Some Things Should Not Be Rushed

Morning coffee, hosta unfurling their eyes, the bloom of tulips, the blossoms of a crabapple, childhood...

Some things should not be rushed.

Progress of the Family Vegetable Garden

Last year, my 'Honeycrisp' was loaded with bloom.  This year not a single blossom.  The crabapples and wild apples around me have blosssoms, as well as the probably 150 year old apple tree at the historic house of my brother.  On further investigation, at the tips where I would expect a blossom are tiny dead dry dots which fall off easily when I touch them.  My blossom buds from that night in April when the temperatures fell to somewhere around 9-12 degrees (F).

We like to make a lot of sauce, juice, and sliced apples and can them as a family.

Gratuitous Lilacs...and a Geum

'Beauty of Moscow' lilac, which I recommend as it does not sucker.

'Prairie Flame' geum is gorgeous, but I only see the flower by holding the camera under it and randomly shooting.  It needs some sort of raised bed or hillside outcropping to show off its beauty to advantage, not unlike hellebores.

Decisions...Cut Where? Or When?

Clematis 'Blue Dancer'

C. 'Blue Dancer' is putting on quite a show.  It's nice to have something blue in bloom.  This clematis is almost other worldly.  It certainly looks foreign to my zone.  However, it is decidedly hardy after this past brutally cold and long winter. This clematis alpina blooms on old wood.  Don't prune!

The blue color is spot on.  Amazing, huh?

Other things in the garden are still struggling.  After a rain last week, and the slightly more humid nearly 80 degree (F) temperatures perennials are starting to pop.  What looks the worse for the winter are my shrubs, the bones of my garden.

Notes from the Garden

I can not get enough of looking at my window boxes filled with pansies this year.  They are not billowing or cascading like the window boxes of high summer, but they are blooming their little heads off.  And even though I tuck the basket mat back in among the curlique framing, the bird think this is their Home Depot of nest building supplies.

I made the right choice siting my Japaneses maple against the newly resided neighboring garage late last summer.

The leaves will show to great effect there, AND it didn't die despite this move before a brutal winter.  This area is far from the look I want to achieve there, as the Austrian black pine was recently removed, it freed up a lot of space.  Space I didn't realize would become a holding bed for all the items I had in pots and needed to be in the ground when I fell.  It was an easy decision to let Handsome Son and his girlfriend heel everything in there, including lining in the just purchased tulip bulbs.

I stopped at Lowe's yesterday.  I grow most of my annuals from cuttings and seed, yet I always like to check out what is offered.  Where previously there were flat after flat of impatiens, other than the New Guinea onesies grown in large pots, I didn't see any impatiens being sold as bedding plants.  Also, about this time the box stores are awash in roses, too, and there were nary a one.  Likewise, no coleus were on display.  These were not the only flowering perennials and annuals missing from the mix.  There was no big flashy Bonnie Plants vegetable transplant displays.  Living in near isolation the last few month spending some of that time bedridden, I have obviously missed something...

As my pansies are in square pots I can change out, I planned on planting up the summer's show and growing them on for a bit before the heat takes the oomph out of them.  Asking the the garden sales person whether they had calibrachoa (to work in with the wave petunias I grew from seed) got a blank stare.  

"What are those?"

"Tiny petunias..." I tried giving it the non-gardener's view.

"Oh!" She led me out to a small display of one color of Proven Winners calibrachoa.

So what is going on?

Looking around my garden I see the dead and injured, yet I have already received more than a couple compliments on my "beautiful" garden.  (Is it the nice garden tended by that disabled woman effect?) There is green grass, and some flowers.  I see lots of problems as well.  I am trying not to stress it, to ride the good that came out of preparing it to be on show last year.  The grass grows overlong, before I can talk Handsome Son into clipping it (something it takes me more than a physically arduous hour to accomplish and he completed in a scant 15 minutes, chipping a large pot on a pedestal in in the process.).

The chipped pot is one of a set of three in various sizes.  But what has become of the other two?  They are nowhere to be found.  If you knew the size of my tiny home and yard, you would find this as astounding as I do.

Another trend I have noticed is nary a hanging basket to be seen anywhere on porches, nor the planted color container seen even in yards of my non-gardening neighbors.  Is this another new normal?  A friend of mine who sells such things told me a couple years ago, they sell 75 to 90 percent of their hanging baskets by Memorial Day.  Oops!  So nobody buys these now?

Last year, I noted two nearby areas were foregoing having garden walks in 2013 because of the drought of 2012.  Other than the dead and injured in the garden, has this brutal winter damaged some gardening psyches as well?

Birds!

