What do you see on your garden walks?

[McDonough]

Things are slowly but surely plumping up and showing hints of lively color.  In a trough, Penstemon breviculus leaves remain evergreen all winter, typically with a winter burnish of red, but the color seems more pronounced now.  Buds on a misnamed Draba (of the D. hispanica type) await a warmer day to pop their first blooms.  The Penstemon in flower can be seen here: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=300.0




Townsendia rothrockii buds are swelling with promise:

I've shown Crocus gargaricus with blooms wide open, but I do find the unopened golden dumplings visually amusing, popping straight out of the ground without leaves, anchored to the ground by whitish cataphyllls (basal bracts); not sure why but they conjure up an image of woman's lipstick and make me smile.

[Hoy]

Mark, I think your spring is doing fine! Here it is almost standstill but that is quite normal.

[Lori S.]

Nothing but snow all week here, but here's a snippet from before the snow... hope to see some of the rock garden again sometime soon.   

Dracocephalum palmatum, Androsace carnea and Aethionema glaucescens, as the glacier recedes...

[Hoy]

I can't say that I miss the snow anymore!
The snowdrops have flowered for a while but when I came home today after finishing work the sun still shone and I could picture the flowers open!


         

In the woodland Rhododendron moupinense has opened it's flowers too.


       

[RickR]

I had six inches of wet snow a few days ago, and the Iris suaveolens is again covered.  But the sun is more intense now, and things are melting even though it hasn't gone above freezing.

Fargesia rufa popped out of the snow two weeks ago, and I am surprised how good it still looks.   Usually, as soon as it is exposed to the elements in late winter/early spring the foliage begins to dry.  I believe it is because the ground is already at or near the thaw point.  Most winters, our soils freeze at least 2-3ft deeper.

              

Thuja koraiensis (Korean Arborvitae) with last season's cones, and showing the white lower surface of its green foliage.

              

Thujopsis dolabrata var. hondai, the most cold hardy form, seems to be doing well here in zone 4a.  It is interesting to note that this one's foliage turns darker in winter, while Thuja koraiensis foliage turns slightly lighter.

              

A little rabbit damage on Lespedeza bicolor.  This is an area where the wind whips through, and blows a good portion of the snow away.  In the photo is a yardstick for comparison.  This is the first time anything has eaten the Lespedeza.  Usually the rabbits go after the shrubby willows (untouched this year!) and the Leitneria.  It took several years before that Lespedeza bicolor decided it wasn't going to be a herbaceous plant any more.  Mama is a 9ft.  shrubby tree in Chicago.

              

[RickR]

I have to say, Lori, that your Dracocephalum looks way better than mine ever does after the snow melts.  Bravo!  (and very cute)

Trond, Rhododendron moupinense is one of the few rhododendron species that can do well here.  My place is too dry for any rhododendrons, and I am a terrible waterer during the summer to boot.

[IMYoung]

This is what I see this week in Aberdeen, North East Scotland..... too lazy to take my own so I stole the pix from Ian's Bulb Log!

M

[Lori S.]

It's lovely to see such greenery and bloom, Maggi!  Among all the glorious sights in your photos, the size of the Eranthis is especially incredible!  (The poor little wretches only manage to get to about an inch and a half for me here.)

Rick, I'd love to see that Lespedeza again later on when it's in bloom.  It's curious that it can even take on tree form!  The Fargesia looks terrific.  So it's not usually so pristine-looking, come spring?  Sounds like it is usually mostly evergreen, if not completely, for you?

[IMYoung]

Lori, I guess the Eranthis are about six or so inches high now... they always get much taller as the flowers fade.....making a really nice green patch for a while... before the next batch of plants get going.

[Hoy]

Maggi, your garden looks terrific!
Here the Eranthis are eaten before it reaches even a centimeter!

Rick, I had a Lespedeza but the summers are too cold so it never hardened off and froze each winter.

[IMYoung]

Thank you, Trond. We are fortunate not to have rabbits, voles or deer in the garden. Only some mice and a million slugs, snails and caterpillars .

