Class, today’s lesson is about the mercurial nature of garden plants; i.e., those plants that seemed to be thriving, then didn’t. Then did.
Case(s) in point:
This tulip, planted long ago by a former owner of the cottage, pops up every year. Last year? Nothing – not even a leaf – leaving me to conclude that it had met its maker. Thankfully, it’s back.
Or these hyacinths, normally blessing us with beautiful and fragrant flowers. Last year, the leaves appeared but there were no blooms. Yours truly thought that maybe they were reaching the end of their time here. (I discovered them while digging a garden bed on the other side of the cottage. They had flipped over under the ground, so they weren’t producing anything at all. I replanted them in the big garden bed and discovered the mystery bulbs were hyacinths.) Anyway, back to the subject at hand – this year there are blooms.
Or this oriental poppy, which usually provides the most vivid orange and purple flowers in the spring. Last year, it simply didn’t appear. Not even a leaf. This year, it’s back.
My conclusion: Last year’s winter was very mild. If you remember, we didn’t use the snow blower once. No snow pack to speak of at all. This year’s winter was another story entirely. Lots of snow, lots of cold weather. Therefore, I posit that these plants need a cold winter with the requisite snow pack to thrive in the spring.
End of class.
Really, I was thrilled when I saw these babies yesterday. I knew that the leaves of the hyacinth had broken ground, but not until I had the chance to examine them more closely did I see the flower buds. I started cleaning out the garden beds yesterday, raking the leaves/mulch that I leave there during the winter. That’s when I saw the tulip leaf. And there are tiny bits of hosta breaking the ground, catmint, bee balm, sedum, grasses and crown vetch as well.
I started off cleaning off the porch, sweeping and organizing everything. Then I raked the garden bed closest to the porch, filling the tarp with leaves, lugging it up to the area behind the shed. Then I moved on to the big garden bed. I got about 3/4 of the way through it when my back started complaining, so I stopped for the day. There’s a lot of work to be done out there, but I must say it feels so good to be working outside again!
Lilac buds.
Daffodils coming up on the edge of the woods.
More egg cups – the rooster on the left in another one made by Fanny Farmer, you can see the word Fanny on the base. It’s very heavy and was made by McCoy. A bunny, chick, duck, goose and another rooster on the right. The wooden man and woman set was a gift from a reader of this blog. The eggs are salt and pepper shakers. And the egg cup in the middle is from Prague (from Don.)
Congratulations to Jeannine, who is the winner of a copy of English Roses!
Happy Monday.
Claudia I know the excitement of seeing something bloom! A few things have come back this year but not all. I will add some new plants in front of Mom’s window since she enjoys the flowers so much. The birds have finally found her feeder. I just ordered a solar water fountain and will add it to a big tub out front for the birds. I bought a Hyacinth at the store the other day and it is starting to bloom! Love that color. My back is better but still aches, I might have to rest it a bit more. Enjoy your lovely spring day! Hugs!
I’m going to run to Lowes to get some gardening gloves and a couple of pavers. So happy to be outside again!
Hooray for greenery and flowers! I can’t hardly wait. :D
I know the feeling! It’s been a long winter!
hooray for new growth and future flowers! enjoy … and i hope your back feels better soon!
kathy in iowa
I’m babying it – still working outside but trying to be aware and careful.
Claudia, happy for you that you’re out in your garden again. I’m working out on mine today also. Lots of planting to do.
It was 77 here today, Wendy. Shockingly warm and tomorrow is going to be, too.
Is snow season over? It was mid-60’s and I never got around to planting. I was pruning the tree in front and that took a couple of hours. My green bin is full, so no more pruning an de trimming until next week. Hope to plant some ornamentals tomorrow. My daughter got the raised beds ready. The veg seedlings need a few more days in their egg carton before planting.
Oh, and I bought a new rake today, really light and able to squeeze into small spaces. I tried it out just now and like it.
I was using my child’s rake to clean out portions of the beds. It works really well.
I think it is! No more snow. It’s going to be over 80 degrees today. That’s not the norm and temps will soon fall to the fifties and sixties. But it’s so nice to feel the sun on my face when I’m working.
We were busy most of the weekend…so I never got outside to putz. The weather was glorious too! Nice surprises you found….good lessons to be learned. My irises have been up for white awhile, and now my daffodils. I think I spotted some hosta too…guess I better get out there and do some cleaning myself. Hope your back feels better! ;)
It’s not bad. I just have to be careful. I can hear Don’s voice in my head, telling me to be careful!
Spring cleanup seems to bring hope and the feeling of a fresh beginning. Always something to look forward to with the plants slowly coming through their leaf cover. Those aches and pains do let us know we’ve done real deal gardening! We have a container garden and it takes work, too but not as much as the beds. We have five topiaries and have found they can be trimmed while sitting on a chair; really saves the back ! Enjoy your garden time and all the rewards it brings; no other pleasure matches plants and a garden. Dianne
Nothing better. It’s a lot of clearing and that kind of work right now, but the payoff will be very nice indeed.
