Wild Wet Spring

I'm telling you it has been a wet spring.

Of course some of us don't mind getting out in the garden and mucking around. Time will tell if anything in this corner of the garden will survive. It was like this in 2008 but this wet spell has lasted longer.

I have been a little frustrated that I can't plant anything yet unless it is in a pot. I can see the affects of the rain on this Baptisia. It normally gets as tall as this 4'fence behind it. It actually hides the fence but this year it is pouting due to the wet conditions. I hope it hangs in there. It has been in this spot some 10 years or so.

I have a couple of pea gravel walkways. I have been most happy with them this year.

I have some new edging along this section. My neighbor does small landscape jobs for people and she said a client wanted to get rid of this edging and offered it to me. I like it. On the left side of the path you can see the Pink Phlox I have been waiting to see bloom.

It being a wild flower it doesn't seem to mind the vagaries of spring. This sweet blooming clump of Practically Perfect Pink Phlox was  given to me by Gail at Clay and Limestone. She is a Champion of Wildflowers. What with such weather extremes one can easily be convinced to use such beauties in the garden.

If you follow my blog you know that this end of the patio has had some major changes in the past few years. This spring was no exception. The Lilac tree just couldn't take any more stress. It fell over in one of the storms. The ground was so saturated we might have been able to push it upright but it was too large for us to do so. Unfortunately we had to remove it.  So this end of the patio will be getting lots more sun until I figure out what to do here. I will miss those delicious smelling blooms.

We also learned where we need to add a gravel path so we can get around this part of the garden.

Things have dried out a little bit now.  How are things in your garden this spring?

Neighborhood News From Fairy Manor

This spring when I went to the Indy Flower Show I was quite taken by these three minature shrubs. Left is Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Silver Lode', middle is Euonymus japonica 'Rokujo' and right is Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Gold Pin Cushion'.  I brought them home not knowing for sure what I might do with them.  I was delighted when the Garden Fairies that live in my garden expressed great interest in them. I asked them to come up with a plan and they did.

 They gathered their gardening equipment and worked diligently. 

Stopping to rest only a short while from time to time under their gazebo to rest. 

Each took a corner to work on. 

In no time they had Fairy Manor ready for company. 

If you are ever in our area do stop by for a cup of tea and a biscuit. 

They would be delighted to give you a tour of Fairy Manor. 

We are wishing all a delightful week.

Wildflower Wednesday - May-Apple

My contribution to the Wildflower Week Fest the May-Apple or known as Polyphyllum peltatum by you Hortheads. These plants usually have one or two leaves but they colonize as you can see in this photo

taken at the local park.

You can see the pretty little bloom that you usually find at the base of the petioles.

I have a small colony on the north/west side of the house. It is covering the down spout nicely.

 

I am not sure where the apple part comes in its name. It is listed as a perennial herb. Maybe someone else knows a little more about it.

If you want to see more wildflowers do go to Gail's Clay and Limestone blog. She is hosting a Wildflower Week. It is so important to preserve the wildflowers that we can. The bees and other wildlife will thank us for it.

Foliage Follow Up - April 2011

When I had a little book buying spree a few weeks ago one of the favorite books I purchased was Debra Lee Baldwin's _Succulent Container Gardens_.  This book is chocked full of container ideas. It fits nicely with my situation here. I love succulents and most of them, at least the ones I am drawn to are not hardy in my zone 6 garden. Containers of these beauties are a way I can enjoy them most.

I had an Echeveria that I over wintered this year. By this spring I couldn't tell which of the rosettes was the original large one of last summer it had made 10 pups. I don't know if the Momma plant died and the smaller ones took over or if it just shrank or what but I was pleased as punch to have all these little fellows to work with. I had a blue strawberry jar that I planted up. It looks a bit monochromatic right now but the tips of this echeveria has pinked up so I am hopeful that it will look quite nice in this pot when it fills. If some of them don't make the transfer I will look for some complimentary plant to fill its slot.

The rest of the pups I placed into this pot with some wooly thyme, black grass and Sedum hispanicum minus 'Purple Form'.  I had some rocks that I thought would compliment this arrangement so they were added.

In this chicken planter I planted a taller succulent. I am not sure what it is but it survived the winter in a sunny window here. I like the way it looks like the chicken has a fancy tail. This tall thing is green and has those red leaves so I played off the red leaves and added a Sempervivum that is red and Sedum lydium that has red stems. I think when it fills in it will look nice. It can grow a long time in this pot as it is so big. 

