Thursday, April 30, 2009
Blue
Blue Nose rhododendron is not seen much in commerce, but certainly deserves to be well known. It is rock hardy even here in Iowa, and covered every spring by luminescent violet flowers. I have white daffodils planted in front of it, for a nice contrast.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
In The Pink
Wood anemones are a favorite around here; especially the blues. However, pinks are nice too; this is Wyatt's Pink.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Blanda But Not Bland
Anemone blanda is such a retiring little plant that it gets lost pretty easily in a crowded garden. However, Anemone blanda 'Ingramii' (shown at top) has no such problem; its blue is the deepest yet brightest of blues. This particular selection of blanda is native to southern Greece; it begins flowering before other blandas, and also stays in bloom the longest; it's been blooming here for almost a month now. For comparison, at bottom is a more ordinary blue Anemone blanda.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Ssssolomon's Seal
Solomon's seal is another of those plants that I really like best when they are just coming up; patches of them look like twisting snakes rearing out of the ground.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The Gift That Keeps Giving
Two springs ago I toured the garden of a fellow garden blogger who lives just across town here. His garden, in a corner lot right on a city street, is absolutely jam-packed with an amazing variety of interesting plants, and is much viewed and enjoyed by folks walking by. One of the special delights of his garden is a variety of orchid cacti (epiphyllums) in hanging pots that he places in the trees, with these incredible flowers wafting their sweet perfume through the night-time air. He gave me a pot with some fresh cuttings in it, and it's now blooming in our garden. A nice passalong!
Friday, April 24, 2009
New And Cool
One of the epimediums planted last year is pictured above (Epimedium sempervirens 'Mars'), with a combination of cherry pink cup and light pink tepals; its flowers looks like brightly colored candy, set off by maroon-edged leaves. It is one of the shorter epimediums (10-12"), early blooming, and covered with flowers.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Bonus Daffodils
There are so many daffodils blooming in the garden right now, I could fill this blog with enough pictures that it would freeze up the best of computers... here is just a small selection.
More Daffodils
The Tipping Point
There arrives a spring in the life of the garden when perhaps it has tipped over into too much... muchness. Dainty woodland anemones (top), seemingly so hard to get established in this hot, dry climate, start running through the woodland in waves. Grape hyacinths (middle), march right out of the rock gardens, looking for more room. Primula sieboldii (bottom), mugs the dainty little juliana primula next to it, and heads for the woods.
I'm not sure what the change, or the signal is; but something seems to turn on, and even dainty little plants that normally act like they would rather be someplace else, start popping up everywhere. This morning I almost stepped on a snakeshead fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) growing in the middle of a path... at least it didn't hiss at me.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Worth Stooping For
Muddy knees are a small price to pay to get a good view of Erythronium dens canis 'Charmer'.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Fancy Pants Daffodils
For some reason I'm a little embarrassed to admit that my favorite daffodils are these overblown frilled or double daffodils; Iowans don't normally approve of such highfalutin' ways.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Beat This!
Beat this, if you can for total oddness; it's Asarum heterotropoides (I believe ssp. mandshuricum) from China. It is a wild ginger; the great majority of the Asian gingers are evergreen (or, make a brave attempt at it here in Iowa) and therefore of borderline hardiness. This ginger however is deciduous and seems totally hardy, with these extremely unusual flowers appearing in profusion every spring, nestled at the base of the plant.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
a Yearly Ritual
Every spring, like the robins, I start chirping; about Primula vulgaris sibthorpii. This lovely primrose is native to the Balkans, and therefore more tolerant of heat and dryness than other primroses, most of which come from misty, cool highlands or northern climes. Without fail, every spring here in Iowa sibthorpii returns and gets better and better, being invariably covered with bright pink flowers. Each spring I break off a little piece and transplant it elsewhere in the garden, so hope someday to have dozens of these plants blooming around every bend in the garden.
Friday, April 17, 2009
A Tough Problem To Have...
Cypripedium parviflora, the yellow ladyslipper orchid, is one of those plants more talked about than actually seen in gardens, but actually it is fairly easy to grow and multiplies steadily into large patches. I just raised this clump up three years ago, split it up and replanted three or four pips in this spot; I counted thirteen stems poking up today. It probably should be divided again in the next year or so because it's growing right next to a brick edger outlining the garden path, so there's not a lot of room to expand. It's kind of a chore carefully digging them up and splitting them, but maybe it's not such a tough problem to have.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Further Afield
I've gradually been adding more species of corydalis to our garden. Starting with the commoner, more widely available types, I'm now slowly branching out into some of the lesser known and grown species. To my surprise and delight, I've found many of them hardy and rapid growers; maybe I won't be so happy if some of them turn out like Corydalis lutea, which has designs on taking over the whole garden. This is a more demure species, Corydalis paschei, with pale lilac pink flowers. In nature it apparently is only found in a couple of locations in SW Turkey, but it seems right at home in our garden.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Bee's Work
Blue scillas and blue chionodoxas have been brightening up our spring garden in a most harmonious way; then there's this little beauty, a natural cross between Chionodoxa forbesii and Scilla bifolia. This is properly called x Chionoscilla allenii, with lovely light blue flowers in a short, erect clump. Kind of an oddity, but definitely a nice addition to the spring blues.
Perhaps the busy little bee will cross my chionoscilla back with one of its blue parent genera growing nearby?
