FIRST FLOWERS OF SPRING!!! May Flowers :)

I second Muddy's plan- great idea

Thanks Holly and SSG! :-) it is Amethyst Falls W. frutescens

Good idea Muddy! Guess it is time for me to venture into the stone/water part of the nursery! :-)

This message was edited May 21, 2014 8:36 PM

1. 'H.F. Young' Clematis
2. Gita's iris again, but a day later, bloom was a little lighter.
3. An experimental combination: Purple oxalis, Coleus, and Talinum paniculatum 'Limon'. Anyone grow that before? A first for me.
4. Unidentified Rhodie. This is my only rhodie, and this is it's first bloom ever. I will probably get rid of it if it doesn't really start growing soon. This is its 3rd year and it's still pretty wimpy. Thinking it may have a disease.
5. I successfully overwintered this EE by allowing it to go semi-dormant in the pot this winter. I don't know what the variety is. It was misidentified as 'Coffee Cups', which it definitely is not. Probably 'Violet Stem'? It's a runner-type.

Cat--

That geranium in pic #4 is "Bigroot Geranium"--originally from Sally.
It can get a bit spread out--but you can, easily. remove rooted sections of it
to propagate, move, or share. It does cover a bit of an area.

Cat---
The light blue iris with the white "cap" is from me--via my neighbor's garden--via
her father who was from Holland--who gifted my neighbor, Betsy, (his daughter)
with various Irises. When she was deteriorating with inevitable Alzeheimers--
her daughters moved her into a extended care living place.

The house (next to mine) sat unoccupied for 2 years--and I dug up and saved
some Iris b/c I loved them so. She also had a lot of "Naked lady" plants...
but they needed to be dug up--and i did not want to be too obvious about "stealing"
someone elses plants.
I should have taken them all--as when the Pakistani family moved into this house--
the husband cut down all the shrubs and dug up all kinds of places.
Eventually--he also cut down the three trees in their back yard....

And i was worried about digging up some Iris and DL's???
So--your Iris has some history behind it--

The old fashioned red Daylilies are also from my neighbor's garden.
About every 3 years--I have to dig them up and divide them....many go to the Swap.

here they are....

Thanks for the history, Gita, for both the geranium and the iris! Good thing you saved what you did from the neighbor's yard!

Lovely blooms, Typ! Your clematis looks huge and I really like the color contrast between the oxalis and the other plants.

typ- I grow Talinum. I like it but it will seed. Easy to remove seedlings. Can get pretty large. I grow it in ground and cut the seed stems for winter display- love the airy look. Nice pictures

nice pics typ. - pretty clematis. Nice rhododendron too, I'd keep it. some of those specialty types are slow growers

G. really like the bigroot geranium

wind, it's a great plant (pink bigroot) and so is the white one that Jill has shared.
Catbird showed me her garden project yesterday- it's really looking good, and there's a whole other bigger half of the front to do next!. Robin, let me know if you want the bigroot geranium. Good filler, tough plant, have plenty. Sadly, it won't bloom over summer for you. It is sort of a weird shade of pink so you may not like it near some other pink flowers. And for me it's mostly evergreen and turns color in fall (leaves)

Typ: I think your rhododendron is a Rhododendron catawbiense 'Album'
check out this link: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/94782/
Do you have a full picture of the plant? I have one of these and it's extremely hardy and a decent grower as well.

Cat: I think your Geranium is Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo'
check out this link: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/38287/#b
If you ever get 'too' much of it, I'll take some off your hands :)

Those daylilies are pretty G, if you wanted to give some a home, I'd take one off your hands :)

Thanks Seq! :-)

Biokovo from Jill is the white hardy geranium, thanks Seq, I couldn't remmember, and the one I got from Pinetree, presumably bigroot species, is the pink. Biokovo leaves are a bit smaller and glossier, a more compact plant.

My neighbors have a huge biokovo. It was about 3x7' until they chopped half of it back because they had to run a new electric line to the light post that it surrounded. Sadly, I only found out about it a day later and by then it was too late to save any :(

gawd, what a waste! If you'd known, you could drag that stuff out of a yard waste bin three days later and it would root and grow fine.

Hmm...didn't know it was that hardy or I would have for sure. I thought if it was dug out for a day that it would have been toast. That is pretty much the coolest plant they have because they hate gardening and the wife has a black thumb...I planted a bunch of stuff for them last weekend so now they have some variety.

Definitely hard to kill.

Last fall I dug up a clump of bigroot geranium (from Sally) and forgot to replant it. It stayed on top of the soil all winter and now I see that it's blooming!

jeff--

Those blue and white iris are only 2 years old in my bed.....not enough to share.

I can give you a small pot of the purple iris though. I have three.

Last year I (we) had the "big" Iris dig....Cat and Typ and Sally were here..
They took nice sections of each iris and I dug out the rest--amended the soil
and re-planted the bigger sections. many smaller roots were potted up in small pots
to share. Took a pile to work as well.

That is why my big purple iris is not going to bloom this year. It heaved so badly
from frost--and is now trying to grow roots and anchor back in.