[RickR]

Maggi, you're hurting my eyes!  I'm not ready to see so much color yet!  (I can imagine the wonderful smells, though. Even just the smell of spring in the air would be welcome here.)

So you made me think harder, Lori, and that is not Lespedeza thunbergii in my previous post (oops!), it is L. bicolor.  I guess 16 years can catch up with me, as that was how long ago I collected the seed.  And the parent shrubby tree was 9ft. I had it mixed up with another leguminous tree in the same area.  

So Lespedeza bicolor did died back to the ground for 4-5 years before it decided to survive the winter above the surface for me in zone 4.  Prior to that, I had grown them from seed for 3 years (the poor things), in pots woefully confining.  Most of them were donated to our Chapter plant sale. (I wonder whatever happened to them...)  But I kept a couple, and now just one since they take up a lot of room.  This is the only pic I could find of it in bloom.  The flowers aren't that photographic unless you get up close, but the plant has a very nice flowing-weepy look that I like.  The wood is not very strong, and I usually get a major branch or stem or two that breaks over the winter.  But the plant rebounds very quickly.  I collect seed from it every year if anyone wants some.

              

I did grow Lespedeza thunbergii 'Pink Fountains' for several years, until it got so big that it was taking up far more space than I had allotted for it.  This photo was take with a film camera, and the camera had an intermittent light leak, so it is what it is.  This pic was taken three years before the one above, and you can see the L. bicolor to the left and behind, and there is a Siberian white pine ([Pinus sibirica) to the right, that the Pink Fountains is smothering, that is somewhat evident in the prior photo also.  In its early years, Pink Fountain barely put on a show before the frost took it down for the winter.  But with each successive year, it bloomed a bit earlier in the season, and the bloom time was very satisfactory.

              


 

[RickR]

The Fargesia rufa is pristine as soon as the snow that covers it melts, but like many broadleaf evergreens that are fine to the east or south of me, the more intense spring sun, drier air, and colder frozen soil in my climate degrades their beauty.  While it wants to be evergreen, by the time new growth starts, it doesn't look good without some major, judicious pruning.

[Hoy]

Both Lespedeza species look good, Rick. I remember the growth habit from my shrub before it succumbed.

And Rick, I would like some seed of Lespedeza bicolor please when possible
Should be proven hardy seemingly and I can try a plant at my summerhouse with warmer summers.

[RickR]

Today I am manning the NARGS table at a Plant Society Day at one of our better known commercial nurseries.  It's a great way to catch up with or meet other people with like minds in other plant societies, as well as spread the good word about rock gardening.  

Normally, even this early, I can dig out some overwintering  plants for display from my potted collection outside.  With the late winter conditions as they are, that's not going to happen this year.  All I have that’s accessible and alive is a few things I overwinter inside the house that include Delosperma bosserianum and Corydalis wilsonii.  So, along with a sample of an empty styrofoam trough and various books and literature, I have decided to attract some more attention to my table: with a pussywillow bouquet.  After all, many small willows are alpine, and the bouquet will be a great segue into the introduction of same for onlookers.

As as another excuse to show, Mark had asked about Salix chaenomeloides…

The arrangement has five different exotic species of willow.  All freshly cut today, so their development progression is documented, although in this first photo Salix chaenomeloides is a particularly young blooming sprig.  These are my estimates for this cold “spring” season's peak bloom times:

--- Salix chaenomeloides – now, although I have been cutting for enjoyment since early January.
--- Salix koriyangi ‘Rubikins’ – another week.
--- Salix gracilistylis var. melanostachys – in two weeks.
--- Salix cinerea ‘Variegata’ – in 3-4 weeks. (grown more for foliage.  The catkins aren't even as nice as our native pussywillow.)
--- Salix shraderiana – another 5-6 weeks.
              

And the bouquet.  The black pussywillow has a hard time here, as this is its northern limit for survival, and I only have a dry yard, and the shrub is progressively getting more shade as trees mature.  I never seem to get nice long filled sprigs of catkins that are so easy with other species.