Lovely Hellebores
I’ve always wanted to have some hellebores or ‘Lenten Rose’ in my gardens. They’re fascinating plants, perennials that bloom at a time when usually only bulbs are blooming. Last year I finally bought one from my friend Scott from Working Gardens when I went to his plant sale last spring. I’ve been waiting for them to bloom. I was super excited 2 weeks ago when I noticed the blooming getting ready to come out.
Then last week they came out beautifully. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of green flowers, and this is one of my new favorites.
I’m always happy to find a plant that thrives in shady gardens. Since I have so much shade I like to find things besides hostas that I can include in my gardens, which is kind of funny since I have a friend that loves hostas of course has a super sunny garden and wishes he had more shade so he could grow more hostas. I can’t wait to get a few more hellebores for my gardens.
Do you have any newly acquired plants you really like?
or don’t like?
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Sunny Yellow Daffodils
Daffodils are workhorses when it comes to flowering spring bulbs. They’re tough as nails and seem to take whatever you throw at them. I have a few planted in dry sandy areas and some in wet clay areas and they all do well.
On Wednesday morning I noticed the first daffodil blooming in the front garden. This is a bulb that I planted last fall. It looks like the wild daffodils you see blooming along the roads here in rural Ohio.
Daffodils are lovely spring flowers, their sunny colors seem to come when the days get longer and brighter. It’s like they bring the sun with them when they bloom. I have several different kinds of daffodils, so I will have these lovely yellow blooms for many weeks in the garden. Since they contain a poisonous crystal, I don’t have trouble with the local wildlife feasting on them like I do with tulips and crocuses. I’ll keep adding more to the garden since I know they’ll actually make it to the blooming stage.
Personally tulips are my favorite spring blooming flower, but with the deer around here I don’t get to see many of mine bloom. I have to resign myself to going to the Longwood Gardens tulip show to see them and settle for growing daffodils in the gardens here. But according to the National Daffodil Society: Depending on which botanist you talk to, there are between 40 and 200 different daffodil species, subspecies or varieties of species and over 25,000 registered cultivars (named hybrids) divided among the thirteen divisions of the official classification system.
Looks like I have a few more varieties I can incorporate into the gardens. Old House Gardens has so many wonderful heirloom varieties. Perhaps this fall I’ll buy a few new kinds.
What’s your favorite spring blooming flower?
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The First Bloom of the Season
When we first moved in here I planted 300 crocus bulbs (and some tulips, daffodils etc). The following year I ended up with only 1 crocus bloom thanks to the chipmunks around here. I never planted any more, so I usually only have 1 crocus that blooms.
My mom has tons of them that bloom in her gardens, they’re so lovely. She sent me a few photos of hers, they were blooming last week.
This year I spotted one blooming in the front flowerbed and I’m not sure where it came from. It’s right by a hydrangea I planted 2 years ago, so maybe it came in the pot with that. I was out taking photos and was there at the right time because I got to see one of our bees gathering some pollen. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
I would love to plant more crocuses in my garden, I’m trying to figure out how to do with while keeping them safe from chipmunks. I’ve read you can plant the bulbs in baskets. I’ve had good luck sprinkling tulip bulbs with garlic to keep them from digging them up right away, but I’m thinking they’ll still eat them later, when the garlic washes away.
What’s the first thing to bloom in your garden? Anyone have any great tips on keeping chipmunks, moles & squirrels away from bulbs?
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It’s Spring Indoors
Remember those forsythia branches I brought inside last week to force? They’re blooming and bringing a little bit of sunshine into my dining room. I thought I’d share some of that sunshine with you today.
I’ll be cutting some more branches today when I’m at my mom’s and maybe some pussy willow branches as well. It will still be a few months until these are blooming outside. Until then, I’ll be enjoying a little bit of spring inside. Who need Valentine’s Day roses when you’ve got these?
What helps bring brightness & happiness to your day?
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Native Witch Hazel
The native witch hazel has been blooming for a while. It blooms much earlier and is less showy than it’s cultivated cousins. These photos were taken about a month ago.
Witch hazel is an understory tree, so it thrives in the woods or along the edges of the woods. It prefers the cool shady areas and with too much sun it will produce fewer blooms. These trees are located in the woods to side of our gardens. What a great plant it is since it blooms at this weird time. When the rest of the natural world is preparing for winter it bursts forth in radiant blooms, which will last into December.
Hamamelis virginiana was one of the first New World plants to be adopted for ornamental use by European horticulturists. As early as the mid-17th century, the plant was growing in private botanical collections in London. And it’s been a perennial favorite ever since. Witch-hazel has a rich history of use outside the garden setting. Traditionally, branches of H. virginiana were used as “divining rods” to locate underground sources of water. Also, extracts from the leaves, twigs, and bark were used to reduce inflammation, stop bleeding, and check secretions of the mucous membranes.
Since witch hazel usually blooms after most of the pollinators are gone, it doesn’t often produce seed. I think with the warm weather we’ve had this year, I may be able to find some seeds next year to plant along the edges of our woods.
What native shrubs or trees do you love?
