From gifted gardener Dan B, in mid-March:
The first of these pictures were taken three weeks ago when we were having occasional hard freezes. At that time the garden was best enjoyed with tunnel vision. I guess I need more evergreen groundcovers to fill in the bare spots.
At top: This is Buttermint Camellia. It’s new to the garden from last year. It’s starting to hide the chain link fence. The blooms are small, 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 inches. They fall off after a week which is great since we have bud blast which turns most Camellia flowers brown. Camellia japonica looks like dirty TP.
My Crocus thomasinianus got clobbered by 22° one night. Squirrels leave them alone unlike other species and the bigger flowered hybrids. At my old house a squirrel ate every single crocus. It was great news that there were some that weren’t bothered. Now I’ve got a couple hundred.
These Hellebores are in bloom now. I splurged on some fancy double flowered forms which were likely the work of a gardener in Eugene, Oregon. I visited her garden forty years ago. This plummy red with white in the center is Blushing Bridesmaid. If the Bridesmaid was this “blushed” it would be prudent to call 911.
This single (one row of petals) is French Kiss. It’s supposed to get large outfacing blooms that are good cut flowers.
This white with pink edging is Fire and Ice — a name like Candycane would seem more apt.
Flower Girl seems right for this ruffly pink double.
Amber Gem started out murky beige and then got gorgeous. It’s one I’d describe as an art shade, not a primary color, but something subtle that one never tires of.
Garrya elliptica has these catkins in late winter that last for months. It’s native to California coastal chaparral. They grow to 25 feet here. The catkins can be nearly a foot long.
This spot of groundcovers has really filled in. There’s Cutleaf Goldthread, a native, Epimedium, and Snowdrops.
Arum italicum pictum has these wildly marbled leaves in late winter. The leaves die back in early summer and spikes of soft berries in vivid orange appear in mid summer. They spread from these berries.
We’re forecast to hit 60° tomorrow so the garden will soon leave the tunnel vision phase.
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As we creep, or leap, into the busy season for most of us…
What’s going on in your garden (planning / prep / starts), this week?
Lapassionara
Wow, those catkins! And thanks for the lovely photos.
We had a major storm last night, and I will be surveying the damage when it gets light.
opiejeanne
Gorgeous flowers, Dan B. I didn’t think I liked hellebores, but you have convinced me otherwise.
That little forecast is from last week. We’re getting a lot of rain and probably going to be in the 40s and 50s all week,
Baud
Lots of color!
satby
And now everyone can see why I’m going to be adding a few hellebores to my own garden after touring Dan B’s beautiful one. Really beautiful, as is his whole garden. And Mike’s too.
@opiejeanne: I didn’t think I liked them either until I saw them.
satby
I needed the entire week to catch up on my sleep after riding the rails around the country, especially since it was 80° (yikes) when I got home and 79° in my house. My early daffodils were all out, but all my beautiful double tulips from last year apparently were harvested by the local squirrels. I still have mid-and late season daffs to look forward to, and some single tulips that come back stubbornly every year. The warm weather is leaving here too, snow is predicted after rain tonight, with two nights expected to drop near freezing.
And I started my seeds for this year: 6 kinds of tomatoes, 3 different wave petunias for my hanging planters, some calla lilly seeds, and nasturciums.
MomSense
Oooh, these are gorgeous.
AM in NC
Beautiful photos and flowers, and I learned about some new plants – thank you!. That Garrya elliptica is something else.
When we took the kids on a two-week road trip from San Diego to San Francisco a few years back, they got very tired of me asking about all the different plants I’d never seen in the SE US.
JPL
Gorgeous!
Jeffg166
Beautiful stuff. None of it would grow in Philadelphia PA.
The Bosc pear in the side yard flowered. The lawn is new spring green. The purple violets that decided to grow in the lawn were in flower. The pear blossoms were dropping petals all over the lawn and violets. I pause and thought it looked like a perfect place for someone to get married.
Kristine
Lovely photos. Definite garden envy.
Weather here in NE Illinois will be like satby’s, with last week’s 80’s giving way to 40s and 50s and a few freeze warnings at night. I had been able to leave the bonsai, gerbera daisy, and mini rose outside these past few days, but I’ll have to bring them back indoors for the next week. My Pink Fizz hellebore is fading, but it produced a lovely flower cluster this spring and is slowly spreading. The daffodils and forsythia exploded. All the trees and shrubs are budding and I hope being close to the lake keeps the temperature from dropping below freezing tonight and tomorrow night.
satby
@Kristine: Yeah, I wheeled my big rose planters out of the garage and will have to wheel them back in again for the next couple of days. My lilacs that got so damaged by frost several years ago were showing strong signs of recovery finally so now I just have to hope the next near freezing nights don’t set them back.
MazeDancer
What splendid blossoms!
The scary early heat has caused some trees to do two weeks of leafing in two days in Upstate NY. Do not like it.
