What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

So many delights :)

No snowdrops here, yet, still just snowflakes ;) We had another 8-10cm of snow the other day, and around -16C last night.. we'll be back up to +11 by wednesday....
Here I am after shovelling, maintaining, as always, the highest standards of fashion, even when there is no one to see! and a chipper attitude in the face of back breaking (or knee/arm breaking- one fall on the abundant ice under the new snow!), then my (mostly under construction) main rock garden area, and my new Sempervivum bed from last fall, which is in front of the house..

cohan wrote:

Here I am after shovelling, maintaining, as always, the highest standards of fashion, even when there is no one to see!

Well, yes, that is the essence of style isn't it?  Maintaining decorum even when out of the glow of the paparazzi's flash bulbs.  ;D I share your attention to fashion as I pot on seedlings indoors here - only the most elegant of sweatpants and t-shirts, artistically daubed with accents of cat hair and dirt.  ;D ;D

Cohan - do you have as many words for snow as the Inuit? The famous UK gardener Christopher Lloyd was renowned for his complete lack of style; he hardly needed it because he made a fabulous garden!

We didn't get as much as Cohan did.  Despite that minor setback (and there'll be a lot more snow before it's done  :rolleyes:), there are signs of spring all over the yard:

Buds developing on Thlaspi kurdicum; foliage on Primula algida; Jovibarba arenaria and Saxifraga cuneifolia; Primula cv.:
     

Buds developing on Saxifraga sancta var. macedonica, and some rosettes nipped off by jackrabbits; Pyrrocoma uniflora; Erigeron trifidus(?) (bought as Anacyclus marrocanus); Primula elatior; Townsendia parryi; Synthyris platycarpa:
         

Lori and Tim- it's  a tidier looking outfit- at least the bottom half- since I wasn't planning to shovel at first, and so I didn't put on my 'work' pants which get rapidly dirty handling logs/firewood in the bush! These are sweatpants mostly reserved for lounging indoors...lol

Tim- our language for snow is sadly lacking (at least words in general use- they may exist in scholarly writing??) though I can certainly recognise many many types and conditions of snow, and have often judged temperature by the condition of snow on the road....

Lori- lots of plants to look at there! I just noticed tonight that one corner of the semp bed is showing ( I think, it was dark out)- the sun is powerful this time of year, melting where anything dark is on or through the snow, even when temperatures are barely above (or even below) freezing! Until that, my only plants showing were my cactus seedlings... 7C for tomorrow, then we have snow forecast again Mon and Tues, but after that, up to 11C..

First greenhouse flowers of 2012 - the wonderfully bizarre water hawthorn, Aponogeton distachyos- these flowers were cut and brought inside to better enjoy the vanilla/gardenia scent.

Really pretty, Lori, they remind me of something- maybe I've seen a picture before....

Rick, things are rolling along!
I'm going out to do some chores now- supposed to get up to 7C as I said, but at noon in Rocky Mtn House, it was still -5, and windy.. have to look at that semp bed and see what's showing...

RickR wrote:

I didn't know you had a greenhouse, Lori.  Too small for all your seedling, I suppose...

No, amply large (10'x20') but Stuart uses it for his above-ground water lily ponds and tender roses and I don't want to interfere.  (it's enough that I've taken over the entire rest of the yard!  :rolleyes:)

Wow, Ptilostemon afer looks spectacular!
http://www.greekmountainflora.info/Parnon/slides/Ptilostemon%20afer%20Pa...

Rick's C solida is a little ahead of mine-- here's a shot from today of the planting area where I have some- they are about 4 feet farther than the stick you see sticking up out of the snow...
Second shot is another bed- just between the shrubs and the posts (stuck into the snow to keep shovels and snowplows away from the beds). this is where I wait for Pulsatillas, Muscari, etc...

I have fond memories of Forsythia from seeing it -esp in charmingly overgrown plantings in the yards of Victorian houses- in Toronto; I had thought they weren't hardy here, but have seen a couple growing happily in the town where I work.-- on the south sides of buildings, I think.. I'd like to try some if I can find seed/the right varieties :)

Spring really has started over here, with temps up to 18°C and constant sun, flowers are popping up everywhere:

Olsynium douglasii 'Album'
Saxifraga wendelboi
Ranunculus ficaria 'Salad Bowl'
Anemone blanda
Primula 'Aire Waves'
Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Papageno'
Veronica thessalica
Ranunculus alpestris
Soldanella carpatica 'Alba'
Morisia monanthos

RickR wrote:

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. ;D

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

RickR wrote:

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  ;D 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?