Don't bother looking for the orioles in this picture.  There is simply no way I am talented enough to capture their frenetic movements.

My neighbors moved this last fall.  I was just beginning to enjoy their absence when I, too, changed locale.  A lasting effect of their move has been the absence (for whatever reason) of their outdoor cat.  The result is my yard is alive with birds.  Just this morning, sitting on my deck I saw not a single male oriole, but three or four mating pairs; and not high in the bare catalpa, my typical sighting location, but sitting in my viburnum, and the lower branches of my sugar maple.

Orioles are not the only bird I see on a regular basis this year.  There is a nesting pair of sapsuckers (the bane of the now gone Austrian black pine), and more than a single pair of mourning doves.  Yesterday, there was a bird on bird on bird battle as a jay, robin and grackle swooped it out over prime nesting grounds, I am sure.

It may have something to do with the maturity of the shrub and orchard tree alley border, or the fact that with this gardener's incapacitation, all my perennials were left uncut in the fall clean-up.

Regardless.

The birds are here.

The Green Man

The Green Man, in this case Copper...

Usually this piece of garden art peaks out from a pot filled with allium 'Summer Beauty' (also named 'Millenium', I believe).  That would be next to the cotoneaster and a phlox (maybe 'Amethyst'?), and the 'Sweet Autumn' clematis.

This year that placement would just highlight the toll the brutal, deep winter has taken in my garden.

There  is nothing much growing there yet.  I cut back a lot of the cotoneaster.  The allium which had survived more than five years in a cement urn was certifiably dead.  (What kills allium?)  And the clematis, I cut to the ground; hoping for life anew.  The phlox, however, is just going about its merry way.

Which leads me to another trend I am seeing in my garden after our deep winter.  Woody plants, substantial, well-rooted ones at that, had a hard time of it this last year, while the perennials that die to the ground each year, act like "Carry on, nothing different here."  I am not sure why this should be.

Daylilies, phlox, beebalm, bloodroot, trillium, asters, salvias, geraniums-- although delayed, do not seem to be much affected by how cold and how log it was cold, the depth of snow or frost line.  My garden is awash of tender new green growth with the bones of the garden are bare sticks.  My forsythia, green, but a second year without bloom.  My viburnum 'Mohican' is just now blooming.  My smokebushes, always late to the party are alive and starting to leaf out at pretty much their normal time, but I am still waiting for large sections of privet to show me the green.  

Even some of my spirea and barberries are coming back from the ground.

Barberry 'Rosy Glowl'  (My other red barberry 'Carousel' seemed unaffected.)

While these perennials are looking great.

Prairie smoke

Agastache 'Golden Jubilee'

American ginger

Clematis 'Blue Dancer'

Seems I am not the only one nursing "broken bones" this year.  The garden is having a hard time of it as well.  The upshot is, how to go on?  What is the best path through the new normal?

"Random" and Tulips

Could there be any two words that do not belong together more than the words random and tulips?  These days the young adults in my life seem to co-opted the word random as an adjective with incredibly more depth of meaning than just being unpredictable.

"That's so random." It might have a lot to do with how they see their lives, I don't know.

Although self-seeding annuals are a gardener' typical random event; this year it is decidedly the color combinations and placement of my tulips.

Typically, I have a bucket I store tulips bulbs found during the course of planting and moving other things during the course of the summer.  In the fall, (along with those I purposely dig because I noted fat leaves and no flowers in the spring) I bed these out and they put on a nice show and serve as a tulip cutting garden.  A lot of my tulips are types that will perennialize given the opportunity.  Like any perennializing perennial, many need to be separated and divided.

Last fall, with the fracturing of my acetabulum, Handsome Son and his girlfriend hurried got them into the ground wherever a hole was dug to remove bulbs which are not winter hardy here (montbreia, calla, canna, and the like).

Random tulips is this springs result.

Another Evergreen Unscathed by the Past Brutal Winter

Bird's Nest Spruce

I heard these die back in the middle, but I have  yet to see such behavior from this procumbent spruce.  Bird's nest spruce grows a scant couple feet high and in the course of nearly 15 years is less than three feet wide.  Given my infirmities I have yet to rake the leaves from its branches but it is preparing for bud break with absolutely no damage whatsoever.  It is planted on the east side of my house, next to the surely alkaline sandy soil leached from my very old foundation.  It is also in the rain shadow of my house, although that does protect it from prevailing winds.

Once it has bud break it is truly beautiful to behold.

Sharing Screaming Yellows

Golden barberry fronted by a lone yellow Appledorn tulip and an euphorbia (maybe 'Polychrome)

Dart's Gold Ninebark

'Golden Shadows' dogwood

Scream away...

