What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

[Lori S.]

You can also see a bunch more seedlings that came up two years later (in 2011) in the pot.  There ya go, Lori: another example for keeping "dead" pots.  But, you probably would have been smart enough to use GA3 in the first place.

You greatly overestimate me ... I often do things in the most inefficient way possible!    Great example of delayed germination, though.

[cohan]

Cohan, I have found Forsythia mandshurica to be more cold hardy than even Forsythia x intermedia 'Northern Sun', which is a University of Minnesota introduction, and much touted here. 

I'll try to remember that.. I have no idea what the ones are that I saw locally.. I don't usually look at woodies in local nurseries- usually can't afford any  so I mostly  see the woodies they stick out front or featured in seasonal offerings at supermarkets, home stores etc, and haven't seen any Forsythias at all among those...
I don't recall seeing seed offered either, is it short-lived?

[Lori S.]

I have some locally-published books that claim Forsythia ovata is the one that tends to get planted around here.  The flower buds can be winter-killed in low snowfall years.

[RickR]

For forsythia, flower buds are often killed above the snowline here in less cold hardy cultivars.  I have grow Vermont Sun since 2001 and it has never skipped a beat, even in years with little snow.  It stays around 6ft high.  Flower buds above the snowline are hardy to at least -37F (-38C).  That's the coldest it has been here in those years.  There has been at least two springs in that time frame when the Northern Sun shrubs at the Arboretum (9 miles away) have had very significant flower bud damage.  I have never seen F. mandshurica offered for sale at local nurseries, only mail order.  Mine does not set seed.  

A pic of Vermont Sun from 2003:

              

[WimB]

I have been going through some of my flats of miscellaneous potted materials.  They are all much farther ahead of plants in the ground.  And I came across this surprise:

Clematis ochotensis from wild seed collected in Japan.  I planted the seed back in 2009 and only one sprouted, so I didn't transplant it.  The clematis grew about a foot last season, but died back to what you see.  I never realized it would be such an early bloomer!

You can also see a bunch more seedlings that came up two years later (in 2011) in the pot.  There ya go, Lori: another example for keeping "dead" pots.  But, you probably would have been smart enough to use GA3 in the first place.

Wonderful, Rick. Didn't know that one...looks very nice!

[cohan]

Maybe sometime if I have a chance I'll try to take a closer look at the Forsythias in town- I've only seen them from the car driving past! I think both I saw were planted in front of businesses (maybe one was a church..).. of course they are in town, so that gives them an advantage already over here, though one local gardener claimed that my 20 miles east of Rocky Mountain House (on the edge of foothills biome and weather) gives me a 2 week frost advantage, and my sheltered property can be kind to woodies..

Now I'll have to look around for them...

[Hoy]

Cohan, I have found Forsythia mandshurica to be more cold hardy than even Forsythia x intermedia 'Northern Sun', which is a University of Minnesota introduction, and much touted here. 

I'll try to remember that.. I have no idea what the ones are that I saw locally.. I don't usually look at woodies in local nurseries- usually can't afford any  so I mostly  see the woodies they stick out front or featured in seasonal offerings at supermarkets, home stores etc, and haven't seen any Forsythias at all among those...
I don't recall seeing seed offered either, is it short-lived?

Cohan, Forsythia is extremely easy to root by cuttings! Almost any little piece of a twig will root without treatment of any kind.

Rick, ochotensis looks similar to koreana but is possibly much earlier in bloom?

Wim, some nice spring stuff there! BTW today I spotted the first patches of flowering wood anemones (Anemone nemorosa) along the road. I have had some flowering in my garden for a week. It is not the first spring flower though, the coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) has been in bloom some time now.

[Spiegel]

When we bought our house there was a great deal of forsythia planted too close to the house.  It was removed and every place I dropped a branch there would soon be a new plant.  Our wind chill can make us much colder than the surrounding area and a number of times there were no flowers above the snow line.  It looks cheery at a distance early in the spring.

[cohan]

Good to know cuttings will root.. in case I ever have a chance to get any

[Hoy]

Good to know cuttings will root.. in case I ever have a chance to get any

Is it impossible to send cuttings in the mail to Canada?

[Tim Ingram]

A nice dwarf form of Forsythia in flower on a raised bed now; F. viridissima 'Broxensis'

[Lori S.]

More signs of life...
Corydalis nobilis; Taraxacum pseudoroseum; Lewisia glandulosa; Eritrichium pauciflorium ssp. sajanense:
     

This tiny nub is what I bought as "Rhodiola rosea/purpurea" a few years ago; however, it's a tiny thing that looks and acts differently than my old Rhodiola rosea (e.g. it goes dormant in summer), so I'm wondering if it is actually another species:


Winter colour on Vitaliana primuliflora v. cinerea (with Genista delphinensis in foreground):

[Lori S.]

A close-up that probably explains why it's called Lewisia glandulosa:


Edit:  I picked up B. LeRoy Davidson's Lewisias at the WSW in Everett, Washington and have been perusing this excellent reference. Davidson makes note of the glands lining the edges of the bracts on the flower stem and on the sepals.  I'll have to remember to look closely when it blooms later on. 

[externmed]

April 1, 2012 NE Massachusetts USA zone 5b to 7a {depending} (3rd "season" in the garden, Galanthus and Crocus gone)
Charles Swanson

[Spiegel]

Great color on the corydalis.  Any idea which one it is?  Amazing that you have a townsendia in bloom already.