FIRST FLOWERS MID MAY 2015

Git a few more blooms to show you....they keep trickling in...

1--Again--my Clematis "Protea". Looks like the blooms could not wait
for the vines to climb higher before blooming. Always LOVE the odd assortment
of bloom characteristics every year ans the amazing, pale lavender color.

2--Closer look at a couple blooms of it.

3--This is the only stem of my "Multi Blue" Clematis that is struggling to survive
in just one, thin stem. They are so fragile--they break.
I need to fence in the frail stem at the base. So far--I have just these 2 blooms.

4--It used to be so awesome! Look! --2009.

Two more to bloom---The "Piilu" Estonian Clematis and the one with the most
impact--"lady Betty Balfour"...soon to come....will post when they open..

I love that clematis is blooming right now, when early bloomers have finished and summer bloomers haven't started yet.

My garden's in a bit of a lull, especially in the shade.

I'm *seriously* considering getting rid of a couple of my roses. I'm not interested in spraying for sawflies, which means they get so chewed up that they're weak and kind of sickly. I should really fertilize them more.

1--Question, This is the mama Hellebore leaves of the odd, pink, ruffled blooms.
Different fro the others. see next pics...

2--This one--with the amazing blooms...

3--Me thinks this is a seedling of it? There are a couple. Feels the same..a bit rough...

4--This is the white Hellebore....
5--And--I KNOW these are the seedlings to it....There may be many...


Holly--you have lots of seedlings---
How should I deal with them? Pot these tiny things up? In what size pots?
Then what? Do I just leave them outside for the winter then?

Have to clean up the debris around the others and see if I can find others....

Thanks, G.

Another amazing shrub! Not mine--but my neighbor, Olga's old Rhodo.
It has been there for ages...and the blooms are always so spectacular!
The color is amazing--and it always blooms so well--even though a few years,
I cut it back for her almost to the nubs. It had problems....

Can any of you ID this one? Just for my own satisfaction?

G.

I think that's Nova Zembla. A nice specimen Olga has there.

I get a ton of seedlings on some of the Hellebore, I usually fill a 4 in pot with some and give them away at the fall swap. Some I just leave be some just get weeded out as I can't seem to find homes for all of them. Way too many, my hellebore clumps are getting huge.

Very bright Heuchera blooms.

White Japanese iris.

3 and 5 are different peonies cultivars, both with peony rings. But #5 has such tall blooms that the rings don't support the stems.

4 is a noid clematis.

What beautiful blooms, SSG. I especially like your white iris. So elegant.

I haven't been tempted by Hellebores but if they are going in the compost...

ssg, when did you start planting at your house? I feel like you have added a lot in the last few years, thinking you were just starting out, but you do seem to have so much. Beautiful!!

Ditto what Sally said. I don't have any Hellebores because I wasn't sure I wanted them, but will take some seedlings at the next swap.

ssg, beautiful Peonies!
"Peacock" grid-style plant supports are very sturdy and I'm sure they would support your Peonies. What's really great about them is that you can adjust them as the plant grows and all of the component parts are interchangeable. The stakes are sold in a range of heights, and I'm positive there are ones tall enough for your Peonies.
After discovering these at Meadows Farms, I've stopped using just about all of my less-study plant supports. I really can't say enough about how great they are! http://www.peacocksupportsusa.com/support-stakes/

About roses and sawflies: I wonder whether the birds would take care of the problem for you if you put a feeder or birdbath right next to the roses so they spot them?

Thank you!

The first picture is the front yard when we bought it. Nothing but a couple of shrubs. I started planting in the spring of 2011. Boy, did I kill a lot of plants in the front bed in just four years! LOL

The back yard before and after the fence was put in during the fall of 2012.

Muddy, thank you so much for that link! I'll look into this, both for the peonies one monarda that keeps falling over.

I could try the bird bath method in one part of the yard, but not in another area where cats can hide easily. I just found out we have yet another cat lady in the neighborhood, which explains the sudden uptick in feral cats in my yard.

I've only seen your yard once; what does it look like now?

When you look at the plant supports, I suggest the ones that attach on the perimeter of the ring rather than in the center because they're easier to put in place after the plants have started growing. With the center support rings, the stakes will go right at the base of your plant. If that's all they have, I'd get some anyway.

