Memorial Day--a LIttle Early

Memorial Day came early this year. We still have a week of May to go before the glorious month of June. Yet, the garden is coming along despite the vagaries in the weather to date.

My neighbor's side garden has been lovely with color:  a red and coral azalea, 

the rhododendron's purple hues against the silver feathery stems of  artemsia    

and the chartreuse leaves of hosta.  The yellow iris pops among them all.

I tend her garden bed as well as mine.  Many of the plants have been divisions of my own.

I moved the Siberian Iris in the fall. Her iris are blooming but mine are still just buds.

I have only morning sun, while her bed faces south for day-long sunshine.

My bearded iris on my south side are in bloom.

They are divisions from Belltown Garden Club plant sales in the past.

The bees are out, but my favorite bees are the worker bees (my husband and son)

who are mowing along the fence line to keep the weeds down.

My youngest grandson helped me finish up mulching the beds.

The peonies

and the poppies 

are ready to burst!

June is coming!

May Day -- a Little Late

No rain and the garden is responding with delayed bloom.  Last night we had some rain, finally.

The grass is green, the azaleas in full bloom, the daffodils dry from two days of 80 + degrees.

The frog didn't need his umbrella.  The rain gauge only shows 1/4 inch of rain overnight.

But the raindrops look like diamonds on the large Hosta leaves.

The fuzzy Lamb's Ears look a little wet and caught a few drops in their leaf bud cups.

Lily couldn't find a single drop of water in any of the Bleeding Heart blooms

when she visited two days ago

even though each is supposed to have one under normal conditions in Spring.

But the quarter inch of rain was enough to paint pastel colors of May:

blue Ajuga, pink Korean Spice azalea, and lime green Creeping Jenny on fresh mulch.

Finally, Spring Colors Arrive

Yesterday, as the sun came round the house around noon, I finally felt that Spring may actually be happening--at last!

The tete-a-tete daffodils looked lovely and the pansies had recovered from the frost the previous day. The cedar had regained its color.  The colors show even with the sharp shadows of the house just receding with the afternoon position of the late April sun.

The little tete-a-tete daffies are very lush this year.

They seem to be naturalizing like the larger daffodils in the rear garden.

My tulip project is going well. I planted 'Apeldorn' red tulips at my house and Sara's. They were supposed to bloom mid-Spring. Hers have already bloomed but my garden is always a week behind hers across the river.  I wanted them to bloom for the 25th anniversary of my Mother's death. Red tulips were my Mother's favorite flower and I used to have some red tulips that bloomed on April 30th, but the voles have eaten the bulbs.

I couldn't believe my luck that the bulbs I planted in the Fall emerged this year after the winter we've had and the hungry animals that call our community home.  A bobcat came up to sliding glass door last week!  Not that they eat tulips like the rabbits, but it does indicate how wild our environment has become again now that the development has matured.

Then, I had to save the blooms from those rabbits.  I used an old locker cage until they grew too tall. Being close to daffodils saves them somewhat as the rabbits and deer leave those alone.

And then I covered them with black netting until the buds grew 

through--almost-- and were caught in the net openings.

Set free yesterday, they bloomed today!  Success!

For you, Mom.  Thinking of you and loving you still.

Anna Pauline "Bobbie" Dayhuff

1928-1990

Lost Gardens of New England

Will Spring ever come?  After a full day of snow showers that did not cling to the lawn or roads yesterday, we awoke this morning to a coating of snow all over. It quickly melted as the sun came up and stayed shining for the whole day.  It was not much above freezing, but we ventured out to New London to the Lyman Allyn Art Museum to see a traveling exhibit, "The Lost Gardens of New England".

It was an interesting display of art, some photos, architectural renderings and landscape architects' plans.  Several gardens in Connecticut were included. I have visited  Roseland Cottage in Woodstock and the Harkness Mansion in Waterford. Both are being restored, but many historic gardens are now gone. There are parking lots or front entrance landscape beds where once lovely, planned estate gardens once thrived.

The exhibit also shows the history of garden styles in America and European influences upon their design. The gardens evolved over time to reflect architectural trends and changing American ideals. The exhibit did a nice job of showing all these aspects.

Here's a link to the exhibit in a multimedia presentation by Historic New England.

Sorry, I have no photos of my own.  A sign said they were not allowed, but a woman took photos of everything while she chomped on her chewing gum beside me!

Blooming!

Those daffodils bloomed overnight!
Spring is on its way!

New Life for Some Houseplants

I wish I had taken some photos before I began to prune.  But, here is what the Areca palm and the Ficus tree look like now:

They fit the space they call home in the corners of the living room at the clubhouse.

They have needed a pruning for a year or more, but this seemed to be the 

right time to give them some new life with pruning, adding potting soil, 

new sphagnum moss and some fertilizer.

A spritz of water on the old frond 

and that new frond that has not yet unfolded 

should help to keep the dust down.

When I bought the moss and potting soil at Paul and Sandy's

I saw some plants that I just had to have on the coffee table

to get me through to Spring in 2 weeks.

A primrose, some Tete-a-tete daffodils and 

a Codlaeum variegatum (as labeled).

I would call it a croton.

Can't wait for the  daffodil buds to open.

I hope the croton does okay in the cool room.

Maybe the temperatures will be more moderate in the coming weeks?

I couldn't resist a new cyclamen.

Spring has arrived at my house!

Orchids Blooming at Home

I came home to all three orchids blooming at once!

That hasn't happened in a couple years.

Thanks to my neighbor who carefully tended them 

while I was away.

They look so wonderful with snow behind them out the window.

Yes, it's above the window sill!