Woodlanders

Is this a Glaucidiaceae, Paeoniaceae or a Ranunculaceae?
Anyway it is a fine plant starting to flower now, a little later than last year.
1) April 2010
2) April 2009

When I am at my cabin I do not miss the opportunity to visit my favorite deciduous wood of oak, apple, wild cherry, hazel etc. At this time of the year the wood floor is covered by Hepatica nobilis, Anemone nemorosa and many more spring ephemerals.

Here is a new one for me...Corydalis speciosa. Just starting. Seeds came from Jacques Thompson who in turn got them direct from a person in China or Korea, can't remember which. Obviously related to C. wilsonii and that kin.

I want to send some M. virginica to a friend. When is the best time to dig, when summer-dormant or wait until fall?

One of my very first garden plants when I was a young boy was Pulmonaria rubra, a very easy and dependable spring bloomer. This species is considered somewhat leafy and coarse, with simple hairy green leaves without the white mottling and speckling touted by the modern hybrids, but I still like it Here are some photos showing plants colonizing the driest of dry woods (under Sugar maples) down at the uncultivated bottom of my yard and woodland where hoses don't reach.

Just starting to flower is Jeffersonia dubia, fun to watch as they emerge, the foliage is beet red and rubbery looking (Photo 1). My plants are from a good dark color form, just opening their first couple blooms... flower color is deeper than what the photo captured. However, I wanted to showcase a form that Darrell Probst collected, CPC 3.10.97 (Cobblewood Plant Collection), selected on account of it's dark flowers (although my normal form are darker) and the red seed pods.

I'm pleased to kick off this "Epimedium 2010" thread. For many North American gardeners that must deal with shady wooded conditions, often rather dry too, I can think of no better candidate to grace such conditions as the many members of the genus Epimedium. They are tough, drought tolerant when established, have beautiful graceful flowers and gorgeous foliage often strikingly colored in spring and in a second-flush of color post-flowering, many with excellent fall color as well.

I have used some hours this sunday with reasonable good weather to "tour" my property! (little more than 1/2 acre) Lots of promising plants have appeared as the snow has completely disappeared. Here are some of the plants awaking to life:

Today, March 2nd, 2010, it reached 46 F (7 C) and after a brief mild spell, some of the glacier-like deep crust of icy snow receded, beginning to reveal bare ground and overwintered plants. I am always interested in testing claims that plants are evergreen and are able to withstand a tough New England winter. I snapped a few photos of plants I have grown for at least several years. I'll start out with some Epimedium species.

1. Epimedium wushanense "Spiny-leaved form" - with lustrous spiny leaves, Nov. 18, 2009.

When I first visited China in the late nineteen nineties, I don't think any of the marvels I saw amazed me as much as Roscoea: the high valley at the east base of the Jade Dragon mountains had untold millions of them in bloom in late May: pale yellow, almost white, pink, lavender, purple--you name the color it was there, it seemed. Most were very tiny in stature, although the flowers were sizeable. They grew in the fields, among rhododendrons, they grew in the woods. They were enchanting! How Ms.