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Enter The Dragon
There are certain plants in our garden which I think I enjoy more when they first arise out of the ground than when they finally bloom; the dragon arum, Dracunculus vulgaris, might be one of those. The floral structures are properly other-worldly, of course, but smell like ten year old gym socks wrapped around a dead mouse, and carrion beetles crawl all over them, smearing themselves with gunk; the foliage then starts flopping over and dying just as the plant blooms. Ah, but the cool, sinister, blotched and spotted plant sheath, rising out of the still-cold ground like some reptilian nightmare; that's worth the price of admission.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Well Named
I have several flower varieties named "Purple" this or "Purple" that. One of my favorites is Corydalis solida 'Purple Beauty', shown blooming by a meandering back pathway, where it gets morning sun and afternoon shade. It is tucked into a little spot with several varieties of fritillaries, a couple of trilliums, and a half dozen primroses, just to keep it company.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Yes...No...Maybe?
Anemone nemorosa Dee Day is a striking lavender blue clone of the European wood anemone; in some catalogs it is said to have been collected in France during World War I, by an English soldier. On the other hand, another catalog says Dee Day has been in commerce since 1940 (WW II, I presume). On the third hand, I have another blue wood anemone variety in the garden, Parlez Vous, and that is listed as being found in France by the self same English soldier. Yes...no...maybe?
Dee Day is one of those flowers that looks as if it has been crayoned with its blue color; an effect I particularly like. It is early-blooming, which I also like. It does however have a reputation for being a little sparser blooming than most wood anemones, but makes up for it by the brightness of its flowers. I have it planted underneath an azalea bush, and when Dee Day is blooming, I always stop to peer at these amazing little blue faces.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Slowing Down To Hurry Up
Every spring is hectic around here, but this spring I've not just been burning the candle at both ends; I've thrown the whole candle in the fire and tossed on some gasoline. Therefore I've had to slow down posting on this blog in order to hurry up everything else. However, one set of flowers I had to take the time to show: these are two of the large-flowered blue chionodoxas (glories of the snow): at top, C. forbesii 'Blue Giant', and at bottom C. lochiae. The latter is a new species for me, and a surprising success, for it is a rarity found only in the mountains of Cyprus (thus often called Cyprian glory of the snow; also called Loch's or greater glory of the snow). Its flowers are said to be the largest of the eight species of chionodoxa, and are a lovely shade of lavender blue.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Scilla
Scilla siberica 'Vaclav' is a clone of the common little Siberian blue squill. Vaclav was selected for being amazingly floriferous; my single little bulb is just a baby, but when grown up, I'm told it may have four or five flower stalks with up to twenty flowers on a stalk. For now I'm content with the lovely soft blue of its flowers.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Spring Orange
Crocus angustifolius, from the Crimea, loves cold winters and warm summers, so Iowa is to its liking. It is one of those crocuses that seem lit from within, giving it an orange glow. It is a beauty!
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Front & Back
There are a number of small early spring bulbs whose flowers are ravishing both from the front and the back, but I doubt any of them can top Scilla rosenii, which looks like a little, sky blue erythronium, with a white throat. It is a snow melt alpine, so I'm trying to grow it in a spot with shade and moisture (it would probably like a few ice cubes in July).
Monday, April 06, 2009
The Black Champ
Lots of plants are said to have "black" leaves. Ranunculus ficaria 'Brambling' comes about as close to the true thing as you could hope for, with its small leaves a tortiseshell mixture of black, maroon, green, and silver. Every catalog describes the colors of 'Brambling's' leaves differently (which I always think means you have a special plant on your hands)... and then it blooms with sunshine bright yellow flowers.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Small Iris In Springtime
Iris reticulata (top) is one of the little charmers of our early spring garden. I've now added Iris Katherine Hodgkin (bottom), which is a cross of Iris histroides x winogradowii; the former species is light blue and the latter yellow, and Katherine Hodgkin's flowers are a marriage of both its parents, being uniquely gray-blue with yellow blotching.
It is a little sturdier flower than Iris reticulata and is said to therefore stay in flower longer. With 4 inches of snow forecast for tonight, we shall see.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Scilla Caucasica
Scilla caucasica hails from... well, the mountains of the Caucasus. It's basically a larger, darker blue Scilla sibirica (some in fact classify it as Scilla sibirica ssp. caucasica). The blue color of caucasica is an unearthly blue; rich and with lavender and pink undertones. It is just a ravishing little bulb, and I look forward to its blooming each April.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Erythronium Purple King
I've never been very good at describing flower colors; the Brits are champs at this. I've seen them walking about in Kew Gardens with their color wheels (excuse me, "colour" wheels), trying to thrash out whether the third order colour of the tessalated lousewort blooming in the conservatory is gooey persimmon or spilled molasses.
I was thinking I could use one of those color wheels to describe the colors of 'Purple King' Erythronium dens-canis, which is shyly holding its little flowers up in the cold rain today. I see where a flower catalog describes it as "cyclamen purple", but that doesn't resonate with me; the best I can do is "soft violet". Even tougher to label is the center; I see it described as brown or deep red, but it's much more subtle. I'd call it brownish apricot... or maybe cinnamon infused with egg yolk?
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Take Your Pick
I've always had a soft spot for Puschkinia scilloides, the striped squill. This little cutie followed me to my present garden by piggybacking on a hosta or something that I moved from my first garden, and it has made itself at home by spreading everywhere; I don't mind as it is so lovely and so unobtrusive.
I also grow Aragats Pick, a superior form of Puschkinia collected on Mount Aragats, the highest mountain in Armenia at over 13,000 feet. An ancient volcano, Mount Aragats is rather dry and windblown, but covered with lovely alpines. Aragats Pick is basically a larger, sturdier plant, with more flowers that are, as they say, more elegantly spaced along the stem. I can vouch that it is very vigorous; my single bulb, planted in the fall of 2007 is now five. I like both my little vagabond puschkinias, and Aragats Pick equally well; in the pictures above Aragats Pick is at top, and the common Puschkinia scilloides is at bottom... you can choose.
