Believe It Or Not

It is difficult to believe how much our blooming cycle has been thrown off by the unusual March weather.

I have never had a rose bloom in April!  My roses bloom in June, but not this Rainbow Knockout that looks like it has a little frostbite.

Endless Summer Hydrangea (has not been a good bloomer in my area) has also been nipped but it looks like it has lots of buds this year.  I did not cut it back at all this year and held off on the fertilizer (just a light sprinkle).  This may not be the best year to judge the results because of our milder winter.

Some of the Type 2 clematis are blooming.  This one is Bourbon, grows about six feet high and I will have to cover it again for the patchy frost warning.

This is Ramona and also is a type 2, can't cover this one because it's on the arbor.

Type 2 clematis are a little more work in that they require careful pruning in the spring and every so often need to be cut down after blooming to rejuvenate them and get rid of a lot of dead wood.  I think it is worth growing some of them because of their early bloom and large flowers.

Wow, I have never had this many berries forming on Amelanchier Regent, birds will love it!

Allium in the border takes up hardly any room, a great bulb to layer where there is lots of other foliage to hide the ripening leaves.

I am going to use less annual fillers in the border this year, impatiens are susceptible to downy mildew, and these are what I have usually interplanted.  I am thinking Verbena Bonariensis might work well and take up little space.

I have given up trying to reposition my pansies in other areas, the heat always gets them!

Foolproof perennials, Heuchera Villosa Purpurea, Heuchera Southern Comfort, Heuchera Pistache and Japanese Painted Fern all happy together in part shade.

Raspberry Splash Pulmonaria looks better as the season goes on, decorative leaves all summer.

Persicaria Polymorpha is creeping up towards the grid, hope it holds it firm this year during the storms.  It is such a striking plant and will bloom all summer if not whipped around by the wind. 

The carex grass has just about covered the fencing that keeps it off the path.

This might be the year for Thunderbolt Hosta, not very pretty when there are only two or three leaves.

Rainbow Knockout

It is important to prune your roses each year, opening up the center, taking out all stems that are pencil thin and leaving some thicker and thinner canes.  Don't forget to feed them and they will reward you with gorgeous blooms.  I bring mine down to about twelve inches and they fill out and up beautifully!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Frost, Frost, Stay Away!

I remember covering up my containers in May last year because of a frost warning.  It is hard to believe what the garden looks like this year with trees blooming and leafed out, blooming shrubs and flowers.

Amelanchier Regent

A small Serviceberry about four feet tall

Viburnum Carlesi Compactum

I put this in last spring to replace one that became diseased.

It is difficult to find shrubs for the small garden but lately there seem to be smaller versions of many favorites.

I decided not to use fertilizer on the bleeding hearts or the carex grass this year.  Last year I fertilized and everything went crazy.  I could barely keep up trimming down the grass and the bleeding hearts were almost four feet tall.  They are still big but a more appropriate size for eight year old specimens.

Brunnera Angel Wings

Not as showy as Jack Frost but lovely with light blue flowers

Brunnera Jack Frost

Pulmonaria Raspberry Splash

The leaves of the Brunnera and the Pulmonaria remain showy in the summer border.

Heuchera Miracle

I purchased this last summer at Home Depot and the picture had the veining but the plant did not.  The new spring growth looks like the photo and this one will take full sun!

Heucherella Stoplight

The heucherellas (cross between heuchera and tiarella) are much hardier than the tiarellas and the foliage is stunning along with tall feathery blooms into the summer.

A view is important during all seasons and it doesn't matter if it comes from your garden or your neighbors!

Hyacinth Blue Jacket

Tulip Orange Emperor

Get Ready!

Early Sensation will be one of the first

Early Sensation

Itzim

Yellow Hellebore

Crocus

City Of Haarlem

PJM Rhododendron

Pink Pearl

Star Magnolia

Sagitta

Marieke And Mount Hood

Chanticleer Pear

Monte Carlo

Muscari Blue Spike

This was just a little peek at Spring 2011 with more to come ....

ANTICIPATION!!

A Week To Remember

I can't recall a week when so many things seemed to be going on at one time.  It began last Saturday when I volunteered for the University of Illinois Extension at a demonstration farm where the food grown is donated to a local food pantry.

While I share my saga I am going to show you a few things that are in bloom in my garden.

Allium Purple Sensation has deepened in color each day with the cooler weather.

Heucherella Stoplight

I love the airy blooms on this one and it really pops in the garden.

Well, I am certainly not like I used to be out in the misting rain, temps in the high forties and just garden gloves for my hands.  We were doing square foot plantings with both plants and seeds.  Three and one half hours later I was like a frozen speciman of a person.  It took hours to get rid of the shivers and the tingling in my hands only to begin cleaning my house for the fifty-six people who showed up for my Garden Study Group that I was hosting on Monday.

Dicentra Spectablis Alba

Oh, I forgot to mention that on Saturday and Sunday the temperatures dipped into the high thirties with thirty to forty mile per hour winds.  By the time I looked outside some of my more tender annuals had been beat into submission.  In the meantime, my computer also crashed and I didn't have it hooked up to a back-up drive (I thought because it was fairly new I didn't need one - wrong).  On Monday morning I was outside with my Felco pruners cutting away all of the shriveled leaves.

Halcyon Blue Hosta

At one time the Bleeding Heart was the same height as the hosta.

Impatiens Wild Thing

This is one of the plants I began under lights, only eight out of the twenty-five seeds germinated.  I heard from many of you that this is not uncommon with impatiens.

The Garden Club presentation on Body Fitness was like a checklist of all the things I didn't do but wish I did.

Hosta Unknown Name

I purchased this last year to go out in front under my Chanticleer Pear but it began to burn up even with light sun so I moved it to the back garden where it is shaded by many other plantings.  August Moon Hosta which is also a lighter green will take some sun so I put that one in it's place out front.

Pulmonaria Raspberry Splash

Green Sheen Pachysandra

Variegated Solomon's Seal

Hosta Paul's Glory

Hosta Patriot

We got through everything, new computer, with back up drive attached (they are as small as a wallet now).  Everyone loved the garden, put in a few replacement plants today, completed the baskets and containers, mossed most of the containers and am now sitting with an ice pack on my back!

Sanvitalia

This one is supposed to do well in heat with minimum water requirements.  I am using it in my hayracks on the little garden shed.

I think it will do well with Verbena Imagination and Zahara Zinnia Highlight which I started from seed (not blooming yet).

Azalea Karen

I like how the flowers have become lighter inside as they age.

Hydrangea Let's Dance Starlight

I planted three of these last year in blue, color determined by soil or fertilizer.  I hope they will end up looking the same or it is going to be a little strange with pink on one side of the walk and blue on the other!

Have a great weekend everyone!