I wonder if this will work here. Here are panorama shots of the back yard. Taken last month.

Edit: You have to click each picture to get the panorama.

This message was edited May 21, 2015 8:57 AM

The front yard now aka the death bed.

See the large azalea on the left? I got about 10 blooms this year. I'm going to give it a severe haircut and hope for the best.

SS--I had to chuckle a bit....I have a "YUK bed"--and you have a "Death Bed"...

Do not be afraid of cutting back your Azalea! Do it NOW--right after it has
finished blooming--as it will soon start growing new foliage for next year.

I cut my big Delaware Valley azaleas back every couple of years. I have to!
This one would completely encroach on my small walkway on the E. side
of my house that takes me to the back yard.
This bed is only 2' wide--yet it supports my big peony and my Proteus Clematis..
both a bit droopy with all this rain.
It is also smack against an old Canadian hemlock, on the corner of my house
which I try to keep trimmed.

More of the pretty. light blue iris in bloom in my S. bed.
Also--the deep purple ones have now opened up.

My Roses are also starting to open. This weather is not too kind, though,
to opening blooms of anything.

Jeff---

Olga's Rhodo may well be a Nova Zembia...Hmmmm.....
Back "then"--it was a very popular one to plant.
She has 2 more of them in the front of the house also.

I just thought that Nova Zembia was more, deep red???
I used to have one too by my front door...but it got that horrible root fungus
disease (name?) and I had to dig it up and get rid of it.
That spot is now where I have had my Bob Hope Camellia growing since 2000.

G.

wow ssg, you have been a busy girl!!

Gita, the azalea will be getting a severe pruning this weekend.

What should I do post-haircut? Do nothing? Fertilize? Boy, that is one sad-looking azalea. It looks even sadder in person!

Sally, the front yard has been the most challenging, because it's the most visible but also the most finicky.

After hard pruning, fertilize with HollyTone, availably most any garden center/home improvement store. It can rebound vigorously in just one year.

Gita, check out my pic of 'Nova Zembla' on May 17th. They're pretty darned close. That root fungus you spoke of is phytophthora.

SSG, what an improvement you've made at your place in the last few years! Great job!!

Look at that Sequioa not only is his yard gourgeous but I think he knows the name of every plant in it. Way to go!

SSG, Putting up that fence was the best thing you did in that yard. Exactly the backdrop for your lovely plants and no more intimidation from the neighbors dog. When you think of it, it's practically the foundation of the back garden.

Jeff---
You are right! It does look just like yours!...What a hardy variety it is!
It just blooms ans blooms--every year. Olga never does anything to hers.
She is NOT a gardener...I would, at least, remove the spent blooms.....
and I do--when she is not looking...

This side of her house faces mine--and both of these sides are "blind" sides--
meaning no coming and going --no doors on these sides, etc.
We seldom see each other...but--now and then I stick something in her bed
if I have nowhere else to put it...:o) And--I do water it when I an watering mine.
There is, probably, about 20' between out houses...maybe 25'?
That's Developments for you....

This pic. is from 20011. See that curving brick edging on the left? That is Olga's bed
in which this Rhodo grows--a bit further down. One of my "other" beds I take care of.

And--just to the right of the trellis by my house is that tiny bed and the D.V. Azalea .
It has also been there forever.....

You can also see that my WS Shrub was still in my little bed at the end of the driveway.
Paul and I dug it up and he took it home in 2013...I think?? That was "AN EVENT"
to remenber!!! Pretty funny at times...but we did accomplish it.

SS--

I just wanted to add that, when you are doing this serious cutting back
of your Azalea--DO look at the branch structures, and cut them with "shape" in mind.

Also--try not to go so low that the new growth will have to come from big trunks.
OH, it will in time--but just be a bit selective.

Yes! David's advice is good--DAH!...:o)---I was going to tell you the same thing.
You can pick up an 8lb, bag of Holly Tone at the HD. I think they also sell the bigger
20lb, bags where the lawn fertilizers are.

I buy all the "Tones"--and use them wherever applicable.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Espoma+fertilizers&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=rjxeVYvRLcumgwS61YPQAw&ved=0CB4Qsxg&biw=1280&bih=895

Gita

ssg, you really started with a blank canvas, and it looks so full and colorful now. Good job!

