What would you say is in "full bloom" in your yard right now

There is one in downtown Shelton that is that tall and wide. Must be an old one, the trunk is huge compared to my skinny one.

Camellias can be quite large shrubs - well over 10'.

Oar Leaves indeed: they run up to 11":

Katye, thanks so much for your offer, but I am not going to be at the Green Elephant. I have a reading workshop I have to go to that day. I probably ought to stick with the one Bergenia I have for the time being anyway, to see if it will grow happily in that spot. I can't remember if it was you or Pixy I got it from.

I like the grasses idea, various colors, and my son also wants me to put a Hellebore in there so there will be something blooming in the wintertime. I have one on the other side of the shrub that seems happy enough.

This Bergenia has had minimal tidying up . . . I just realized how much bigger it is than my other one (which is in much nicer soil). Unfortunately, I have no idea what it is - bought it the first time I'd ever seen Bergenia at Skye Nursery about 10 or 12 years ago. There are blossoms coming, but I just love the leaves.

I have it with Pieris 'Little Heath' and Physocarpus 'Diablo'.

Nice colour. Mine are just plain green ugly.

It's interesting - I think they're getting redder with time and it must be the sun - they get a fair amount of afternoon sun . . .

That one does look very healthy, not ratty at all. What sort of conditions is it planted in?

Well there's the funny part. Heavy clay - no amendments (yet) and I'm really bad about feeding. This is a spot where water sits for a bit in winter before running off. I figured the Physocarpus, being a native plant, would be able to tolerate that. But the Pieris, sedge, lonicera nitida, and alchemilla are all doing incredibly well there. This bed is supposed to get some manure amendment here pretty soon, but now I'm thinking I should leave well enough alone . . .

Katie59 yours is beautiful! That's the only nice one I've seen.

Gads a week gone puts you behind!

You will all laugh when I tell you that I had a bergenia that I have moved probably four times trying NOT to kill it. I think I finally failed this last time...RIP my little plant. I really like them, but that may be because I have only been able to view them from afar.... I just planted one of the ones that we got from Pixy yesterday (had been happily potted over the winter) and am hoping for better luck with this one. It was already blooming, so at least now I can say that I have had a "blooming" bergenia in my yard once!

Kathy, glad you found the greenhouses still available. I couldn't believe the price... I have bought several over the years, and paid dearly for all of them. I was not necessarily in NEED of another one yet, but it will store nicely until I am.

Holly, I love your dog garden, especially with the dog eared bergenia to be added and the doggy smile rocks. What a nice memory for your furry.

Kayte, I would like to have some of your "plain green oar bergenia". Maybe you can save some for me? I would like to try it in part of my forested area. Not that I don't have plain green bergenia, but yours is different. I will not be at the green elephant, though. I have too much going on this weekend.
Sue, it was not Cistus where I saw the really big stuff. It was quite recently. Might have been in a book, but I cannot remember. I just remember going 'wow! Those are awesome big leaves!'. I am a sucker for really big leaves.

The only pest that really bothers bergenia is vine weevils. They love it.

Kathy, I think that is the same one I have underneath the witch hazel trees. Maybe 'Bressingham Ruby'? or 'Winter glow'?

I've been wracking my brain about the Bergenia, Melissa. I acquired it so long ago that I think it must be Bressingham Ruby. I have a small (meaning I just got it in a small pot) Winterglow, so we'll see how big the puppy ears on that one get!

It's coming along.

OK Guys, First of all a big "THANKS FOR THE HELP ^_^ ". As far as I can tell, I have all of the information people have provided here entered into my baby database at this point. I have been working with Google documents, and although I can access it easily from any computer, it's functions are very limited (ie, right now in google, I can only sort by one column), so I will probably change over to Excell. The good news is that you can download the info from this database in Excell format and then edit however you like.

THE LINK CAN BE FOUND IN THE RIGHT HAND SIDE INFORMATION BOX (UNDERNEATH THE MOUNTAIN PICTURE) OF THE PNW FORUM AREA.

Please feel free to throw out suggestions, corrections, and keep your full bloom notes coming. These forums and my own observations are the only place I will be collecting information from, so the more thourough the info, the better our database will be. A note along the same lines... if you know the specific variety of your plants, it would be helpful to have if at all possible. For example, I have three corylopsis, and one is almost in full bloom, one is just starting, and one has tight buds still. I would love to have as detailed info as possible, so if someone were looking to add an early blooming versus a late blooming variety of a plant, it would be a good reference.

Thanks again!

Edited to put the link location in BIG letters cause Mom said she never would have looked over there!

