Garden March 30, 2011

This is the only group of scilla blooming in my garden thus far. They're a bit early.

Well, slowly but steadily the weather's warming up and the flowers are coming out. For reference, this is the time I'd call very early spring - crocuses and scilla are on their way in, and some perennials are beginning to push their leaves above the surface.

And Hellebores are blooming! Mine are almost open, but not quite. Hellebores are my earliest blooming perennial, but they're very slow growing. Their leaves are evergreen, but pretty ratty by the time spring comes along, so I cut them down when I do the spring clean up.

Peony shoots! I'm going to be using many exclamation marks in this post! There's really nothing peonies do inelegantly. I personally enjoy their slow ascent from the ground in spring as much as their flowers and foliage. Expect many peony photos in the coming months.

The Juneberries (This one's Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance') are just about to burst into bloom. It tends to be a fleeting bloom period, and I'm going to be on a road trip for the next week, so I'll probably miss taking photos of them.

Let me tell you, I had no idea when I got this plant that it such beautiful spring leaves. This is Geranium himalayense 'Birch's Double', one of the few double geraniums, as you may have inferred.

And here we have my favorites again! Here's Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Pearl' again. I know, you're probably going to get sick of seeing it again, but I have a huge weakness for... actually now that I think about it, I have a huge weakness for all flowers. So yeah.

More evidence that even though people say it's rabbit proof... think again. Nevertheless, fantastically beautiful. Rabbit-nibbled Crocus vernus 'Remembrance'.

Here's that corner I showed you all on February 18, cleaned up and sprouting anew. In the foreground, those are daffodils on the left, and trimmed irises on the right. Those're old tulips and daylilies in the back. The shrub's Calycanthus floridus.

A close-up of those irises. I try not to cut them straight off across the top, if I can spare the time. You can see the ragged edges my old pair of pruners made as they fell apart on me that fateful day. Also, say hi to the 'Birch's Double' geranium again.

Buds of Chionodoxa forbesii 'Pink Giant'. As of April 1st, these are blooming - stay tuned for photos tomorrow or Sunday.

Here's a plant you've likely seen before - Allium 'Globemaster'. Notice how you never see the leaves of this plant? Here's the reason: Early spring is the only time they're presentable. Even by May, they'll become yellowed and broken and sad looking. Hide them behind something - I'll be planting annual flowers and herbs in front of them this year. There might also be a  Filipendula rubra 'Venusta' in there.

Clematis vines on that lattice arbor coming to life. This is Clematis 'Multi-Blue'.

Shiny new buds of Basswood (Tilia americana). I love this tree - have since I was a kid. Wait 'til the leaves come out.

More Hellebore buds! These are very pretty - from a distance, they look like a nest of tiny yellow birds' eggs.

The buds of Lindera benzoin, Spicebush. This bush was new as of last spring, so even I haven't seen the flowers yet. They should open up sometime in the next three weeks.

The battered foliage of Hepatica nobilis var. acuta.

Removing all those brown leaves revealed a new bud! Excitement. I've never seen a Hepatica flower in person - the woods around here are too disturbed to host them.

To finish off, another shot of the arbor. I've decided I'm going to be doing this shot fairly frequently. Go back to the bottom of the Houseplants in Winter post to see two older shots.

 

Updated links on Oct 8, 2021.