Outside

What's Blooming Now - April 24, 2009

The first flush of green is spreading across Minnesota. Here in my neighborhood, a few things have started blooming.

The only flowers I have in my yard right now are daffodils.

Magnolias just started blooming yesterday, while the forsynthias have been in full-flower for about 4-5 days. On the left is a neighbor's full-size tree as seen through the woods. The same neighbor has a forsynthia in their front yard as seen on the right.

Yet another neighbor has a pretty rock wall with species tulips and little Siberian squill flowers.

Purple Irises

These pretty purple bearded irises were pass-along plants - plants another gardener gave to me to plant in my garden. They started blooming about Memorial Day, May 26.

I actually didn't get them from another gardener - I got them from someone who had bought a new house and was going to cover over the previous home owner's perennial garden with a new garage. So I guess I they arrived in my garden through a rescue mission.

In any case, I certainly got lucky. When I went over to dig up the  plants, the flowers had already bloomed. I knew that they were irises by the leaves, but there was no way to know what color they were. Two years ago, they bloomed for the first time in my garden, and I was delighted to discover I had two types - these beautiful purple and white irises, and a slightly taller sunshine-yellow and white variety. The yellows bloom a few weeks after the purples. They haven't yet bloomed this year, but they will probably start in the next few days.

Since I'm generally not fond of pastel colors, I was so glad to discover these bearded irises were not pale pink, lilac or yellow. These beauties are just right for my garden. What luck!

First Daffodils 2008

The first flowers have bloomed in my yard* - some daffodils planted in the ditch by the road. I wish I had a better picture, but I took it yesterday before leaving for work and I was trying not to get my nice clothes dirty.

My daffs bloom a little later than the neighbors' do. Our front yard is across a narrow road that's at the bottom of a north-facing hill, and these daffodils are planted in the ditch next to the road. The cool air sinks and anything planted here blooms a little later than other full-sun areas.

I also see an elm tree seedling in the picture (it has serrated leaves and is below the flower). Contrary to popular belief, the American Elm was not completely wiped out by Dutch Elm disease. We have lots of elms in our woods, and I'm constantly weeding them out of my vegetable garden. In doing research about the pre-colonial ecosystem in my neighborhood, it seems as if elms probably made up a large portion of the woods. So our elms are not street trees, but probably descendants of the elms that were here before the first white farmer. But as much as I like them, their seeds never seem to plant themselves where I'd actually want them to grow, so out they come.

*Okay, they're actually not the first. The first were the flowers of the creeping charlie, but since that's technically a weed, I'm not going to count those.

January Bloom Day: Limelight Hydrangea

I live in Minnesota, where the temperature was -4F when I left for work this morning. There is nothing blooming outside here. And since I don't do houseplants, there is nothing blooming for me indoors, either.

So my offering for this first Garden Blogger's Bloom Day of 2008 are pictures of Limelight Hydrangea taken September 22, 2007. This was right after I got my new camera (in fact, it may have been the same day), and only 11 days out of surgery. I really didn't know how the camera worked yet and was trying to figure how to use the "macro" function (which I did not figure out with these pictures).

In any case, I really like this plant. The blooms start out light green in late July or early August, then fade to white, then gradually turn this pretty pink/peach/rose color in September. There are generally flower clusters in various stages of maturing, so as fall deepens you have many colors at once. The photo on the right (also taken 9/22) shows the flowers as they are changing from greenish/white to the rosy pink.

I first planted Limelight in 2006, but it didn't bloom that year. In 2007 the bloom was moderate, but there has been a lot more growth. I'm guessing that Limelight will really start coming into its own this summer.

Some Might Call It Weedy . . . .

I've been busy, busy, busy, and I haven't had time for this blog. There's lots going on in the garden, but I've hardly spent any time there, and I don't have any pictures.

In the meantime, however, I'll show you a few things that don't usually get highlighted here - things that grow by the side of the road.

Here's a stand of common ox-eye, aka Heliopsis helianthoides. This stand is along the road, next to our mailbox. Two years ago, the city put in a new road with curbs and tore up most of this area. I thought for sure that the ox-eye wouldn't make it, but they've bounced back nicely.