This message was edited Mar 2, 2010 12:37 PM

I got some very good input on my list, and I have decided that I am going to try to keep records by zip code and my zone codes and see how that works. I will record the zip code that I took the data for that particular bloom zone from (trying to have only one entry per bloom zone or the list will end up being unwieldy). The "zone" concept is the hardest thing for me to wrap my brain around an easy way to do, so if anyone has any suggestions for an easier way, please help!

Along these lines, I would like to get zip codes from Portland1, Rockems, Katye, and Susybell as I have used your bloom notes and your listed locations are too general for me to try to "pick" a zone. I was able to get the zips for everyone else through the address exchange or my own address book.

Thanks again!

Now that I got caught up a bit on details, I get to play a bit! My earliest Pieris is at peak right now, and of course I can't remember which cultivar it is, but I just love it.

Julie, my zip is 97214.

There is daphne blooming all over the neighborhood!

Thanks Judi! Mmmmm Daphne! One of my very favorite "sniffies"!

My biggest patch of helleborus is finally in full bloom. This is a wonderfully prolfic plant!

98075, Julie.

Yes - I have helleborus blooming as well.

i forgot about the other 2 Kingston Cardinals I had heeled in last fall. found them out in the cutting garden last weekend. Sort of like finding a $20 bill in your pocket. Fun.

Thanks for the zip Katye! Don't you just love those "oohhh, I forgot about that" surprises?!

yes - I got excited like a child. Like I purposely stashed them for later!

Julie, Do you happen to have "Gardening with Native Plants" by Art Kruckeberg? He does a nice job of dividing the PNW into regions: Puget Trough, Willamette Valley, Olympic Peninsula, Coast Range, etc. with descriptions of the general climate, geology and soil, and gardening conditions. And a zone map for his regions. I could scan and email you a couple pages from his book if you like. He is a botanist at the U.W. who I had the pleasure of working with years ago. Very nice and knowledgeable man.

Deb, I don't have that book, but it sounds like it would be fascinating! Something to request from the library for sure, but if you could scan and e-mail pertinant stuff it would be fantastic! Our local library is "under renovation" and they have moved temporarily to the mall in downtown Federal Way, and I can never motivate myself to drive through that mess of traffic unless it is urgent!

Julie, I sent it to you via regular EM, let me know if you do not get it. Couldn't figure out if it is possible to attach anything other than a photo to a DMail...??

These are in full bloom and just brilliant.

Deb, Got it .... Thanks so much! I glanced through briefly and think that I may very well make use of the way that he has the zones set up. Like I said above, this has been the hardest part to handle of my bloom chart concept. I like having the temp info as well.... when I have more time, I will incorporate them into my "zone chart" as well, so people can kind of place themselves if they are at the "edge" of one of the areas!

Bea, good to see you around again! We cross posted.... after I got past the "Aaackkk, ranunculus!" reaction to your picture, your yellow flowers are quite lovely! They must be of the same family? What a cheerful color, especially on a dreary day like today!

Thanks Julie..These yellow flowers are marsh marigolds growing around my pond. Yes the weather is dreary.damp and cool today. Finding it hard to get motivated to do stuff outside.

Our weather here is warm and sunny. We are going to the quarry to get a load of black rock. You can pick out the ones you want.

My evergreen clematis "Apple Blosson" is opening up. Right on time every year. She is beautiful and is almost care-free. All I do is water her in the summer.

This message was edited Mar 5, 2010 1:34 AM

I planted tete e tete daffodils last fall and this is how they look now. I really love how short they are. And they smell wonderful.

I got apple blossom last year. She hasn't yet done much for me, but yours looks like she's getting more sun. Beautiful!

Thanks Katie. She loves the sun but does okay in partial sun. I've had her 3 years. She was about 4 feet up the trellis 2x4 post when I planted her. She didn't bloom the first year but the second year (last year) she took off. And it looks like she is taking off this year. I do a very minimal amount f pruning. The occasional long lanky stem. Mine only blooms for about a week during the first week in March. But she stays evergreen and has a stately appearance. I admit she has grown on me. I was not impressed with her the first year, but she has more than made up for it.

Since I don't have a bonafide arbor, I'm considering moving her to the front of my yard to grow over a very tall (15'?) stump in my wild area. She'll get more sun that way, but may have to deal with deer. I just have to clear out those blackberries so she doesn't get tangled up in them.

Too bad her blooms don't stay longer. Is she fragrant?

She has a faint fragrance in the daytime and at night she has a fairly strong one. It's kind of more spicy than flowery. Hard to describe a smell. lol

Your appleblosom is a wow, Mistish!