This is what I love best about this time of year. As new life begins sprouting again, suddenly you have hope for the future. And that’s sure something that we need so badly these days!
We sure do! This is keeping me sane at the moment!
Your egg cups blow me away!
Thanks for sharing your fantastic collection with us.
Peace,
Monica
You’re most welcome, Monica. More tomorrow.
I love yard work – it’s instant gratification. And if you have to quit in the middle because you’re tired, the mess is outside , not inside – like when you’re cleaning your closets!
Exactly!
Mother Nature is a real miracle-worker, isn’t she? We do really need the 4 seasons in some places for various plant life to exist. Uh-oh!! That seems a bit scientific, so we had better scratch that!!
Glad you are enjoying the yard again. It is pretty warm here again. Love having the windows open! I think we are back to the 50’s this week, though, so I will enjoy today for sure. Have a good Monday!
Windows are open here too! 77 today!!!
Happy to see your garden starting to bloom. Enjoy.
Marilyn
I am, Marilyn. It’s just the very beginning but it’s been a long time coming!
Oh, congrats to Jeannine! I’ve scoped out this book since you mentioned it, Claudia, and it’s a keeper.
Well, you’ve given me hope with the gardening lesson. My tulips seemed to want to force…then, nothing. I know they get too much sun where they are (fries them) but even in low rain years, they’d push up…so, in a good rain year like this go’round in SoCalif for 2016-2017 ‘winter’, why no tulips? I’ve been perplexed.
You’ve been doing a lot of heavy, hard work in that yard! My husband did much of the same yesterday; so many weeds from all the rain (the weeds and IVY, taking over everything all at once; gotta get a handle on it!). He planted my new bougainvillea, one of the rosebushes and all of my succulents for me; what a guy, bless him. I can’t be satisfied. I want another bougainvillea now; an orange one to go with my magenta. And I’ve decided I want to tear out a strange tree that seems to be strangled up on the hill and replace it with a western redbud. They are a smallish tree, blooming all over town; beautiful dark pink blossoms. I want one.
I couldn’t figure out something blooming in a pot we had; thought it was a volunteer veggie/squash and my husband revealed that he tried to transplant a hollyhock and it is ‘taking’…I can’t believe it…IN A POT! We have none at this house, so I’m thrilled. I love hollyhocks. He needs to get it in the ground soon. Poor guy; I’m keeping him busy. But I-myself did try to help where I could; I planted more peppers in the raised bed planter!
I’m not liking all the spring bugs, though. Why all the flies? It’s only April! They go for me; zero in on me. I guess it’s all the extra foliage and dampened earth, although we did have a manure component [hello] to some soil we bought (we’re also in a valley where there is a lot of agriculture, and they do fertilize those row crops more than I prefer [stinky]). Too hot for me today; was 86 degrees(F) in the backyard shade at 1pm. Humid, too. At 11am, I couldn’t even touch the car’s door handle comfortably; baking in the intense sun. Could see the ocean in the far distance when I was out & about and further up in the hills…and it’s a murky seascape this afternoon.
Rest that back!
I’ve been thinking about the tulips and I have remembered now that, at least in SoCalif where it’s generally mild, and we haven’t had much of a freeze in a few years, we can’t expect tulips to come back up every year and are essentially just supposed to buy new bulbs every early Fall AND put them in the frig to chill them before planting (none of this we did this year, so we really did reap when we sowed…NOT!). We just don’t get cold enough in my neck ‘o the woods, not lately anyway. Lilacs are the same for us. I hear about lilacs but never see them; don’t know anything about true lilacs. Sigh. My mother-in-law loved them in her Midwest garden. She always planted them near a front porch. I guess the scent was just wonderful. Perfume-y.
Lilacs need a hard freeze in order to grow. I grew up with lilacs in our backyard (in Michigan) and they are so lovely. I’m thrilled to have them here on the property.
I love hollyhocks! Since they are biennial, I’m afraid mine won’t come back this year. Sob.
It was 77 degrees here yesterday and it will be over 80 today. Not at all normal for this time of year.
I have much of the same plants as you coming up here…I have also been raking up the leaves that covers them all Winter..Today I did the area along the house where the Hostas grow…they are all green except for one that is green and white…it is smaller so it gets covered by the larger ones..this year I am going to dig it up and move it where it will have room to grow and spread!..I will be watching to see how all of your plants are doing!
So nice to see my old friends poking through the soil. I imagine these warms temps of the past couple of days will move them even further along!
Nature is pretty darn amazing! I’ve got basil that is reseeding itself all over the place. :) My Albany boy is very, very happy that the sun is shining again after weeks of rain, clouds and drear.
Isn’t that wonderful – basil reseeding? Perfect.
Today, unfortunately, your Albany boy and I are seeing some rain. But nothing big – nothing like the huge rains we’ve had lately. This one is a gentle rainfall.