As you can see, we don't mow along the street, nor do any of our neighbors. I'm not quite sure why the city doesn't care - there are weed laws here like most anywhere else - but I guess as long as the entire circle looks "natural", the city turns a blind eye.

Speaking of weeds, here's a patch right next to the gate leading into the vegetable garden. This is in the front, next to the driveway. Because of the lack of rain we've had this summer, if this was grass it would be brown and dusty. But because it's all weeds, it's green and lush.

This little patch includes the ever-present creeping charlie (ground ivy), some plantain, a nice sweet woodruff plant, butter and eggs (with the pretty yellow flowers), and a few sprigs of grass (how did those get in there!)

I also see something with pointy leaves, but I'm not sure what it is. It could be false solomon's seal, which we have all over the yard. Or it could be one of the extremely hardy hostas that was there before we re-graded the entire area to put in the vegetable garden. In any case, I rather like this patch of "lawn"!

Pretty Urns

Although I'm a bit angry with the garden right now (which is, I know, irrational - it's an inanimate object - but it's true nonetheless), there is one thing I like and will plan to do again next year.

I've had a pair of these iron urns for three years now, and have not been completely satisfied with the annuals I've put in them - until this year. (The second of the pair is on the left side of the steps that are barely seen on the left in the photo.)

In the past, the trailing annuals I've planted here have tended to become dehydrated fairly quickly. The pot is metal and has a narrow throat, so it dries out quickly.

However, I really like the way this calibrachia (million bells)* spills out of the pot, and it has yet to dry out. I also like the combination of shapes - it all seems quite graceful to me. Plus, not only does it spill over the sides of the urn, it also covers the top of the dirt, so that when you look down at it from the steps or the upper garden, you don't see any dirt or leggy branches.

I will do one thing differently next year, though - I'll plant some plain maroon "spikes" rather than the ornamental amaranth. The amaranth is too tall, so it looks out of proportion (I couldn't even fit it in the photo). Plus it looks too "coarse" - like I planted a stalk of corn in the middle of a rose garden.

* Keri at Taste Memories remembered the name of this plant for me. Thanks, Keri!

Mystery Flower - Can You Identify It?

This pretty little plant just started blooming about a week ago, and I'm hoping someone out there can identify it. (Click on the photo to enlarge it for a better view.) I received it as a pass-along plant, but the person doing the "passing" was not the original gardener and therefore doesn't know what it is.

The leaves you (mostly) see are not the leaves of the plant. The mystery plant is growing amongst some daylilies, which is the foliage you see. The actual leaves are the two smaller serrated leaves just under the flowers. Most of the leaves are basal leaves - at the bottom of the plant at the ground. The basal leaves are also serrated, but longer than the leaves you see. The total plant height is about 24" tall

The flowers look like bellflowers, some sort of campanula. I've done some searching, but there are so many campanulas (and it might not even be a campanula) that I haven't been able to find it. If you happen to know what this is, drop me a note in the comments. Thanks!

June Bloom Day

Each time the 15th of the month rolls around and it's time to post another Garden Blogger's Bloom Day post, I think, "I need more flowers!" Since I've started really gardening at this house, I've focused most of my attention on the vegetables. I think - no, I know - I like vegetable gardening more than flower gardening, but I still want masses of flowers. I want it all!

In any case, at least this month I have a few things blooming. To the left you'll see my mass of evening primrose. These were passalong plants, and are doing splendidly this year. Even though some people think of evening primrose as invasive - and it does spread rambunctiously - they are very easy to pull, so I don't worry about them too much.

Just finishing their first blush of bloom are these passalong ornamental thistles. I really love the bright fushia color.

I planted these campanulas last year. I don't remember the name, but they're a pretty ground cover with a long bloom period. (Look at the weeding I need to do!)

In the vegetable garden, the snap peas are just finishing their bloom time. We're headed toward our 8th day in June at 90 degrees or more, meaning the spring vegetables are on a steep downhill slope. But, the potatoes just started blooming - these are French Fingerlings.

