Spring is officially here and it seems like the daffodils were waiting for the memo. They are in full bloom now and their yellow flowers are a bright and happy sign that the cold dreary days of an extra long and extra cold winter are behind us. Sure we’ll have some cold days ahead, but those are little dips in the road compared to the vast valley of winter we crossed. One of the spots in my garden where I have daffodils is a small garden just above our patio. It’s actually a raised bed made from retaining wall blocks and was part of the patio project two years ago (one of the first things we attempted to improve our former foreclosure lot.)
Inside this garden bed there are hyacinths (which are currently turning the patio into a very fragrant place to visit), daffodils, Muhlenbergia capillaris or Muhly Grass, a Japanese maple I was given for fathers day, some Ponytail Grass (aka Mexican Feather Grass or botanically Stipa tenuissima), a sedum, sage, some irises – white rebloomers (we’ll have to wait for late April or May to see them), and hopefully some poppies. Everything has its own season and this garden should provide pretty good 3 seasons of interest.
Similar scenes are beginning to reveal themselves all over the yard – isn’t spring the best time of year?
My Favorite Native: Honeysuckle!
This time of year the native honeysuckle growing on my arbor is one of the showiest flowers around. Tons of flowers are covering the controllable version of lonicera. The native honeysuckle goes by the name of Lonicera sempervirens and not Lonicera japonica. I have the…
Name That Plant: Hosta
There’s no denying it . The most recent Name that Plant was indeed a hosta. This one is a ‘Patriot’ hosta I picked up at the end of the season last year. It was named the Hosta of the Year in 1997. It has some…
Plants with Cool Foliage: Silver Mound (Artemisia schmidtiana)
Could their be a more aptly named plant than ‘Silver Mound’? Artemisia schmidtiana has several common names like wormwood, mugwort, sagebrush, or just silver mound (which to me is the most descriptive.) This mounding perennial has soft silvery gray foliage that invites the casual observer…
The Fall Color Project 2009
It’s time! I’ve already noticed a few leaves of the cherries and sassafras beginning to turn colors on their way to some fantastic fall foliage. Our August temperatures gave us a preview of the weather ahead but it couldn’t show us the potential color show…
Dear Dave … that looks wonderful and reminds me of the spiral garden I really want to build this year ! .. My bulbs are just waking up with their greenery .. it will be some time before they flower BUT I know they will and that is keeping a smile on my face when I look at them : )
Joy
What a cute garden area….yessir, Spring is a wonderful time of the year!
Spring has to be my favorite time of year! The city and county clean up the roadsides, the hummers, butterflies, bees return, fresh air fills the house and all the sleeping plants are awakening…