   I was hoping that the winter aconite buds would be open, but the sun went behind the clouds and the air became chilly.  At least for today these buds stayed tightly closed.  Ed stayed outside cleaning out a few  more of the bluebird houses, but I headed back inside the warm house.

There I found that Amy's nutmeg geranium had very tiny, but very beautiful flowers.  This is not your average plant.  Purchased at the  Buffa10 bloggers' convention, this plant made the trip  across the Empire state to her bathroom where it got all leggy.  It was then moved here and is making a comeback.  It's so nice to see it flower again.

A Glorious Gardening Day

This morning with the time change we were a little late getting going, but by the time we did head outside the day was gloriously warm.  I was delighted to find this single winter aconite in bloom.  It is the very first bit of  bright color to show in the garden.  Why only one of twelve bulbs planted remains is an unanswered question.  We will replant this fall.

 I worked on cleaning up the bed in front of the house, and Ed tackled the job of  removing weeds from this bed of emerging bulbs. He removed a huge catnip from this spot. I didn't think it could be done, but he did it. The bulbs don't even look like they have been disturbed.

It was  a heated  battle, weeds and grass had made serious inroads into this area.  Ed is a well motivated and persistent weeder. When he is finished the beds always  look fantastic.  A top dressing of compost and duff replaced the soil that was removed with the weeds.  He watered the disturbed plants and headed off to attack another spot in the garden.

The sun was down and the light dwindling when Ed finally came in from the garden. He'll have to rest up tonight because tomorrow looks like another glorious gardening day!