Gita, I like that light blue color; it's very pretty.

Holly Tone is great stuff; I put it on almost all of my shrubs.

These are flowers from my Utah daughter's new yard, and she wants to know what they are. The yellow ones look like Yarrow. Are the pink ones Peonies? I've never grown them.

Yes and yes.

Haha, thanks Holly.

Gita, I've started planting some things in my neighbor's yard across the street. I let them take care of watering though. He's a little fussy about his mulch so I just have to be careful not to muss it too much. My two next door neighbors get plants from me too but they plant them themselves.

One of my neighbors just put his house on the market, so I'm tempted to rip out some of the dozen or so Cherry tree saplings growing on 12 square feet of his land near my property line while I have the chance! I have nothing against cherry trees, but something tells me that many mature trees would be big trouble.

#1 Monarda bradburiana and NOID Penstemon "Lucketts". I love this combination.

#2 Monarda bradburiana and pink Anemone from Donnerville (ID?). I just planted Primrose and Corydalis sempervirens seedlings to fill in behind them.

Some of the flowers now blooming

1 - Sisyrinchium sp. - Blue-Eyed Grass

2 - Petunia 'Cha-Ching Cherry'

3 - Maianthemum racemosum - Solomon's Plume, woodland native

4 - Thalictrum aquilegiafolium - Columbine Meadow Rue

5 - Rheum palmatum - Ornamental Rhubarb

More flowers

Foxgloves just getting started:

1 - Digitalis grandiflora - Yellow Foxglove

2 - Digitalis purpurea

3 - Digitalis lutea - Straw Foxglove

and some more Irises

4 - Iris noID

5 - Iris noID

Muddy, I think anything within fifteen feet of your property, in a conjoined bed, can fall under "Oh, I didn't realize I was this far over the line..."

8 ^D

I'd LOVE to help the one neighbor tame their bit-too-wild natural back yard. She needs a trained eye for VIrginia creeper VS poison ivy etc. They had a bad incident tangling with the P ivy. I walked with her one day and IDed some things but for major ripping she'd need me to stand by. And I would like to help, but finding the time together...so hard.

1 - Tradescantia uncertain ID - Pat's favorite

2 - Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver'

3 - Lamium maculatum 'White Nancy'

4 - Campanula persicifolia 'Takion Blue' - Peach-Leaved Bellflower

5 - Hieracium venosum - Rattlesnakeweed

ha, I was so thoughtful, David got all that in while I was typing. How nice, yet again!!

I have a pink and two white 'pupureas' in bloom- been trying to get them to self sow but haven't yet. Thanks Gita for again supplying her volunteers.

The peach Iris, I believe that is the one I shared with you, which originally several years ago was leftovers from Jill doing a group trade thing?? I have it tagged High Spirited but can't say whether it came tagged or I just guessed
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/106894/

My iris are done but I just noticed blue eyed grass bloom last night. Peonies just starting, and hydrangea yet to come, oh my, that nice NOID one I also shared with Pat looks like it'll be fantastic again.

Oh, my! There's more!

If she's a Trad fan, you must take a bit of my darker colored ones. The way the stamens sparkle above the petals just so pretty to me, and the dark shows it off. And you could stick it out in the woods where it can spread without making anybody mad.

This was the first year for blooms on that peach iris and I am so pleased with it, Sally. And the hydrangea from you is loaded with buds. Seems very happy in its new home. The tradescantia is in a clump that just appeared at the edge of the driveway several years ago and keeps expanding very slowly. There had been two other clumps close by, each with a different color, but they seem to have almost disappeared. The one you describe sounds lovely.

Sally, thanks for the Iris ID, the tag escaped when we weren't looking. Thanks for the offer of some of your Tradescantia, we certainly can make use of it.

Sure thing!!! You will get a dark purple, a medium purple, and a pink. I think you can see them in my journal.

I love that iris, it is one that did NOT flop this year. Mine needs to be divided but I am keeping them all this time around.

Blanket big thank you to everyone posting pictures, while I am being lazy and not.

Sally, I looked at my label files, and there is indeed a 'High Spirited' that I got from the FSK iris society rhizome sale in 2008.