Photo of the Day - October Annuals

October 2, 2012 After a funeral at church

Late September Afternoon in the Garden

Late to be planted, the dahlias are finally blooming today

Limelight hydrangea and salvia

Asters and celosia

Morning Glory growing up on variegated porcelain berry vine

Photo of the Day - Rain on the Pergola

Photo of the Day - Flowers by the Pond

Photo of the Day - Pink Hibiscus

Begonias in a Circle - 2012

Begonias and companions at church have thrived in the heat wave.

Photo of the Day - 'El Desperado'

'El Desperado' daylily, know for its high bud count, blooms today at Aunt V's

Blooming for Independence Day

Easter Lily - July 2, 2012

Another Lily - Sunshine after the Rain

Asiatic Lily

First Blooms on my Asiatic Lilies

'Hair' Allium

Photo of the Day

Variously described as butt-ugly or oddly attractive by other gardeners, this mutant allium always looks like a bad hair day. If you look closely, this one even has some spider web work.

Iris - All Pretty in Blue

Peony - All Pretty in Pink

Bloom of the Day - Camassia

Camassia (Quamash) beginning to bloom today in my yard

Dwarf Lilac in April

Dwarf Korean Lilac about to bloom in April

Today I checked on the dwarf lilacs at church. Although lilacs have been blooming for weeks, the dwarf Korean lilacs bloom later--but not in late April! It is cool this week, but they will soon pop into full bloom, given a few warmer days.

I have a feeling that I'm sounding like a broken record this year, constantly referencing the early blooms in West Michigan...

 I am always amazed at the quantity of blooms on this lilac, one of a pair. I trim and deadhead the lilacs every spring, when they have finished blooming. This potted shrub is fertilized, but  also remains confined to a modest container. Often it gets neglected on hot summer days. It requires hand watering, receiving no rain from April through October, the season it remains under the overhang.

 Frank will be happy with it if he is able to catch a glimpse of it this week--how could one expect any more exuberance from a plant? Can we say "irrational exuberance?"

The Month of In and Out - for the love of a plant

A few of the April in-and-out plants

Everything in the garden is early this year, jump-started into growth by that mad March heat wave; but West Michigan is not typically safe from frost until the middle of May. I over-winter some outdoor plants in my sun room and basement. Some of the geraniums that were brown-bagged are doing well. I also saved my daughter's two Boston ferns--one up and one down. They are a little shabby, but alive and ready for a new season outdoors.

 I am also starting some of  the saved dahlia bulbs in pots. I don't have a greenhouse--only a sun room, which is getting very crowded. The leftover Easter Lily from church is finishing its last bloom but may not be hardy enough to put in the ground yet. On a nice day when I have the time, many things are moved out on the deck--and then when a frost warning is issued, they are covered with a sheet or come back in for the night, inelegantly spread out on black trash bags.

Thus April becomes the month of IN and OUT. I can't wait for May so that I can clear the clutter! Every year I say I will save less, and then I can't bear to see all the beautiful things die with the first fall frost.

I have given away only one of my saved and restored geraniums so far and have prematurely planted some dahlia bulbs in a half-whisky barrel planter. I will have to cover them if they emerge and a frost is predicted. One pot of dahlias which I forgot about on the deck one night got singed with brown a few nights ago when the temperatures reportedly dipped to 32 degrees--I was not up to see the frost. The sun had burned it all away by the time I emerged.

The ten-day forecast predicts two nights of possible 32 degree lows and one night of 31. That's close--most things will be okay but I will have to take the cannas and ferns and dahlias and geraniums in.

If I only had a greenhouse--even a cheap thing with clear plastic walls, then I could stop this insane IN and OUT ritual.

Blooming for Easter - Amaryllis

Opening up for Easter this year was this old saved-in-the-pot bulb which is popular at Christmas time. I never know when my indoor plants will bloom. They are on their own schedule and sometimes thrive on neglect. Taller this year, and double-bloomed, my "Easter" Amaryllis was welcomed--substituting for my usual Easter lily. One could say that the red is for the Good Friday Christ on the cross and the white is for the risen Lord of Easter Sunday. This bulb was buried a little longer than Jesus Christ. I believe the bulb was in the ground of my indoor pot for nearly a year since it last produced a bloom.

