Friday, April 5, 2024

Spring! There's finally life in my garden...

After three months of garden ugly (not just winter, but extreme storm damage) I can finally look around and see things that are alive. It is a wonderful feeling! Today I want to share the joy and take you around the garden, if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen a few of these photos already, but there are plenty of new ones too.

I'll start with the orange blooms of Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Akebono'. This is the first year I've been able to take a photo of the blooms en masse in front of the orange wall, last year an unexpected snow at the end of February knocked them back.

More orange! As I've worked the plants that don't mind our spring rains (like the marginally hardy ferns) out of the shade pavilion greenhouse, I've been using the space for things coming up from the basement. Here the spines of Aloe broomii are illuminated by the afternoon sun.

Saxifraga ‘Aureopunctata’ with it's winter color and new growth pushing out from the center.

Thalictrum ichangense ‘Evening Star’, this one always surprises me when it shows up, I forget all about it each winter, since it dies back in the fall.

The Trilliam I planted last spring returned!

Itoh peony foliage (Paeonia 'Smith Opus') coming up through Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow'.

Veratrum californicum

Syneilesis aconitifolia and Epimedium wushanense

Paris quadrifolia

Since cutting back the dead branches of Callistemon 'Woodlander's Hardy Red' I've been enjoying the morning sun on this Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard', the callistemon used to obscure the view.

Aesculus hippocastanum 'Laciniata' (Cut Leaf Horse Chestnut)

I missed getting a photo of the leaves as they were unfurling and looking like a bizarre spiders web.

The Podophyllum pleianthum show is on!

I especially love watching the emerging dark leaves of 'Red Panda'.

Arisaema ringens being bashful (the leaves are still hiding the bloom).

Podophyllum peltatum and new Adiantum venustum fronds

Clematis ‘Pixie’… not nearly as many blooms as when I bought it last year, but since I suck at keeping clematis alive I'm thrilled it's still here and blooming.

This crazy plant! It was almost wiped out a few years back by other more vigorous plants in the same area. But what do you know? They've since succumbed to winter cold and this little guy is back with a vengeance. Arisarum proboscideum, aka mouse plant.

Here's the bloom.

Moving on to the asarum, this one A. splendens.

It's blooms are past their prime, and frankly a little grusome.

Asarum caudatum, our native wild ginger.

And wrapping up my asarum collection, A. maximum 'Ling Ling', panda faced ginger.

One of the painted ferns, Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum-Applecourt' I believe.

A volunteer adiantum.

Impatiens omeiana

I love that bright white lightening bolt down the center of the leaves.

The rodgersia leaves are so good as they emerge from the ground and expand to epic proportions. I can't remember what is what anymore, but I think these might be Rodgersia podophylla ‘Bronze Form’.





Disporum cantoniense 'Night Heron' stalks growing. These are so beefy!

Finally I thought I'd share a couple photos of guests that showed up at the front door last weekend.

This is the second year in a row this pair has spent a few weeks in our neighborhood. They move between a group of six houses mid-block.

None of us have a pond or a pool, but that doesn't seem to bother them. Happy Spring!

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22 comments:

  1. Oh, wow so many lovely things coming to life. Nothing better than seeing leaves push up and through after winter. A few new to me plants I'm off to google, as usual. The orange of Edgeworthia and Aloe bromii are striking and so alive. Love the little ducks, so cute.

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    1. No doubt you could grow Aloe broomii in the ground. Mine will be restricted to pot life.

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  2. Hooray for emerging plants! And slug eating ducks! And Edgeworthia blooms, so pretty against that wall. I'm thrilled to see life in your garden and to hear the delight in your voice once more.

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    1. I'm sure as the weeks go on the memory of last winter will fade, but damn I don't want to go through that again!

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  3. It's lovely to see your plants starting to grow again after the dreadful winter that you have had.

    Our winter has been quite benign temperature-wise, but it won't stop raining. It seems to have rained constantly since October/November!

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    1. That makes it hard to want to go outside!

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  4. Jeanne DeBenedetti KeyesApril 05, 2024

    Love all that new foliage! And yes, your Edgeworthia is looking totally gorgeous against your orange wall. Nice! My E. 'Akebono' is looking good too, although sadly no orange wall to back it up. It is amazing how long the bloom has lasted. It is amazing what to see how fast the perennials are popping out of the ground, while some "evergreen" are still slow to push out new leaves.

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    1. I still have so many defoliated evergreens that are only showing the tiniest bit of new growth. It's nice to have something else to focus on though.

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  5. So many lovely and unusual plants (at least to my eyes), Loree! I'm glad you're enjoying a healthy infusion of spring after those nasty winter storms. I sighed at the sight of the peony foliage emerging from the folds of Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow'. I used to get foliage from the Itoh peony I planted years ago, even though I never saw a single flower, but that trend appears to have ended. The foliage of Veratrum californicum is as pretty as any flower but Calscape informs me that it doesn't like sandy soil. I love the Rodgersia foliage too but sadly my Sunset guide informs me I'm way outside its area.

    I love the ducks. They occasionally show up in peoples' pools here but I've never seen any. Meanwhile my neighborhood's resident peacock is still here.

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    1. I'm trying to imagine a peacock walking down our street, it would get attention for sure! I didn't get many peony blooms last year, I think this might be the end for that plant, time to move it along...

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  6. Choice plant after choice plant. That is indeed sharing the joy of spring.

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  7. I am so happy to see all your beautiful plants coming back after the challenge of the winter. Of course my favorite is the Aloe broomii!

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    1. I could fill an even longer post with the things that aren't coming back, but it's nicer to focus on what's alive.

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  8. So many unique and lovely things! Loree, your garden is one of my very favorites, and getting to visit it in person was such a privilege. I will forever be grateful for you introducing Syneilesis to me, and I think of you every time I walk by it in my own garden. ❤️

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    1. Ah, thank you Kylee. You've visited A LOT of gardens so that's high praise.

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  9. At last, a feel-good post... Yay.
    I adore Akebono's jewel-like blooms. (They remind me of a former famed, Hawaiian born sumo wrestler by that name).
    I marvel at how good your Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' look. Another Euphorbia I've (sadly) given up on.
    Kudos for keeping Clematis ‘Pixie’ alive - and blooming - in a beautiful hanging planter: love that.
    Do you find Impatiens omeiana to be well behaved?
    Your bronze rodgersia is way ahead of mine, assuming mine is still alive. They look spectacular when they emerge.
    Chavli

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    1. Those Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' were a container splurge last fall. They're right by the backdoor where I new I could enjoy them all winter, because once summer hits the show is over (it's short lived, weak plant in my experience). The peony foliage will fill the (very large) pot and the euphorbia will go into the compost. As for the impatiens yes, it's well behaved, but maybe because I don't give it much water.

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  10. Podophyllum + Adiantum foliage = stunning combination. Nice! I noticed the love given to the Rodgersia leaves too.

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  11. It's an exciting time. I love the green leaves rising out out of the moss. Look like giant green mushrooms. The Edgeworthia is a stunner. An unusual colour for blooming shrubs in the Spring. Things are starting to wake up here too. Yeah!

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  12. Love your visitors. Probably looking for food and possible nesting sites. We always have Canada geese who build their nests on the tops of buildings in the middle of a commercial business park. Not a drop of water in sight yet they successfully raise goslings every year.

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  13. douglas e ballingerApril 09, 2024

    looks great Loree, every winter I start thinking my garden gonna be horrible, but then spring comes and I can start seeing everythings gonna be alright.well most things any way.

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