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.