I need to learn how to continue to grow this plant. When does it need repotting? I have been lucky so far, not really knowing what it needed in dormancy. I don't have a greenhouse. Saving plants and bulbs is a bit of a pain. But how can one just throw something this beautiful into the compost bin? I believe it was given to me by my sister-in-law R. I love the challenge of nurturing a plant to health and beauty.

Today in My Yard

I can't believe it is still March! Spring has sprung way too early this year! I was gone for a week and totally missed some blooms. The petals on the early Kaufmanniana tulips have mostly dropped, having faded fast (I'm sure) on that day last week which reached a record-setting 87 degrees, in the heat wave that the jet stream, which lingered across much of the United States, delivered while I was (slightly cooler!) in Florida.

The old-fashioned bleeding hearts are waiting to open fully now that the weather has cooled to a more normal March temperature:

Another more happy early bloomer is this primula:

The hosta will be very vulnerable to an April frost. I have too many to easily cover, so I'm hoping for warmer weather to continue:

This autumn joy sedum has been growing fast as well:

The tulips, popping out of this vinca vine bed, are very tall for March. A few have opened but it is too cold for them today. They open almost immediately when brought inside.

This variegated hydrangea has never been protected and never had growth on its old wood. I will cover this one if we have frost and hope for my first bloom ever:

Last year the early tulips were enjoying an April blanket of snow in the third week of April. Now they have already bloomed and dropped dead by March 31! Here are two photos from 2011:

Kaufmanniana 'Heart's Delight" tulips on April 17, 2011

Tete-a-Tete Blooms signal an early spring in Michigan

Tete-a-Tete daffodils

These petite daffodils with bright nodding heads are in full bloom today in the church garden. Other daffodils are showing color as well. I saw my first blooms around town yesterday, accelerated by some record-setting warm sunny days here in West Michigan. The cold tolerant crocuses are already going limp in the pre-spring heat wave and buds on all shrubs and trees are getting dangerously large and vulnerable.

Geraniums - Budding in the Bag

Last October we pulled out the several dozen geraniums at the church garden while they were still in full bloom. I tossed as many as I could fit into two brown yard refuse bags. They were in the garage until Thanksgiving and then in a cool basement room. When I checked last week, about half of the geraniums had sprouted in the sealed bag, as in the above photo.

After one week in the sun room, the sprouts had turned green and grown. One plant even had a tiny bloom. I have tried this before with limited success and always marvel at the miraculous power of the plant to regenerate. If I recall correctly, I read that this only works with geraniums grown from seed.

Now--will I be able to keep them alive to thrive until May 15 or so, when they can be moved permanently outdoors?

Closeup of one week out-of-the-bag growth

Closeup of tiny bloom

Overwintering the Mandevilla Vines

Summer - 2011

Not wanting to chance an early frost, last October George and I brought in the seven blooming mandevilla vines, in their planters, lifting them into a garden cart, rolling them into the elevator and setting them on tables in a cool room in the church basement. This is the second year of overwintering. A weekly watering schedule was arranged. Over the months, the vines yellowed and dropped almost all their leaves. They were overtaken by spider mites and last week I noticed a few fat green aphids as well. There were still signs of new green growth.

It was intervention time--either that or toss them all into the compost pile. Today was 40 degrees and sunny.  And this is what I did. George helped.

Rolled them out on kitchen carts.

In spite of the snow, it was 40 degrees F and sunny.

Hooked up a hose with nozzle and sprayed the dry leaves off.

Sprayed them with insecticidal soap. Removed dead leaves from soil. Trimmed some of the dead ends. Notice the sweet potato vine tuber that remains.

Upped contrast shows the green that remains.

Finally, poured on some Osmocote and rolled them back in. 

They will be taken to the grower's greenhouse by the third week off March where they will enjoy green house conditions and hopefully be treated for any insects that remain. Will they come back to bloom again and be ready for roll out for one more season at the end of May? It would be something of a miracle. The return of new green growth each spring always seems to me to be a bit miraculous

Cyclamen Blooms - Photo of the Day

I have had this cyclamen for a few years. It overwinters in the basement, often losing all  its leaves and has not had good blooms. This year I put it on the deck for the summer in filtered sun and fertilized it heavily this fall. This is the bloom captured on New Year's Day, with the top of my Christmas tree in the background.