Garden: Pre-Spring, 2016

On February 19th, this became the wettest Winter on record for the Seattle area and we still have another week or so to go before the recording period closes.  Not particularly surprising, as this Winter seemed to be even wetter and drearier than usual.  I've been pretty satisfied, this year, with my garden design decision to forgo "Winter interest".   Nope.  I'm not going to traipse around the garden--with rain dripping off my nose or down my neck, compacting already sodden soil--to inspect early bloomers and colored sticks.  I built my garden to use while the weather is nice and I can enjoy gardening activities.  Duh!  

I'm satisfied to ignore the garden completely for three or four months until Spring Fever starts bubbling.  I'm not yet feeling it, but I guess that the garden IS.  So today I had to get out there and spend a few hours cleaning up and cutting back. My efforts came a bit too late for some of the plants.  Among the grasses, Calamagrostis brachytricha and Melica uniflora were already well-sprouted and I was unable to trim out all of the spent foliage.  Well, I guess I could have if I were patient enough, but I am not.  And the (many) Anemones were already producing new growth, making it a little more tedious to selectively prune out the old stems.  I pruned down a large Nandina, so we'll see how that re-sprouts.  And I pruned the hardy fuchsias and the grapes.  I've got more to do, but the yard waste bin is full, plus one more large bag, and it started to rain so I called it quits.  

Here are some photos from the day...

Pre-Spring view of the front garden.  I tidied-up and sprinkled on some new compost/mulch.

The sweet and diminutive Melica may be trying for world domination, I don't know...

These must be Allium nigrum?  I've never before had alliums come back strongly or multiply like this.

Around back, I think this planting combo has performed well--tricyrtis, western sword ferns, and alpine strawberries.  The grassy plant is Carex tumulicola.

On the opposite side of our back door, we have Nandina, Triceyrtis, a yellow Hellebore, and Saxifraga primuloides.

Eeewwww.  The back yard still needs to be tidied.  Isn't that nasty?  The Brunnera have recently put out some new growth--I'll have to be careful when I am tidying around them.  Next year, I think I'll tidy in Fall.  I've been trying to garden "more naturally", but this is just gross and unnecessary.

Something pretty (or at least interesting) to purge the last picture from our minds--these are lichen (Cladonia) fruiting bodies.

Garden: Photos Only a Gardener Could Love

Well, hello there, everybody!  I sorta feel like I should knock on wood for writing (or even for thinking) this, but it really feels like Spring has sprung.  We've had a several stretches of unseasonably warm weather during the past couple of weeks and the garden is burgeoning with life.  It's been rainy though, and that's made it a tough decision whether or not to go into the garden.  It is still quite soggy out there.  But new growth is starting to push up among the old so I had to get out there and do some cutting back and cleaning up.  I brought along the camera and snapped a few pictures of things that probably only another gardener will appreciate!

My neighbor's ancient cherry tree is among the first of the neighborhood trees to bloom.  Don't you love how gnarled and moss-covered are its branches?  

My neighbor's cherry.

I worry about this tree because it's been completely defoliated every year by some sort of fungus.  Each time, it seems a bit slower to rebound but it keeps coming back.  I enjoy it in Spring and it makes a nice backdrop for most of the pictures that I take in the front garden.  And the wildlife appreciate it as well--it is home/lookout for a couple of hummingbirds and today the tree was humming with bees.

Cherry blossom close-up.

Moving on....I have a monoculture of Oxalis oregana growing next to the sidewalk on the side of the house. This plant's delicate appearance belies its toughness and its aggressive nature--it is a true survivor!  It thrives in the dry shade under the eves on the north side of my house.  I chose to plant it in a location that is bordered with concrete on three sides.   We'll see what happens on the forth side which is currently occupied by a sword fern and a vigorous tricyrtis.

Oxalis oregana rhizomes erupting from the soil.

Believe me--this small area is absolutely seething with oxalis growth!  Here (below) are the plants which are placed to do battle with the oxalis--Polystichum munitum (Western Sword Fern) and an unknown tricyrtis which might be T. formosana "Gilt Edge".  I think they will be worthy opponents.  

Tricyrtis formosana "Gilt Edge" 

I find it interesting to compare the growth on the T. "Gilt Edge" (if that is, in fact, what it is) with another Tricyrtis growing just across the path.  "Gilt Edge" is much earlier to sprout in Spring.  The other Tricyrtis was supposed to be dwarf--not so much.  It is less upright than "Gilt Edge" but has eagerly colonized just as much territory.  The weird thing, though, is how many more above-ground rhizomes it makes.  Just look at that mess!

Tricyrtis rhizomes.

Close-up of Tricyrtis formosana "Gilt Edge"--so fresh!

I am always a little surprised by the discovery of new growth.  Here, a crown of Darmera peltata peeks (Ha!  I just caught the typo/autocorrect "peaks"--though that also would have been an appropriate choice, don't you think?) through the leaf debris.  Darmera peltata is a big plant with big leaves so the fact that it has a robust crown shouldn't surprise me, but it does--every year.  You might also notice the lumps of snail and slug bait.  Those monsters are going to be REALLY bad this year.  I think the very mild winter encouraged them.  I've seen virtually millions of tiny slugs but today I air-mailed a couple of huge ones into my neighbor's backyard wildlife sanctuary i.e. unkempt acreage.  Yuck!

Darmera peltata makes a robust crown. 

I shared the transient sunlight with a new friend.  Sorry about the blurry image--she wasn't too keen about the paparazzi:

Ladybug!

Garden: Tricyrtis--Bent on World Domination

Last spring I planted a couple of tricyrtis in the back yard.  Both grew as expected for a same-year planting and seemed happy.  One of them then spent the entire off-season sending out an impressive quantity of rhizomes. This year, BOTH of them are growing rhizomes at an impressive rate AND plant #1 is both reseeding itself AND tip-rooting from the flowering stalks.  Pretty impressive, no?  It is too soon to say whether or not I will regret planting these two, although I generally appreciate aggressive growers.

Rhizomes on plant #2

Seedlings and tip-rooted branches on Plant #1

I've been feeling benevolent towards the seedlings that are growing in the patio crevices--I WANT greenery to invade the spaces between the cement slabs--but I now realize that I'm going to have to get them out of there. I want to encourage compact growers in the spaces, not large and rangy plants.    Pretty soon I'll be weeding these guys out.