The weather this past weekend was perfect. No rain, lots of sun and warm temperatures have given all the plants the kick they need to break their dormancy. Hopefully they will remain safe from any heavy frosts.
I’m looking forward to seeing the blooms on this Sargent Crab Apple (Malus sargentii). It was a just sapling a few years ago (sent as one of 10 free trees from the National Arbor Day Society) and now stands somewhere near ten feet tall. This native of Japan has grown very fast with a full sun location in our front porch garden.
The newest tree addition to our gardens is a Yoshino Cherry. It’s the second Yoshino that I’ve added in the last two years. This one has found a home behind the rain garden where it should receive a good amount of moisture in a full sun location.
Here’s another shot of our Bradford pear tree. The warm weather has signaled the pear trees in our area to begin their blossoming, effectively turning our neighborhood into the land of Q-tip trees. Pretty but way overdone!
This sad little corner of our yard will grow up in time. In our front curb garden I planted a few forsythias, daffodils and a purple leaf plum tree. I was lazy and didn’t bother to mulch until late in the season last year. Originally the plum tree was in the Birdbath Garden (original layout) but I moved it further away from the deer as it seemed to be a delicacy. The forsythias are tiny but will grow larger over time. They came from last year’s plant swap and the National Arbor Day Society. When they grow a little larger I’ll transplant them further apart. Forsythias are very easy to propagate by tip layering or through cuttings.
Only a couple of flowers have bloomed on the forsythia and I really don’t expect many more this year from these young plants. This year will be a year of green growth for them.
One of the hyacinths that I lost is blooming beautifully. I’ll have to move it after the blooming is complete since it is partially underneath a landscape timber.
The sedums are coming along nicely.
I believe this is Sedum seiboldii. I was worried that it wouldn’t come back this year but thankfully my fears were unfounded!
Here’s my favorite sedum, ‘Dragon’s Blood’. I like it partially because of the name (I’d still like to get a little dragon statue to put next to it) and partially because of the burgundy colored foliage.
Things are definitely shaping up for spring!
Dave, Everything looks wonderful, happy, healthy and smiling~~I do hope you get a dragon for the dragons’
blood bed…It will be perfect. gail
Your garden is coming to life right before our eyes. All that hard work you’ve been putting into it is really paying off. The Dragons blood sedum is very striking, I need to find some of that to add to my garden. That deep burgundy red is my favorite color! 🙂
your garden is looking good. I love sargent crabapples and yoshino cherries!
Spring has come to your garden. Mine is still waiting. The dragon’s blood sedum is very cool.
It’s all looking good Dave!
I love how you have plans ALWAYS! There’s so much going on all the time there. Thanks for sharing it all!
I don’t think your sedum is Sedum sieboldii. Sieboldii looks very much like eucalyptus and it has a growth pattern where it grows from a central crown, in a ‘spray’ pattern. The leaves are opposing. Whatever sedum you have there is beautiful, though!
We have ‘Dragon’s Blood’ sedum and have had it for many years now. I’m thinking I need to cut it back and let it grow again, because it’s got a lot of bare stem, with a flourish of growth on the ends.
Hi Dave. I was looking at your sargent crabapple and reading about it. I was amazed that it is now 10ft tall after receiving it just a few years ago. I too received a sargent crabapple tree from Arbor Day and it was a 1.5-2 ft tall tree in the mail two years ago. It is now 4ft tall. I am in zone 7 in Tennessee and am curious what zone you are located in so know what to be looking forward to if we are in the same zone. My leaves are just coming out also. I hope it blooms this year. I heard it only blooms every other year. Can’t wait to see more pics and here about more progress. Thanks.
Gail,
That one has to be approved by the committee. (Jenny ;))
Racquel,
It’s great! I put some of it in our Japanese maple garden next to the patio to hopefully take over as a ground cover.
Thanks flowrgrl1!
Gardeness,
It won’t be long! Just a couple more weeks for you! Hang in there. 🙂
Thanks Darla!
Kylee,
It’s a mystery then still. The flowers look very similar to Sedum seiboldii. I’ll keep looking for a positive ID, unfortunately the plant was not labeled when I bought it. I would trim it back and take all the trimmings and bury them in the ground nearby. The root very easily!
Traci,
The thing that spurred on the growth last year was keeping the suckers in check. It grew very rapidly. It’s also in a good location with sun and moisture, at least when there isn’t a drought! I’m considering trimming the top down a little to encourage a more bushy tree. It sounds like your little tree is where ours was last year. Just keep the suckers pruned back and it should grow nice and tall. We have a second one that is only about 3 feet tall that we got at the same time. The deer decided it needed pruned. Hopefully it will come along this year!
Thank you. We are suppose to be getting freezing rain today. Little bit worried about that considering it is just leafing out. I appreciate your advice though.