April (Snow) Showers Bring (Dis-) May (-ed) Flowers--Before and After in my Yard

Kaufmanniana 'Heart's Delight' Tulips - April 17

Kaufmanniana - April 18

Hyacinth - April 17

Hyacinth - April 18

Primrose - April 17

Primrose - April 18

Photo of the Day - Tete-a-Tete Daffodil

This little early bloomer is vertically challenged--perfect for rock gardens or for forcing in pots for indoor use. It naturalizes and is so eager to bloom it will push through the snow for an early tease of spring color.

Daffodils in the Pachysandra

More Spring Blooms Today

Lenten Rose

 Puschkinia

Daffodils Blooming

Sunday it was sunny and low 80's and everything green and sleeping leaped into growth. The daffodils seemed to literally burst into bloom. Our spring season has been a little slow this year and the abrupt heat caught me a little off guard--everyone is loathe to turn the air-conditioning on in April here in Michigan. I stayed outside where I could catch a little breeze, but it was HOT.

My husband was in Chicago where it was even hotter--I think a high of 85! He viewed the home his elderly parents are moving into soon and it was insufferably hot and stuffy--systems are unprepared to switch over just yet. Daughter Marissa said she finally thawed out and experienced happiness in a tank top for the first time in many months.

Weather changes are always a mixed blessing it seems. Skiers pray for snow. Gardeners pray for rain. Golfers pray for no rain.  Early spring heat can make buds and blooms pop too soon, only to get nipped by frost-- if the deer and bunnies haven't already had them for lunch. Daffodils don't taste good and are tolerant of frost--and they are happily blooming!

Catkins Turn Yellow!

One week in the house and the catkins are blooming yellow

Catkins from a Garden Raffle - Winning Again

Salix discolor 'Rosea'

You wonder, what is a catkin? It is a spicate inflorescence, or in common language, a furry flower cluster. You say, what is an inflorescence? It is a cluster of flowers or a budding and unfolding of blossoms. As in the closeup above, the furry catkins are often silver, sometimes tinged pink, and turn yellow as they open up. The word catkin comes to us from the Dutch katje, meaning kitten, because of the resemblance to a cat's tail. Catkins can be flower clusters from other than a willow, but a salix is a willow. Here is another picture of the catkins, showing the length of the stems:

If you haven't figured out by now what I'm talking about, I am avoiding the p word, especially in combination with pink (Rosea) or the French variety, Salix gracilistyla to avoid any possible google search result that might not be for the common fuzzy stems that we cut and enjoy in the early spring!

Last night I went to a garden series lecture which included the raffle of shovels, fertilizer, books and plants. Two years ago an attendee won the aforementioned "willow" shrub. This year she brought back some stems to share and I was the lucky winner! I helped hold the door for her as she arrived and wondered what she was doing with the long stems (tied together with pink ribbon) that were almost as tall as she was. Now I, too, will pay it forward by attempting to root the stems for planting in the gardens of my friends that didn't win a prize.

I have that large teak vase from Indonesia and had been thinking I should put some tall forsythia or "willow" stems in it, so this was fortuitous for me. Every year I win this garden raffle. Next time I will leave my name out of the basket--I am embarrassed that I always win. Last fall I won a shrub and couldn't decide where to put it, so I over-wintered it in my sun room and will plant it in May:

Here is an after-dark unedited flash photo of the cute catkins. Somehow the flash reveals the pinkness which is not that evident to the naked eye. The photo at the top of the post was taken against a black sheet, raised high by my husband, so I'm sharing some credit with my assistant, whose arms quickly tired, held above his head. I feel like the photos are false, but this is how they turned out with flash and I rather like them.

Purple Crocus, Red Leaves & Yellow Stems

Quite a few crocuses are now open at Aunt V's. Charlie, with unbounded young dog energy, occasionally knocks a few blooms off.

Bergenia Cordifolia

I love the red emerging leaves and stems. The mertensia (Virginia bluebells) and the dicentra spectabilis (bleeding heart) are also springing up with fresh reddish stems that will soon turn green and bloom in blue and pink, respectively--before April showers bring May flowers.

Mertensia

Yellowed Daffodil stems

These are yellow daffodils--but they are not yet blooming today. This clump was smothered under leaves. With more than a week in daylight, including some very sunny days, they have not regained their green color. A lesson learned--clean up daff patch in the late fall or before spring, unless you like this bit of faux color in your garden.

I should have made this my April Fool's joke and just labeled them as first daffodils to bloom!!

Photo of the Day - Crocus

Finally a few crocuses opened up to bright sunshine today in Aunt V's yard. They have been shivering with temperatures in the teens and twenties this past week, but somehow these bold and hardy bulbs seem to survive the early spring cold snaps. I had to clean up the embedded leaves for this shot, but even emerging from their messy beds, these bright flowers were a happy harbinger of the sequential unfolding of blooming we eagerly anticipate once again this year.

Frozen Spring Rain

The droplets in these photographs are ice. We're not yet three days into a Michigan spring and this is what we get. But very soon the afternoon sun will stage a complete meltdown, so all we can do is drive cautiously and enjoy the beauty.

The Eve of Spring

SUPER MOON

I opened my back slider and snapped this picture at 11:49 PM, March 19, 2011--the day before the Spring Equinox.

There is nothing blooming yet in the neighborhood. The best I could do is this primrose that has buds that show some color, returning from last year and growing in a sheltered spot on the side of my garage.

Primula

WELCOME, SPRING!!!!

Berries at Target

My Final Photo of the (Last) Day (of the Year)

Taken at the local Target parking lot today

HAVE A BERRY GOOD NEW YEAR!

An Herb Garden in Central Florida

Rebecca's New Herb Garden - 12/21/10

 Having survived several frosty nights under the sheets, this herb garden was photographed as the car was idling in the driveway for our long trip home to Michigan. The previous day I had tidied a bit, removing the fallen leaves. The new soil was clean and pliable--oops, I meant friable* as one would expect from a professional mix. I am a little concerned that the many backyard squirrels will find it to be an ideal spot to bury their saved treasures. Also, by Michigan standards the location seemed too shady, but only time will answer that issue. It is serviced by the underground sprinkling system with a head emerging from the middle of the bed--probably strategically placed by the resident expert. (My highlighting turned it falsely blue). I like the angled placement of the two plots and the framing of the area with great rocks. It was nice to see green things growing again even if they needed to be tucked in a few times. Good job, Rebecca and Gustavo!

*Friable soil - easily crumbled--loose, open, un-compacted, well drained, allowing roots to expand and heavy rain or too much water to drain through easily

Flora in Florida

 

We are spending a week in Florida and even though it has been cold and even freezing overnight here in the Orlando area, we went to the ICE! sculpture show (see my other blog) and enjoyed a buffet lunch at The Palms, and strolled through the indoor gardens which were tropically warm and decorated thematically for Christmas. We sat "outside" at Villa de Flora for our lunch, surrounded by plantings, with a few koi in the pond and some small gators and turtles keeping company on a rock. Otherwise, I didn't see any bugs or creatures that would do damage to the perfect foliage and flowers of the gardens. I will include a few photographs, including the whimsical, the tropical and the seasonal.

Moss chairs

Perfect leaves

Lots of poinsettias

A find the bears activity for the youngsters

A tree of poinsettias

Poinsettias in a tree!

We ate lunch under the star (above, left)--it must be a magical place at night! Pictured here is a cinnamon tree (bark used for making the spice). I don't know where cinnamon trees grow but I think I have never seen one. I included it because I delighted myself with the thought that the cinnamon tree was, in a sense, seasonal-seasonal!