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.