This purple iris is from my uncle's garden. he died in 1991.
I dug these up to 'rescue" them....

Wow....that is tough stuff!!

Thanks G but I'm more of an admirer of Iris in other's gardens rather than my own. I was referring to the Geranium earlier.

A few pictures from the yard.

Just a couple more. Just love this fern, so airy.

Ebony spleenwort?

I love all the shades of pink and purple!

Not sure what it is have to get a better pic of the fern.

Beautiful, Holly! :-)

1--Anyone know what these seedlings are? They are all over the patio corner
of the kitchen bed. All that grows there is one of my Hellebores and the Hydrangea.
I may have had a Foxglove there--but these don't look like Foxglove seedlings...
I see enough of them....

2--more blooms of my "tie Dye" --(good name--) iris...

3--My old, white Peony--always the first to bloom...

4--YEEEAHHH! Two of the red Phlox I got last year in the freebie grab have come back.
I thought they all died.....Glad to see it.

5--Ahhhh....The pretty blue Snow Cap iris....not sure that is the real name...

I am falling asleep---good night Folks....G.

Gita those look like the Foxglove seedlings that donner gave me.

I have a huge patch of mystery seedling of my own. I'm so puzzled. When they get bigger I might post, but they are small and nondescript- but a solid mass of something that looks completely unfamiliar and different from the usual weed seedlings.....

Foxgloves they are, nice ID sally.

Gita, I love the little bit of red in the center of your white peony--and the red-leaved phlox is very pretty! Glad it came back for you.

Thanks sally and paul---

I thought so too--but what kind of threw me off is that the leaves have slightly scalloped edges...
I have Foxgloves all over--try to keep the at a reasonable amount..

OK? Anyone want Foxglove seedlings???? I can dig up some and pot them...
I just forget the color these were...

Cat--this white peony is my oldest....I have the name...somewhere....
it is very well known.
It grows in such a small area in this tiny bed....remember the picture of the
pips coming up I posted earlier? This is the same one.....

I wouldn't have known what they are if donner hadn't just given me some. So credit still goes to "Sally" (chuckle)

nice to know what foxglove seedlings look like... I think I've been weeding them :(

Nice columbines Holly, I have a bunch to photo as well. Your camera seems to take nice crisp pictures!

I like that Peony G, very nice :)

Gita, we talked about this a while ago, I think we agreed that it's Festiva Maxima. I bought a bare root of it this spring but it hasn't done anything. Gita do you think you might like to do a peony trade this fall? I have a fuschia one that's about to start blooming, and a pink cabbage-y one that I think is Sarah Bernhardt. You don't have to let me know now, just think about it. Thanks!

You guys are making me want columbines really badly. I bought one a while ago and the rabbits ate all the buds off of it, so I swore them off.

Don't swear off Columbines Typ, they're so great and they seed so readily. I think their leaves look nice even when it's not bloom time.

Typ, do you want a columbine? My sister just dug one up from her garden.

Festiva Maxima is a great peony; I'm thinking of putting in a row of them by our front walkway....

Okay, SSG. I'll try it, since they seem to be so good for you guys. Thanks! :)

Somebody is eating the leaves off of my aquilegia. I read they are not considered tasty to slugs. Any guesses as to what it could be? This might explain why I have not been a successful grower of them...

Yeah only because it's happened to me this season. Look really closely at the leaves and you might see very tiny green caterpillars. They range in size from 3/8"-3/4" long and about 1/8" in diameter. They're hungry buggers for sure and they are very plentiful. I sprayed all mine with spinosad and that seems to have halted the problem.

Looks like Aquilegia canadensis is larval host for the Columbine Duskywing Butterfly, Wild Indigo Duskywing Butterfly, and the Columbine Borer Moth. The Columbine Sawfly and Stalk Borer apparently also enjoy feasting on it.

Karen--that's it---"Festiva maxima"----I just forgot it---nothing new.....

You have to be patient with new, bare-root Peonies. maybe 2+ years.
Did it have any "eyes" on it? The red pips sticking up?
That little root section you got has to settle in and grow roots before it
can do anything else. mark the spot--and wait.....
If I dug up a piece of mine--it would go through the same process...

Re sharing the Peony. I wouldn't mind--bit it has been in this tiny bed for
about 12 years....I have NO idea where I could dig a section off of it
that would, actually, grow into a nice bush for you.

I will try--please remind me in September. That is when Peonies can be divided.
Will put it on my calendar for September...

NO trade needed. I also have the deep fuchsia and a paler, common pink one.

We have quite a few potted Peonies for sale at the HD. Don't know what kind...
Will write me a note and check Sunday.
Usually, when we get anything special in like that--they are all one color.
Same if we get in Columbines.

BTW---We have loads and loads of Blueberry bushes. I found that out watering
everything "back across the street" (The Corral they set up on the parking lot) the other day,...

OK! Just ate my dinner sitting here--and now--back to digging and planting....
Bought more plants today at Chapel Hill Nursery. Some specialty annuals...