It's been a long, cold, wet Winter, but the signs are clear: Spring is on the way.
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| Strong growth on the Allium "Summer Beauty". |
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| Colorful mixed foliage adjoining the entry path. Geranium "Samobor", Melica uniflora, and Ajuga reptans "Mahogany". |
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| Melica uniflora, sedum, Ajuga reptans, and Geranium "Samobor". |
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| Cardamine trifoliata--a garden-worthy relative of our early spring, annual weed Cardamine hirsuta "Hairy Bittercress". I thought they were gone--totally consumed by the advancing tide of Sweet Woodruff--but they are back and making a strong showing. |
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| Front garden and entryway. |
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| Lots of baby alliums "Purple Sensation". I love how the camera can help you to see things--I saw the hair-like seedlings but couldn't see the little seed caps until now. |
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| Across the way, in the garden to the north of the driveway. (Incidentally, still destroyed by the recent plumbing disaster.) Allium nigrum is forming robust clumps. |
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| Darmera peltata and Hakonechloa macra "All Green" are fighting it out in the Arbor Bed behind the house. I had no idea the Hakonechloa would be such a robust competitor, but I think the Darmera will prevail in glacial fashion. |
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| Fritillaria meleagris in the Arbor Bed--proving that it truly does prefer swampy conditions. |
I'm having a difficult time getting enthused about the garden this year. It is still destroyed by the plumbing disaster that began on December 23rd. We are considerably out of pocket due to the whole experience and I haven't gotten my head around opening our pockets AGAIN to make the necessary repairs. Most likely, I will wait until the weather improves and do as much of the work as I can, by myself, in order to save some money.
Since I haven't been out coddling the garden--I never do!--I appreciate the robust plants that are not just surviving but thriving in the prevailing conditions. It seems like every plant is a thug--the known thugs like Sweet Woodruff, but also some surprising contenders like the Hakonechloa and Melica--and I appreciate them all. The alliums (as a group) are doing fabulously well, too.
I'm also really pleased to see robust new growth on the Sedums "Thunderhead". I purchased three baby plants late last Summer as replacements for S. "Autumn Joy". "Autumn Joy" was a fantastic plant, but very dense and too frosty green. The foliage on "Thunderhead" is dark and purple-tinged and the blooms are a very dark ruby rose. "Thunderhead" was one of three new, dark-leaved sedums that I tried during the last couple of years and it has performed best of all. Of the others, "Purple Emperor" is alive but struggling and "Matrona" rotted and fell over mid-winter.
We've had only a day or two of sun so far, but I did manage to take care of most of the annual Spring clean-up. I hope that we'll see more sun soon--I do need to get on with mending the garden and my mood.
:-)
3 comments:
I love that Geranium 'Samobar' and must try it again. I'll have to look for Sedum 'Thunderhead' too.
Between the plumbing disaster and the lousy weather that has plagued the PNW, I can appreciate why you're having trouble getting in the mood. I hope sunny days arrive soon to get you excited about the garden again. In the meantime, you're welcome to come down here and help me pull the weeds delivered by our unexpectedly heavy winter rains. Our winter is well and truly over and I sense summer creeping in already.
Hi Kris! Isn't "Samobor" pretty! For us, it flourishes over a long season and is pretty both in leaf and in flower. You guys have really had some rain! My sister lives and garden in LA, so I stay apprised of the weather there. I haven't been checking in on garden blogs as much as I'd like--both the plumbing...the litigation re: the plumbing...and the fact that I updated my computer's OS and lost all my links. Boo! I hope your burgeoning Spring treats you well!
I'm a huge fan of 'Summer Beauty' and 'Matronna'. Hope you've had a good spring.
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