Greetings from the Sidewalk!

 Andrea's children must have thought I needed a bit of color in my garden.  I know I have been complaining about things growing back from the ground.  Yesterday they were over admiring the beginnings of the lily of the valley emerging while I was hacking away at one of my climbing roses (that is thankfully alive). Notice the gardening tools?

 I can certainly tell who each of the drawings is!

 Obviously, the eldest boy.  Yes, they are happy, and artistic children!

Life is short...SPARKLE!

Mothers' Day Tour of Gardening Things (Posted Later...)

Does this offering by THAT squirrel (the one who races me to the hazelnuts each fall) mean he views me as his mother?

The main clump of bloodroot, looking a tad sparse this year.  Does it have anything to do with my Handsome Son digging the calla bulbs I had planted there last fall when I could not dig and store, and now can not find?

I was worried that my weeping crabapple 'Red Jade' would not bloom this spring, but it does indeed have buds.

A self-seeded hepatica in the hosta bed, which seems to becoming more of a magnet for tiny woodland ephemerals planted by the ants.

The pagoda dogwood, a native in my front yard.  Typically an understory tree, or edge of the forest tree, iit is right at home in the dapples shade of the white pine.

The 'Songbird' mix of columbine are coming up.  I transplanted seedlings I had grown here late last summer.  I also grew some delphiniums and placed them in the long border and they also survived the long, winter.

The Great bloodroot exodus...those tiny ant gardeners are at it again.  There is bloodroot blooming in lots of different places in my yard, none of which I planted, except for my main clump.

I thought I might have lost my sea oats grass, but no.  Finally, I can see it is coming.

Also, I can now see that 10 of (recounted) 12 clematis are alive.  The two I am still on the ropes with are both of the subspecies texensis.  That can't be a coincidence.  They are either both dead or both slow to emerge.

So what is decidedly dead?  (I am not talking won't bloom this year, that is yet to be seen.) For sure, among the dead is my large Korean boxwood, euonymus fortunei, rose 'Blaze', rose 'Eden', and probably the lavender and Japanese cypress.  The last two are sad losses.  I enjoyed having them in my garden.  I don't see them here in retail often.

It has been a beautiful day to work in the garden, but I am not up to the task.  I spent numerous hours yesterday (Saturday) with my nephews, some of those rototilling the garden, smoothing the soil and planting 2 rows of corn and half a row of beans and half a row of peas.  I am afraid I am worse for it.  Rototilling and raking works muscles in the area muscles have not been moving a lot the last few months.  It did get me to lengthen my stride, and lift my feet, all good; but there is often a price to be paid these days-- nearly complete muscle exhaustion the next day.  The good news, I can rototill.  The good new/bad news: Wow!  What a workout!

Also, Baby Gardener (age 2) planted his first seeds (beans and peas), his five years old brothers teaching him how.  When he dropped some brown bean seeds, and I said to pick them up, he was willing and looked, but told me, "too dark, can't find them." We will all know where those seeds are in a few days.  His twin older brothers are now experienced gardeners, asking when the pepper and tomato transplants will be ready to plant."  One of the twins planted every pepper last year, from digging the hole, to removing the transplant from its container.  To borrow a phrase: "Each on, teach one."

Surprise Survivor

Last year, I grew from seed some of the furry salvias, 'Silver Sage'.  I had about eight.  As I was starting to cut back and clean up the garden I may have removed a couple.  My garden clean up was abruptly interrupted early last fall when I fractured my acetabulum. This spring, in my first pass through, I could have easily pulled them out as well.  As you know, I work slowly and in small bits these days, so it it not a surprise that I missed two of these beauties which have now decided to get going and grow.  With all my losses from the brutal winter, it is exciting to think these plants treated as annuals here, are growing.  These do not flower as annuals, but this year as two-year old plants, I look forward to a rare treat, and the collection of seed from this hardy duo.

Using Primed Seed

(Disclaimer: I never get anything for free, just so you know, when I tell you a product is worth trying!)

A lot can happen between buying seed and that payday of eating the fruits (and vegetables) of your labors.  I can germinate just about anything if it is indeed viable seed using either the coffee filter method with ziplock bag or my light rack set-up with domed trays and germinating pad.  The coolest innovation I ever say was a steam box made by an Amish nurseryman who used it on about 75-90% of his seed.  The thing had no light system, so seeds needing light to germinate were not germinated there.  I would have guessed from observation, though, about 100% of the seed he placed there germinated quite quickly.  For me, those seeds that read germination in 5 to 10 days will germinate in less than 48 hours on a germinating pad in a domed tray in my light rack......

