What do you see on your garden walks? 2013

[cohan]

We are 11 days late on this topic!
A couple views of some of my garden beds in the last couple of days-- not a whole lot to see! but you see some of the 'ridges' of the rock gardens and berms I've been developing, and looking at them this winter under snow, I've realised that these winter shapes should be taken into account at the design phase, since this is what I see for months at a time!

1-3 the rock beds in front of the house which get extra  snow, being surrounded by shovelled paths; in #3 you can see a bit of the tallest Sempervivum flower stalk sticking through the snow still..
4,5 a couple of rock beds and berms in a different part of the acreage- these are in the moister part of the property, and (not counting the shovelling mentioned above) get the deepest snow
6,7 the third rock garden area, this is on the drier end of the property, and drier yet between the two large spruce trees- the two taller ridges have had the least snow cover of any of my plantings, so time will tell what plants that will favour (naturally, I am planting things that generally want to be drier in this area)

[cohan]

A few more views,  some of the woodies-
1-5 several crab/apples and a Philadelphus, which always seems to hold enough snow to look interesting, but never bends..
6-Then a Tilia cordata, one of our very few non-native trees, still smallish, after quite a few years (15? longer? mom doesn't remember) and I hope it stays that way, but I really like this tree; only non-native/wild plant in this view.
7- a piece of old stump I dragged out of the bush for my future stumpery!
8-a partly shaded spot surrounded on two/three sides with wild trees and shrubs- the mid-foreground had a pile of branches on it for a couple of years that suppressed most of the grass etc, so I will be taking advantage of that to plant some woodland/edge plants- it is already ringed with wild asters which I may leave as is, or dig out to remove grass and replant...(much of the yard unmowed would have asters)
9- a 'Blue Fox' Willow (may be S brachycarpa) with an old shed behind..

[Hoy]

Cohan, at the moment I am actually envying your snow cover! The dry freezing we have now is bad for the plants. The forecast says more of the same the next 10 days Although it is sunny with no clouds at all, the sun is so low in the sky that it doesn't provide any warmth.

[bulborum]

Well here we had yesterday a dry day , it is here wet sins weeks
whole days drizzling , so impossible to work with pleasure in the garden
It seems we will have a few frosty days
I hope we don't get a winter like last year
so warm all the time (like now) and then heavy frost in February
Here where over 10,000 plants dead in pots last winter

but I like your snow-cover
we had that two years ago
no problems at all with the plants
they  love it

Roland

[cohan]

Trond and Roland- I'm sure the snowcover is good for some plants, though most things here also need to be able to handle at least -20C without cover. (Small)  Pots exposed over winter have very little chance here- even with snow. Also, I'm sure most of the plants you guys grow could not survive my low temperatures even with the snow cover...lol

10,000 is a lot of plants to lose! 

[Bundraba!]

A January thaw has removed restrictions on rock garden doting, at least temporarily; I notice this morning three Mediterranean species: Bupluerum spinosum looking nice and green. The seeds it set, upon dissection, would appear potentially viable. I rubbed a few into the surrounding grit: The blue broom -E. pungens had sloughed (stepped on by dog, cat, chicken, or donkey?) a couple of green spines which appear to have callused -perhaps. I stuck those in the wet mud near the plant: Convolvulus cneorum from last years seed-ex is spotless and quite vigorous right at the south foot of my porch foundation. The one on the crevice garden doesn't look too bad either. all of these were under good snow during below zero (F) spat. all of the Agaves are "go" it seems. I looked for new seedlings of Draba etc. and did not see any. There's still a little snow where I expect it to be; and hope it remains. This weather is not untypical of my region and is not good for a lot of alpines as severe cold can re-enter the region upon bare, recently soggy ground. Yesterday temperature was same at noon in Saranac Lake, NY as in Los Angeles, CA! Freaky for both regions.

[cohan]

Nice to be able to see how things are in the garden in mid-winter. Interesting when you get those odd temperature comparisons..

[Janet Novak]

Here in Philadelphia, winter still hasn't really begun. Corydalis ochroleuca has put out a few new flowers. My fall-blooming camellia (the Ackerman hybrid 'Winter's Snowman') had all its flowers killed by frost last night, but it hasn't given up hope of opening more buds. Meanwhile, spring flowers are coming into bloom. Besides Galanthus elwesii and a couple crocuses, I have Helleborus thibetanus in bloom.

[cohan]

Wow, Janet- subtropical!    Is this within your normal range or has it been an exceptionally mild/dangerous season?

[Hoy]

Can't say we are so lucky here as having flowers in the garden although some hellebores and snowdrops are persistent in bud.  It is still clear and cold but it seems to end in the weekend when we are expecting rain.

[Janet Novak]

Southeast Pennsylvania winters are pretty mild, but this is definitely milder than normal. The temperature has not yet gotten down to 20 F (-7 C). Consequently, some of the summer and fall flowers are still hanging on. Corydalis ochroleuca, which is consistently the champion in my garden for duration of bloom, has been in bloom for 311 days and counting....

It's nice to have flowers into January, but I do hope we get a real winter eventually!

[Tim Ingram]

Janet - that's an interesting flower on Helleborus thibetanus with such strong veining. The plant I have is much more like the picture on the front of Burrell and Tyler's book - a soft-pink overall. It would be interesting to know how much variation there is in this plant? Unfortunately in our garden the flowers open at ground level and are badly munched by slugs; I must remember next year to protect it.

[Janet Novak]

Tim, it certainly would be interesting to know about the range of variation in H. thibetanus. This is actually the very first time my plant has bloomed, so for all I know the strongly pink veins could be an environmental effect of blooming in atypical weather. Though a google image search does show that other flowers with more-or-less white background and pink veins.

[Hoy]

My plant is plain white. Picture from last spring.

[Michael J Campbell]

A few Helleborus in flower today.

Helleborus Ashwood hybs