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 wrote:

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. ;D

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

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...

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

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

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):

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. 

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

Hi Lori, all,
The Corydalis (solida) came from a small local nursery - no info.  The winter has been absurdly warm, but just dropped to normal in the last 10 days.  I don't recall the Corydalis being that red in previous seasons, the return of temps in the uppers 20s F after 60s - 80F may have done it.  This Towndendia was showing buds as soon as winter broke, rothrockii wasn't; and is just in the earliest stages of opening.  If we have a "normal" winter again, may be a month later for both.
Charles Swanson NE MA USA Z -- whatever

In spite of warnings from Lithuanian Rare Bulb Garden, this bed does show signs of "turning into a vast Corydalis plantation", and I'm not upset.  They evaporate very early.  Nothing else that I've ever planted (and wanted) tries to sprout every seed--seemingly more seeds than I ever see on the plants.    

Charles- great colour on that Corydalis! I have one small planting, plus seedlings in pots- and I hope they spread!

Lori- much farther ahead than me, not surprisingly... I'm just happy to have a few areas showing out of the snow  ;D
The only real activity shown so far are a few semps/jovis- amazingly after only being out of the snow a week or so (and fresh snow half the nights) there are signs that some are awake at the highest parts of the bed/first to melt out.. This bed is almost all plants received as 'lost label' from a serious grower, so if she couldn't/wouldn't name them, I wont! But this is clearly enough Jovibarba globifera, prob ssp hirta, two shots taken 4 days apart, March 28 and April 01..

Nice images, Trond- not too different from the amount of snow here- though instead of the deepest snow being on high spots, its in the shade, and low areas, but we also have a lot of standing water now- one of my favourite times of year visually, since we suddenly have ponds and streams everywhere, and no grass to obscure them...

Took these yesterday morning thinking it would be better in case we get snow.
http://s703.photobucket.com/albums/ww32/Owdboggy/April%202012%20Garden%2...
We got snow!

Looks like spring is (was?) well under way for you, Palustris :) Looks like a great large garden, with lots of different kinds of planting areas!
I'm pretty sure we went through this not long ago- but my memory is not working today...lol where are you and what is your first name?

Very nice, Palustris!  Your greenhouse plants are just amazing!  I assume from your photos (the green lushness and beautiful buildings) that you are in the UK?  It would be helpful if you could add your location to your signature in "Profile"... (always nice to know where abouts the garden is.   :) )

More signs of life in the rock garden, as I wait for Wednesday's snow to melt:
Buds on Androsace carnea ssp. brigantiaca; buds also on Douglasia montana - some winter burn this year; Potentilla uniflora and buds on Androsace septentrionalis (a loose lanky form, not the compact beauties I see in the mountains here):

New leaves on Aquilegia laramiensis; Eriogonum caespitosum, bought from Beaver Creek last year, has come through well; Campanula orphanidea, from seed in 2010:
   

Buds on the most developed Pulsatilla I found on my little trek... dare I hope that this is one of the Pulsatilla patens I've planted?  (Could just be one of the many self-seeded Pulsatilla vulgaris though...)

Here's another photo of Dryas octopetala emerging from winter by Merlin:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=934.msg16427#msg16427

Lewisia longipetala, emerging:

It's probably just a passing anomaly, but this tiny Aciphylla simplex appears to be lifelike and pliable... will probably soon be dealt a death blow by a late hard freeze...

First buds on Hepatica transylvanica in my cold yard (I know that people in warmer parts of the city have had hepatica in bloom for some time already):

Rick- early bloom on the Pulsatilla!

Lori- good luck with the Aciphylla! Looks like it has really nice leaves...

Spiegel wrote:

Palustris, a very beautiful pulsatilla.  Do you know which one it is?

Not really, it has been suggested that it is a form of P. ambigua. All I can say is that it is slap bang in the middle of Pulsatilla rubra with deep red flowers, P. vulgaris with normal purple flowers and P. grandis with lilac coloured blooms. It is a self seeded one that is for sure.  I have a picture of it in flower for the first time in 2006.