What do you see on your garden walks?

[Booker]

Beautiful plants, James.  Glad to know it's spring somewhere.  Went out and photographed this draba starting to bloom, planted in the face of the cliff.  It will look miuch better but the forecast was for snow so I took the picture just in case.

There you are Anne ... all that prodding and delving, grubbing and probing, scraping and writhing, yanking and tearing has proved totally worthwhile when you can post beauties like that growing in your very own cliff!!!    

[Lori S.]

Yesterday, after spending a few hours cutting off perennials, it was fun to have a closer look at the rock gardens to see the early signs of life...
Purple stem buds on Marmoritis (Phyllophyton) complanatum; Spiky, triangular leaves on Arenaria pestalozzae
 
I noticed a few tiny flower buds on Bolanthus/Gypsophila cherlerioides.  

Campanula topaliana, seraglio
 
Genista delphinensis, Vitaliana primuliflora

Buds emerging on Paeonia anomala:


And then today...  
 

[Weiser]

  How disheartening!! Will it never stop.
Sorry Lori. We are scheduled to get more snow tomorrow but not nearly so much.

[Hoy]

Not unfamiliar but more so when I lived in Oslo

[Spiegel]

Lori, that's what we were expecting when I went out and photographed the draba.  We got a couple of inches and then it turned to rain and washed it away.  So spring is still on the way.  Noticed some townsendia buds deep in the plant, very cheering.  Also Oxytropis multiceps has started to "silver up", a very welcome sight.  Nothing  stops this plant from blooming in April.  Also see the tips of the leaves of Iris 'Katherine Hodgkins' breaking through.  Joe has promised to photograph the garden every day while I'm in Nottingham.  Still am amazed to be leaving the garden at this time, a first.

[cohan]

Nice to see the flowers--still barely imaginable here--even Lori's beginnings are far beyond anything on my property--a few metres here and there of bare ground around spruce trees, but only native plants (not planted)  there, none of which are foolish enough to show any activity yet, no garden beds or pots at all exposed yet.. I think the first area to show may be a spot where I sunk a bunch of pots for winter in my infant veg patch in an old tiny corral--I got just a  bit of a glimpse of Taraxacum 'faroense' which was only planted (root piece) in late fall but seemed like it might be ok...
that's of course covered again now, and most planted areas still have a couple feet of snow on them before the new stuff fell--we got probably 10-15 cm (prob 10cm overnight, melting from late morning, but continued falling most of the day, maybe done now).. less than Lori, I heard Calgary had 20cm, and expecting another 25 overnight? hopefully not....

[Lori S.]

Anne, it  must be hard to drag yourself away from your garden when everything is starting up... though on the other hand, it will be a wonderful event to attend too.  Your draba does look like a snapshot from nature - just what all rock gardeners must aspire to!
Our snow here is a little hard to take but realistically, we'll have a lot more snows before it's over.     You know what I'm saying, Cohan!
I love seeing those Townsendia buds - so early yet ready to go! 

[cohan]

Yes, Lori, this isn't at all late or unusually heavy for a spring snow here! What is a bit atypical is that usually we would have had some bare times in early december, and often starting in late feb, at least in march, but we still have solid snow cover almost everywhere, that has been in place since mid november! I'm looking forward to at least the sort of spring snow that you don't have to shovel as it will melt.. we shovelled today, and this stuff is heavy! 
I'm going to put a couple of pics in the weather thread...

[Weiser]

Enough of this winter gloom.
Here are a few shots of spring to Cheer everone up.

                         Ranunculus andersonii
                        

                         Ranunculus glaberrimus var. glaberrimus
                        

                         Ranunculus glaberrimus var. ellipticus
                        

                         Iris reticulata
                        

                         Hesperochiron californicus
                        

                         Fritillaria pudica
                        

                         Astragalus gilviflorus
                        

                         Astragalus purshii  var. lectulus
                        

                         Eriogonum douglasii var. meridionale (budding up)
                        

                         Physaria saximontana
                        

[Booker]

Well, you have certainly cheered one old guy up on this side of the pond John with your images of much sought after buttercups in full flower!

[Weiser]

Didn't realize I had this many in bloom here are the rest.


                          Allium parvum
                          

                          Arabis flaviflora (seedling first season bloom)
                          

                          Draba ? (lost the name to this one)
                          

                          Dutch hybrid crocus (No matter how common these are, they still thrill me)
                
                          

                          Viola beckwithii
                          

[Hoy]

John, you certainly are cheering me up - but when I see your neat planting in gravel I am getting jealous too Here such gravel beds are covered in moss and grass in no time due to the humid climate. Grass even germinate and grow on moss covered stones and it looks more like a lawn.

Cliff, how many different Ranunculi(?) do you have?

[Booker]

John, you certainly are cheering me up - but when I see your neat planting in gravel I am getting jealous too Here such gravel beds are covered in moss and grass in no time due to the humid climate. Grass even germinate and grow on moss covered stones and it looks more like a lawn.

Cliff, how many different Ranunculi(?) do you have?

Hi Trond,
I don't have an extensive collection, I concentrate on high mountain buttercups and try to grow large flowering plants of the ones that seem more difficult in cultivation.  I am particularly interested in the New Zealand, North & South American and high European species having limited success with some and great frustration with others. 
My growing conditions sound very similar to yours with moss and liverworts encroaching into every pot, trough and raised bed.

[Spiegel]

Thanks for the pictures, John.  It definitely must have lifted the gloom for those of us either waiting for spring or trying to fool the antlered rats into thinking garden plants are not edible (barbed wire, chicken wire, netting, etc.).  Loved the astragalus pictures, especially that beauty, Astragalus gilviflorus, very difficult for me to keep here in the northeast - seems to be extremely sensitive to winter wet.  The flowers are so large in proportion to the plant.

[Hoy]

John, you certainly are cheering me up - but when I see your neat planting in gravel I am getting jealous too Here such gravel beds are covered in moss and grass in no time due to the humid climate. Grass even germinate and grow on moss covered stones and it looks more like a lawn.

Cliff, how many different Ranunculi(?) do you have?

Hi Trond,
I don't have an extensive collection, I concentrate on high mountain buttercups and try to grow large flowering plants of the ones that seem more difficult in cultivation.  I am particularly interested in the New Zealand, North & South American and high European species having limited success with some and great frustration with others. 
My growing conditions sound very similar to yours with moss and liverworts encroaching into every pot, trough and raised bed.

Cliff, your plant taste seems to be a real challenge!