Thursday, April 17, 2008

Adding Color or Spring, Where Are You?

The funny thing about this time of year? Everywhere you look in our garden you see this: a bed of dirt with some green 'sprouts' but nothing, and I mean, nothing, that resembles a whole plant, let alone a bloom. This is the front bed I built last spring, and expanded to double its size last fall. I have put roses in, lilies, several perennials, some evergreens, bushes, arborvitae, bulbs, and more... but right now, it looks like a whole lot of nothing. Nothing next to ice-burnt grass. Nice eh?


It was 70F today. I tell you, it feels so weird to have such warm temps and no real plants around me yet? The perennials are mostly between 2-6 inches tall, but nowhere near a bloom yet. Still, those 30 cent tulips I bought at Walmart look fabulous. The tulips I planted last fall, and previous falls should be blooming soon, maybe another week or so, but our daffs are just now poking through the ground. Oh, and look, a bee, hunting for pollen, likes my Walmart tulips, too. Good thing I am the only person in the neighborhood with some flowers!




The primrose on the patio was gleaming today, so perfectly yellow. This is another one of those 50 cents beauties I found.


Ivy
Theo's been turkey hunting most of this week, and I've had to keep busy around the house. I moved one of my larger ivy plants into a pot with a topiary mold in it. I used some tiny metal things I found in the garage, with two prongs and a flat middle to pin parts of the ivy all around this ball. As the ivy grows I can pull out the pins, re-tuck, and re-pin. Looks prety good for my very firs topiary, and it should do just fine in the house year-round. This ivy was on top of my entertainment center, getting no direct sun, and 4-5 hours of bright indirect light a day. I love being able to have live fresh greens in the house all the time. One time we went out of the town and a neighbor watered the "houseplants." His jaw dropped when he learned I did not have a single fake plant in the joint. Only about 60 real ones. LOL. This ivy is on the kitchen table right now.




Shopping
On Wednesday afternoon I also braved the local nursery and Home Depot with the kids to get some treasures. I found these (warning, the color will say Wa-Pow when you look at it) beauties, including three heuchera 'georigia peach,' lime rickey,' and 'key lime pie,' two 'dark bee' delphiniums, two creeping phlox 'emerald blue' and 'purple,' a red and gold columbine, a nemesia, and two small trees.





I spotted this 'Georgia Peach' heuchera (AKA: Coral Bells) from across the perennial section. I just could not resist the color of this foliage! And in part-shade, too. I love coral bells. All of my existing plants are coming back nicely, and this one should fit right in.





One of the trees I picked up is this Canadian Hemlock. I'm so excited to find a place for this giant- and it only cost $3.99.



Oh, and here's the threadleaf cypress I bought last week. It does look like a big head of hair, huh? The label says it gets 3 x4 feet big, I put it behind some of my newer roses in the front bed.


During my wednesday adventure at our local nursery I walked into the greenhouse and was hit with a heavenly scent; after I determined the scent obviously did not come from the gerananiums or begonias, I found a small area with nemesia. This variety is 'blue lagoon' and I swear it smells like lilacs.



Crocus
This is the first year I have these beauties out in the garden. I can't wait for them to naturalize, and spread all over. This is the first bulb bloom of the year!



Passion Vine

Where else can you find some color around here? In my dining room, of course! I found this passion vine for a steal a local nursery, for around $10. Around here, where passion vine is rare, and not a native, or often invasive plant, we pay a pretty penny for it- I have seen the passion vine sell for a minimum of $30 in our local nurseries. For some reason this one was in a small pot and priced less. I can't find the plant label at the moment, but its gorgeous no matter what its called. I fertilized this a few weeks ago, causing a rupture of blooms. It sits beneath a large picture window where it gets severeal hours of direct sunlight a day.



Just for my own record, my first lettuce & radishes came up today. I can see nearly ever perennial in the garden coming up except the joe pye weed, delphinium, red lobelia, liatris, and a couple of the divided coneflowers.
Yummy happy gardening to everyone!

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