Heads Down

I needed something different for my hellebores photos this year, so I went for a different angle: cloeups.

I always wanted this shy flower with its heads hung low. A few years back, I finally got the chance when some hellebores came up at a Master Gardener plant swap. I swooped up the container and asked the owner what type or color they were. She didn't remember. I didn't care - I got one.

But, I got two. What bloomed were two colors. I kept intending to separate them, but the lazy gardener that I am, never got around to it. They really need dividing this year, so maybe this is the year. What no one told me about this shade plant - it reseeds a lot and sires a lot of offspring. I find myself ripping out seedlings are the end of summer.

I hope to get a different color some year, and one of the later cultivars where the flowers are more upward facing. But I entertain the neighbors as they watch me photograph these lying on my back.

Perfumed Unruliness

This is commonly called white forsythia. I've posted about it in the past -- about its fragrance and its early blooming at the time of the crocus. I wanted to add a few more notes to my previous posts. It's blooming now, before the daffodiles, before the common yellow forsythia, and before the cherry blossoms. Its problem lies in that the blooms can be destroyed by a hard freeze if it comes late after blooming.

Abeliophyllum distichum is a member of the fragrant olive family, and a native of Korea. It acts like forsythia in that it is a wild misbehaving child that rambles around and looks terribly unattractive for most of the year. Just like forsythia, it is difficult to control into a well-mannered form. Its branches create unplanned offspring by rooting new plants if not kept off the ground.

But for those few days in early spring, it's worth it. The neighbors love its sweet perfume. They appreciate my cuttings of its branches, telling me how it perfumes the entire house with just three sprigs. Yes, that's true; it does.

I took some into a Master Gardeners spring meeting one year since it was blooming at that time. Most gardeners had never heard of it. Many experienced gardeners requested its name or some sprouts if available. I was the most popular guy at the plant swap later that year.

Deflated But Not Defeated

This Opuntia cactus spends its winter looking very sad. When cold weather rolls around, it gets deflated, with an appearace of being dead. It keels over, resting on top of the wood deck walkway. I would guess it is dehydrating, with only a little anti-freeze left in its veins and no water to freeze. When spring comes around, it will perk up happy to see you again.

Slowly Multiplying

Spring is in the air. Daffodils don't like blooming around here at this time of year. But, these Rip Van Winkle daffodils are anxious and budding already. Located at the south side of the brick house, protected from winds and severe weather, they are way ahead of the other bulbs just starting to pop out of the ground.

History: I bought and planted a few of them maybe 10 years years ago. They disappeared after flowering. After a few years and a few tears, one bloomed. I didn't know what it was at first! Since, I have been giving them encouragement every year. Look here - five buds this year!

Double Delicious

It's Christmas and this present was a bulb with a few pointed blips beginning. 'Double Delicious' has now blossomed into an adult. Brilliant red, and not double as its name suggests, but in reality a triple blooming amaryllis.

Notice the multiple blooms on one stem, and the second, shorter stem coming along. Also, althrough these are beautiful abd plentiful, there are other buds along the top waiting to take the place as these die off.

New St. John's Wort

Well, it's really not new but it's acting like it is. Two years ago during a very heavy snowfall, the large (I do mean large) photinias were knocked over. They shaded a good part of my rear yard fence garden, providing an environment for hostas, heuchera, astilbe, and ferns. St. John's Wort spread along the ground under them. I took the photinias out after they did not bouce back after the smow, and now most of the shade plants that depended on them are suffering through direct morning sun until about 1:00 in the afernoon.

St. John's Wort seems to be liking the additinal sunlight. I find that the plant has begun spreading its wings into the turf grassy area, and the new growth has really started to glow yellow like never before. A little sun makes it shine!

I also discoverred the older growth remains the evergreen color and is where the flowers are coming from. Flowers are still 'few and far between', and tend to pop up at verious times throughout the spring. It would make a more serious garden statement if they all appreaed at the same time.

I am going to replace the photinias with Swamp Magnolia - a Virginia native. I will need to wait a few years for it to grow to a size that can shade all the plants that were previously happy. I hope the hostas can survive that long - they are the ones most suffering. Maybe a move for them to more hospitable locations is in the cards this fall.

Poppies

The Lauren's Grape poppies always get a head start in the season. Most were spectacular this year, although the later plants were stunted a bit.

The pink peony poppies were runts. They began germinating in spring as the temperatures were setting records in the high 80s (high 20s C). For the past weeks, however, the weather has been a bit cooler that normal, but they still did not liek the hot April. There are blooms and I will save the seeds for next eseason and hope for mor appropriate spring weather.

All Daffodils

I really like these daffodils. First, they are reliable. No coddling or special treatment is needed. They multiply. I can't count how many of the orange/white I have given away. Third, they smell great -- especially the orange ones. The other regular typical daffodils I have do not have much of a fragrance.

The latest addition to the collection (the other two) was a gift of about 10 bulbs each a few years ago. They also multiply and now have formed two sizable clumps. I am sure dividing them this spring would result in another gift being passed on to more gardeners.

Not Open Yet

The Maholia buds came out recently. No blooms at first glance, but the lemony scent near the shrub proved that a few were releasing their fracrance on the warm day. It was enough to attract one pollinator, who was running from unopened bud to unopened bud looking for some treat. He left after realizing we are not yet open for business.

Spring Begins

The hellebores in the backyuard are blooming. I trekked out there after seeing some blooming in Old Town Alexandria last week. Located in their preferred backyard shade means they are out back in a place I don't visit often. The two colors are mixed together; although I had good intentions to separate them for years (maybe this spring?) They were plucked from a Master Gardener plant swap, and I don't believe the owner realized there were two colors in one container.

Summer Coneflowers

The summer conwflowers are looking wekll this year. This year, the pink/purple colors are the strongest they have been . I don't know why this happens. In some years they are lighter pink and in others they are more intenseely coloered. The best explanation I have is that sunlight/moisture affects them along with nutirents.

Crossed Daylily

A few years ago I started to cross daylilies and bearded iris (not with each other) ... becasue I could. I wanted to see what results I could achieve. This daylily bloomed two years ago for the first time and I was happy with the results. It's at it again this year.

I like the colors but do not remember what two I crossed. Its flowers are larger and more numersous than the other resulting crosses, one of which is blooming for the first time this year. Its colors are similar, but the stalks and flowers are a bit smaller, and the colors a little duller. It may be because of the plant size because the bigger plant propduces the larger blooms - it has been blooming longer and had more time to "leap."

Two others will bloom soon, but the buds are smaller and fewer. Maybe these plants need a few more years to develop.

I believe these two were the parents.