CCL
DanB….so lush and gorgeous. Your helleboris may make me give them a rethink.
We learned the hard way about crocus thomasinianus (and other species crocus). This winter, the squirrels munched their way through everything but the Tommies and blue pearls.
Heat has shortened the daffodil timeframe, and all the varieties seem to be out at the same time.
Your photos are inspiring.
TerryC
After a single success in 2022 I’m attempting to make more Frankentrees this year. My fingers are crossed. I have six trees grafted so far, one native plum now has on it two types of domestic plums, two types of peaches, two types of cherries and two types of nectarines!
oldgold
My on going Get the Flock Out of My Yard War with the horrible honkers suffered a setback this week
I had hatched what I thought was a brilliant plan. One that would relocate the ghastly geese and settle several old scores with my red capped and sulphurically scented neighbor – DeeDee Plorable.
I secured 5000 pounds of shelled corn. Then in the dead of night, when I knew she would be preoccupied with the notorious Phil Anders, I stealthily spread the corn on DeeDee’s beach front. My plan was to continue doing so every night through the nesting season.
As dawn broke it appeared my plan was a honking success. A flotilla of the foul fowl had made an amphibious landing on DeeDee’s sandy shore. These geese were noisily gobbling up the corn. Amidst this maelstrom, DeeDee was out on the beach with her broomstick, her favored mode of transportation, swatting at them and shouting deplorable oaths that would have made Missouri mule team driver blush.
I was in a celebratory mood and spontaneously began singing the Marine Anthem. But, alas, later that morning it became apparent that I had enumerated my goslings before the process of incubation had elapsed. My plan had a fatal flaw. These waddling warriors don’t sh*t where they eat. The geese had come home to roost. Drat!
Joe Falco
I live in an apartment for now, so the majority of my gardening goes into my mother’s yard. I planted daylily bulbs and a clematis she bought then pulled several weeds from her beds. The late frost really did a number on her azaleas and will need to be pruned back. The hydrangeas suffered major setbacks from the late freeze as well and now all the green are shooting up from the ground than on last year’s growth. At least I do not want for gardening tasks!
Bill Hicks
Nice, hellebores. They come out early and deer won’t eat them. Just don’t take them to a party.
Gvg
Lovely garden.
My last day of vacation today. I hope to plant at least some of what I bought. I will be mulching leaves and watering as the dry spring continues. Rain was predicted most days but it was really just a few drops. I have been pulling the mulch away from the plants so that when rain does come, or I water with the hose, water can actually get into the soil and plant roots. Lots of things have started coming out because of my demulching and watering. My begonias are starting to flower and leaf out. Most flower before leafing like many non tropical ephemerals.
I hope to start some cuttings of blue daze too. I always need more. I use it as a border and ground cover because it is a low growing mat that flowers blue for most of the warm seasons until frost. Other people usually need some too, so it’s good to have some on hand.
SkyBluePink
I LOVE hellebores! I dig up the seedlings to share and to plant in other areas of the property.
I envision a yard full of these wonderful plants.
Beautiful pics! I am envious!
J R in WV
We have hundreds and hundreds of Helleboros plants, mostly all the same types gone to run amuk all around the front of the house. We had no idea that there are so many varieties of the lenten roses… ETA: We also have Arum plants, different from the varigated ones photographed, but same red berries in mid summer. Green all winter long, also too.
My ramps are splendid this spring, will hope to dig a handful for fried potatoes this evening.
Neighbors are coming to tidy up the house as wife and I am currently beyond even light housekeeping, our friends and neighbors are super stars in my life right now.
My cousin will take over tomorrow during my 8 hour infusion to allow Wife to go home around mid-day. Looking forward to seeing him, we have become really close over the past 10 years or so. He was proud to be a card-carrying member of the ACLU right after TFGs election, I was a member but they never sent us membership cards until I begged for them.
kalakal
What lovely hellebores.
Still waiting for rain here, nary a drop for weeks
Dan B
Glad that all you gardeners like the Hellebores. Bluestone Perennials is the source for most of them. They’re from my home state. I got them last Spring and every plant produced three to four blooms.
StringOnAStick
I love seeing hellebores but I live someplace too desert-like to have them, maybe when I can create a safer shade garden. Monty Don says they are quite promiscuous so they crossbreed themselves into “meh” colors sometimes, which might be why some folks didn’t think they liked them. Dan, the blooms must be huge given the size of your fingers in those photos! And those catkins, gorgeous!
It is still mostly winter here as we are having a very cool spring in central Oregon. I had a box of waterwise perennials arrive last week that I’d forgotten I ordered last fall, mainly because it hasn’t been warm enough to make much digging in the dirt be much fun. Yesterday was the first consistently warm day so they all got planted in a new area I created out of the formerly dusty and ugly side yard. I need a couple more local native plants that I’ll get tomorrow. Peas have been in for a week and hidden behind chicken wire so the CA quail don’t eat the new shoots.