I've included some pictures of some of my pots. On the left is one of two urns, which are on either side of the stairs from the lower to upper vegetable gardens. Buddha is looking on contentedly. In the middle is one of three pots I nestle into the yews near the front door. I've always liked the red geraniums with the green yews. This year I added the trailing purple-blue annuals (whose name I forget). On the right is one of two big planters next to the garage. I'm not so thrilled with my plant combination this year, but it will have to do.

Book Club: Passalong Plants

I must admit, I didn't read this month's Garden Blogger's Book Club selection, Passalong Plants by Steve Bender.  Of course, our wonderful host Carol, wonderful person that she is, is very forgiving about actually having to read the book, so I'm taking the easy way out - writing about a few pass-along plants in my own garden.

Because my garden is fairly new, and I've spent the last few years focusing on building my vegetable garden, I don't have all that many flowering plants yet. But I would say that at least half of what I have have been passed along from one source or another.

The first pass-along I have to feature is this beautiful purple and white bearded iris. Two summers ago, one of my mother-in-law's neighbors was building a new garage where the old homeowner had her perennial bed. She offered us as many plants as we wanted, as she didn't plan to have any gardens (!). Because it was mid-June, not much was in flower, so we had to guess as to what was there. The irises were obvious, but what wasn't obvious were the colors. I really don't like many bearded irises, especially the pastel ones, but I decided to take some, figuring I could take them out if I didn't like them. After moving them two summers ago, they did not bloom at all last spring. But this spring they took off. They just finished blooming earlier this week, and I really enjoyed them.

This yellow bearded iris was a complete surprise. It came from the same garden as the purple irises. Since nothing bloomed last year, I had no idea that I actually had two different colors. Luckily for me, I managed to plant most of them in the correct clumps, so they look nice as-is. These just started on Memorial Day, just as the purple irises were finishing. I just wish I had a better picture. Between my poor camera skills and a wild puppy whose leash knocked the stems down two days ago, they don't look nearly as nice as they did right before blooming.

This fushia flower is a pass-along plant from someone I work with. She no longer remembers the name, but it's some sort of ornamental thorn-less thistle. I planted it three summers ago. Last year it looked nice, but this year it's come into its own. The plant is very bushy, and will produce flowers on and off throughout the summer. According to my work colleague, it will produce a few volunteers, but otherwise is very well-behaved. If you click on the picture of the yellow irises to enlarge it, you'll see more of these flowers in the background.

I'm really hoping to gain more plants this summer from my mom. She's always had gardens, and I know last year she was talking about dividing several of her flowers. I'll just keep my fingers crossed!

Volunteers

Each year I seem to find more volunteer plants in my vegetable gardening area. This spring, I have three types: wild geranium, wild columbine and dame's rocket.

The geranium I let be, because it managed to site itself perfectly. Here it is against the west-facing portion of the fence. It looks like I planted it there purposely. In fact, it's this plant that has given me the idea that I should purposely plant more flowers through the gravel mulch around the edges of the garden.

The columbine is a bit more problematic for me. Although it looks quite pretty this time of year, by July it will look ratty and insect-ridden. Columbine leafminers take over during the summer, tunneling white lines through the leaves. It doesn't kill the plant, but it sure looks yucky (to use a technical gardening term). I tend to spend the summer debating with myself about pulling the plants. I never do, though. In the meantime, this has got to be the most flowers I've ever seen on a wild columbine:

Lastly, I have dame's rocket in my garden for the first time. When I've seen it in neighbor's yards in past years, I always assumed it was woodland phlox, but I was wrong. Dame's rocket is highly invasive in a woodland setting, so this is a plant that has to go before it sets seed. I have two plants, one I was thinking of keeping before I figured out what it was, and the other I was definitely going to pull. The one I was going to pull is pictured here - it's just not well-sited with the irises.

What plant volunteers do you keep? How do you decide what stays and what goes? Do you keep the invasives or the ones that look bad as the season progresses, or do you ruthlessly yank them out?