However...

There are a lot of slips between seed germination and fork.  Seedlings can die while pricking out, growing on, hardening, off, and transplanting.  In the case of cole crops, broccoli, lettuce, and spinach; they can bolt.

Well, not quite like that...

Bolting is the problem with spinach.  Spinach is one of those seeds best direct sown to the garden.  Problem, it needs warmish ground to germinate and cool temperatures after.  Those conditions seldom coincide here in central Wisconsin.  It usually leads me to plant to early and get crappy germination.

Enter primed seed...

So far I am thoroughly impressed.  I planted about 40 seeds two weeks ago.  I think I have 100% germination, with each plant developing its first true leaves at this point.  I planted them in a grid pattern (like I was a square foot gardener, which I am not), but it makes it easy to see if I did indeed get good germination.

There are more and more primed seeds coming on the market.  If you have had a hard time growing something before and see primed seed for it available, I urge you to give it a try.

Before You Bring Out Your Dead... Read This on Evergreens.

I was relatively unscathed by the small spots of brown on my yews, even on their south sides.

For those of your playing the waiting game on the brown evergreens, conifers, (yews, spruce, white pine,  those usually green things in your yard), this article is particularly insightful.  I think the author, may be a tad optimistic, and doesn't mention that going into 2013 we came out of a terrible drought accompanied by surreal temperatures of nearly 100 for many weeks in 2012, but it is the best advice I have seen to date.  It also fails to mention that this winter has severely stressed these plants, making them a target for any opportunistic fungal, bacterial, or viral agents and pests.  Spruce tip blight is working its way through this area, and given our winter, I think a lot of these spruce may fall victim to that after after surviving the brutal winter.

It's worth reading.

May 6: First Dandelion Bloom and Well,...Other Effects

(Photo courtesy of assortedscribbles.org) This looking straight up around noon was what I saw.

I had four in my yard, the plant, which I promptly dug up.  The first dandelion I saw this year (is this spring, or summer, or even still winter?) was at school, and then on an adjacent property, which was blanketed with the sunny yellow blooms.

I know foragers would tell you dandelions are good for us.  I have tried them and found them bitter.  I'll stick with chard, beets, and spinach thank you.

I also saw for the first time rings around the sun.  I have seen rings around the moon and knew they were caused by ice crystals, but I had no idea it could happen with the sun, too.  Some who also saw this phenomena said it was a sun dog, but I have seen those and knew this was not that, although it appears sun dogs can accompany these rings and are caused by the same atmospheric conditions and have something in common with parhelic effects, which were not present as this appeared more like a complete and perfect halo.  Sun dogs are more like imperfect image copies and I have frequently seen them in August through October.

(Photo courtesy of nhm.ac.uk)

When I think sun dogs I think of this sort of image as I have seen maybe 6 or 7 times in my life, usually around sunset.

Somehow, the rings around the sun I saw around noon seemed much more ominous given our strange weather pattern this year.

So just a word, look up... and down!

NOTE: I also saw a white crowned sparrow in my yard, which is only migratory, not a regular resident, but cool, none the less!

Still Looking at Sticks!

The shrub border, alley view

I am having a hard time looking at shrubs and telling myself..."They will come..."

Some are alive, but look so sparse.   Growing back from the roots is not an option for everything!

I have been hanging glow in the dark spheres, putting on the seat cushion slip covers, re-touchiing the paint on the garden chairs, and placing empty pots in between waiting for signs of life.  The Japanese peony, I think will be coming entirely from the ground.  No matter how far down I prune, none of the woody material seemed alive, but because this is where the budding material is I left it.  Wait and see...there are those shoots from the ground.

Before...

I clipped branch after branch on the euonymus, no green anywhere.  I left the main truch which has rooted itself to the fence.  A saw, my son, and some dark brown stain need to be accumulated before the trunk is removed.

Yesterday, I also saw the first honey bee, by the pansies.  Today, a bumble bee was working them over.  The daffodils had lots of pollinators, too.  I think there are some hungry bees out there.  My pansies are very popular.  They are almost the only things blooming.

I also cleared the yard of black lawn waste bags (big muscle movements, takes a bit of time).  I prepared the shaded area of my cold frame so I can harden off some parsley, broccoli, and kale in about 10 days.  I planted some seeds; beets, radishes, rutabagas, peas.

The peas and lettuce I planted a couple weeks ago finally made some progress today.

I hope your gardens are warming up a bit more quickly than mine.  Wednesday and Thursday we are supposed to be in for some "unsettled" weather.  (That's a disturbing way of putting it!)