If you have some foliage that you would like to follow up the Bloom Day with please do so. Pam at Digging is the hostess for the Foliage Follow Up.  For more foliage inspirations go to Digging.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - April 2011

We have had a wonderfully warm April so far. The garden has responded to the warm wet weather. I have lots to show you this month. There aren't many daffodils blooming at this time due to the unusually warm weather.

Epimediums are abloom. 

I took this picture during a rain this week. The dogwoods are blooming nice. 

These sweet blue blooms of the  Brunnera.

This is  a new addition to the early spring blooms in my garden. A Iris cristata 'Powder Blue Giant'. 

The White Lilac has many blooms this year. Mmmmm can you smell it?? 

One of the last daffodils to bloom in my garden each year. Sorry I don't know the type it is.  

One last Hyacinth. Not the pure white of the ones growing out front but it is still a smeller. 

The old fashioned purple iris that never fail me are beginning to bloom. Hopefully I will have some for the Easter dinner table decoration. 

Virginia blue bells are blooming up a storm. 

Purple carpet phlox is blooming.  Now, if you have stayed with me long enough you get a bonus...

When I looked out my window this morning something caught my eye. It was a Nessus Sphinx Moth at the Virginia Blue Bells.  WHooo Hooo. I have never seen this moth in my garden. I am so happy I can share it with you. Luckily my Dearly Beloved strolled by my room right when I spotted it. He grabbed his camera and got this shot. Thank you Dear.

Happy Garden Bloggers Blooom Day to you all. If you want to see more flowers blooming in gardens around the world go to our GBBD hostess's blog, May Dreams Gardens,  for many more participants showing.

Spring Gifts

The weather has been the greatest gift of spring lately. I realize I have complained a little too much about all that so I will try to refrain from whining any longer. Besides there has been nothing to whine about with this warmer than normal weather. Today we are getting one of those lovely spring rains that soaks in and makes things grow.  The rain has knocked off all the doubl blossoms of the blood root but I will still have plenty of flowers blooming this Friday the 15th when it is time for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

 It seems that every flower that is a spring bloomer is responding to the warm weather. It is such fun.

 Not only are the flowers responding but the local resident hibinators are out and about. This Eastern Garter snake was not particularly happy to make Luna's acquaintance.

 I was wondering why Luna was hanging around the water feature. She even proceeded to dig trying to get the snake. I don't know what she was going to do with it when she caught it. This snake was sticking it's tongue out as if to say "nah nah nah nah nah" to Luna when we came to the rescue. 

 Other winter hibinators are trying to take over the mail box. I don't know how it got in there in the first place but it is taking care of the one cell of their nest that they managed to build this weekend while we were away. Today with the cool rain falling it didn't even want to move when I opened the door to retrieve the post.

 This weekend we had our first Falcate Orangetip butterfly in a long time. Unfortunately it wasn't in our garden but along a roadside where we were birding. There were several along this road. It was amazing to us because this isn't a butterfly that we get every year.  There were 6 flitting along the roadside. None but this one lit for even an instant for a photo op. My DB was very patient in trying to track this down.

 Another great sighting was a Trumpeter Swan. We don't often see these beautiful swans. It was hunkered down in the wind until we came upon it. Then it stood to take off. We saw no tags or bands on this bird. It must have been a wildling, young at that. It is amazing that these huge birds can fly.  Just look at the size difference between it and the Ring-billed gull standing in front of it.

I hope you all have been enjoying the spring weather.

A difference in a few hours

What a difference just a few hours makes in the garden. The snow had melted and the Narcissus doesn't look too bad for what they have been through.

With the sun coming back out it makes me want to get out in the garden to do some little jobs that are on my todo list. I can't quite drag myself outside yet. Today I received a new book _Garden Up_ by Susan Morrison and Rebecca Sweet.  This book is chock full of ideas for either a small or large garden. I have found so much inspiration here. Not to mention that I have a head start on some projects since I won the Succulent Living Picture. I don't know why I was surprised to see it highlighted in the book. You will have to forgive me for being a little slow on the uptake. Rebecca is a friend of Pam's. I can see why Pam was happy to promote her friend's book. It is a must have if you have any desire to Garden UP. The how to instructions for some unique plantings and the after photos are just marvelous.  Did I mention the beautiful photos??

Pam and Rebecca are in the round table group that gives advice about different garden related subjects. It is so much fun having some of these great ideas in a book you can peruse over and over again.

No, no one asked me to promote the book. As a matter of fact I waited until I had it and had a chance to peruse it to say one way or the other. I can say that it is a keeper. Now you will have to excuse me while I go look at the walls around my garden in a new creative way.