I hesitated to put in Nancy Gallant's name, but I thought you might have heard of her, Kayly. Small world, isn't it? That was my first day taking photos with my new camera, and most of the photos were of the dog. We keep our house really cold all winter, and therefore we let Annie grow out her coat thru the winter. I often comb her out while we watch tv in evenings, and she goes to groomer every 5-6 weeks. That day of dog photography was right before she got her summer cut. I am not sure about the breeder saying she "blew her coat", but I thought I read once their coat can thin out the first time they go into heat, maybe that's what happened.
Donna, I did take some photos today of Virginia bluebells at various stages of development. Some are new seedlings just an inch or two high, others are in a mature patch, about 7 or 8 inches high with flower buds starting to show color, others at in-between stages. Will try to figure out how to move the photos from camera to computer tomorrow; every time seems like the first time for me cause I don't use my camera often enough. I figure you might want to know how to recognize Vir. bluebells when they first appear, just in case they sprout in your yard. They are one of my very favorites, and i get kind of excited when they bloom. I have let a large area remain not-so-heavily-mulched to encourage self-sowing; now I need to figure out how to intersperse them with other plants which won't invade them, so that I don't have a big bare area the 2nd half of summer.
Nice day for yard work here today, boy am I dirty!
Cottage look for a shady area?
Oh, thank you Tiarella, I would love to see some pictures. I left the area around them unmulched and now I'm now pleased that I did.
And yes, it was a great day for gardening. I was out most of the day.
Donna
Mertensia virginica. Flower bud is starting to show the blue and pink colors. White violets have invaded the area. If you look on the far left, you can see a pair of soft burgundy leaves , upright, probably one or two inches tall, which is a Mertensia seedling. A week or two ago, when Mertensia first appeared, they are soft brownish-red, like rounded nubs poking up from the soil, easy to miss.
More young Virginia bluebells, i.e. first or maybe second-year plants, and early in the growing season. The hardest one to see is still soft red, just a bit lighter than the paver, and about 1.5 inches away from the edge of the paver. The pavers are 8x16 inches, by the way, to give you an idea of size.
Ella,
Yes! Thank you. That is what mine are. Your description of brownish red nubs poking from the soil describes it perfectly. It was be fun to see how big they get, I'll give you a progress report in a few days, with pics.
Donna
Fantastic! i am so pleased to know that you are seeing some.
I noticed there are a lot of photos in the Plant Files listing, including at least one good photo of the emerging "nub" while it is still reddish.
here are some of the plants I have in shady areas that I didn't see mentioned above.
styllophorum diphyllum (wood poppy) has golden yellow flowers and blooms for several weeks in spring and early summer....various epimediums....variegated Solomon Seal....Kirengeshoma (Japanese waxbells) has soft yellow nodding flowers in late summer....Eupatorium "Chocolate" is a large plant with purple leaves and snowy white flowers in the fall....Silver Moon Clematis blooms in the shade, flowers are silvery lavender....cimicifuga has 5 ft tall wands of creamy flowers....tiarellas....lathyrus vernus has sweet pea flowers in spring on a nice mounded plant....iris cristata, a tiny little purple iris that grows like a groundcover....and I have a tree peony in light shade that blooms like a champ.
Dear Ella,
My tiny mertensia are in bloom. I can't tell you what a thrill it is for me. I know it seems silly to those with the perfect conditions, but for me it has taken 11 years to create enough shade, under a Grace Smokebush and viburnum prunifolium, to get enough shade to grow them. I only have a couple, but with care they will have friends.
Thank you again.
Donna
Oh, Donna, I am thrilled along with you.
My patch is in full bloom right now and it is so exciting to see it. I have Myosotis blooming in a sunnier area closer to the patio, in the foreground, then the Mertensia in the background.
Ella,
It's just a beginning, but they are so sweet!
Donna
I'm taking good care of them so they will come back and bring friends. Thank you again, Ella.
Donna
Donna, keep a close eye out next year- you'll find seedlings here and there around the Va.bluebells :-)
And I will guard every single one!!!!
Donna
Hi! I just started my shade garden last year, when I bought my house. For the most part, I'm gardening in clay soil, which makes finding the right plants even harder. I'm just SO happy to see everything coming up beautifully this year! Here's some of what I planted. It may not be "cottage-y", but it's lovely nonetheless:
Japanese Anemone - Queen Charlotte
Astilbe thunbergii - Ostrich Plume
Astilbe Spinell
Monarda Marshall's Delight
Cimicifuga Ramosa (Bugbane)
Echinacea purpurea Primadonna
Echinacea purpurea Ruby Star
Ferns (Christmas, Ghost, Ostrich)
Aruncus Dioicus - Goat's Beard
Thalictrum Rochebruneanum - Lavender Mist - Meadow Rue
Chelone Obliqua - Turtlehead
Convallaria majalis - Lily of the Valley
Polygonatum - Falcatum Variegatum - Solomon's Seal
I needed some plants with height. The Meadow Rue and Goat's Beard show grow tall and are doing great, despite the lack of good soil. The leaves of the Solomon's Seal are beautiul. Going to plant lots of Columbine this year! There are more plants here, too, but this list is long enough, LOL!
Okay, you knew this was coming sooner or later - PRIMROSES! The perfect shade plant! And there are so many colors and varieties, too. This shot was in April, under the Maple trees.
Highmtn said: I put this plant in 3 year ago and it still memorizes me!
Now, if all your plants would memorize your name, you'd be all set!
(I think you meant to spell "mesmerize". he, he!)
Primrose Sue
LMAO....YES... I did mean mesmerize (smarty pants...:P). I was going to try and blame it on one of my foggy brained midnight posts, but I couldn't even do that. It was more a case of going mach one...and not proof reading before I hit send. I tell ya.. some of the things I see (that I've typed occasionally) BLOW me away. I'd like to swear someone hijacked my post and messed it up...but... I don't think so...lol It's just me being a menopausal dingy-bat...lol
Hey, I belong to the M D-B club, too!
Absolutely love this thread! Thank you so much - all of you - for posting so many great ideas. I'm pretty new to this gardening thing and have found so much helpful advice on DG. Just wanted to say thanks to you all!