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What's up/blooming

Choose locations to plant fall bulbs now

March 10, 2010

In January, the snowdrops in the Secret Garden looked like this:
This Sunday just passed–March 7th–those same snowdrops looked like this:
Such are the vagaries of an upstate New York winter. Since then, the temperatures have been mild and the sunshine brilliant, and the snow is receding. This, my fellow cold climate gardeners, is the best time [...]

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Forced Bulbs: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day February 2010

February 15, 2010

The bulbs that I am forcing have started to bloom. I put one hyacinth in a forcing glass into the basement on November 29th. I potted the rest up on December 5th. I brought them all up when I saw green tips emerging from the bulbs. I now realize this was too early. According to [...]

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January Thaw Discoveries: Plants

February 7, 2010

The January thaw of last week provided me with an opportunity to “check under the hood”–or, in this case, under the snow cover. It’s always thought provoking, prompting me to think about how different plants respond to this cold season. This snapdragon looked perkier the last time I saw it. I don’t think it [...]

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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day January 2010

January 15, 2010

There’s Nothing Blooming Outside
The plants I saw two and a half weeks ago are buried under snow.
No Houseplants Are Blooming
The Christmas cactus that provided a bloom this time last year dropped its one and only blossom a couple of days ago.
My Forced Bulbs Aren’t Ready Yet–Neither Hyacinths
My forced hyacinth is just barely getting started:

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Winter Thaw Discoveries

December 29, 2009

Even in a cold, snowy climate, there are often thaws, periods where it warms up (that means, above freezing), the sun shines, and you may even lose snow cover. In my case, while Oklahoma was getting buried under a record snowfall, it was raining here, and then, on this past Sunday, the sun came out. [...]

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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day December 2009

December 15, 2009

A few Johnny-jump-ups (Viola tricolor) sport raggedly blooms amidst the patchy snow. That’s it. That’s more than I’ve had in other years. November was mild; December’s lows have been in the teens (F). Not as bitter as some winters, and violas are tough. There hasn’t been enough snow to smother them.
Inspired by the words of [...]

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Still Blooming: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day November 2009

November 16, 2009

I was going to blather on about how this November was milder than last, but when I checked, I discovered that’s what I said last November, too! It was more typically cold in November 2007; however, the larches had more needles left at that time than they do this year. Not sure why that is.

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A Good Year for Witch Hazels

October 20, 2009

It is a family tradition to walk up the hill and into the woods this time of year to seek out the witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blossoms. This is a native shrub or small tree that prefers moist, acidic soil–which we have in abundance.

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Colchicums: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day October 2009

October 15, 2009

You might think after a 26F freeze there would be nothing left blooming in the garden, but you would be wrong. The colchicums continue to shoot up new blossoms. Pictured above is Colchicum autumnale ‘Album’.Early on in my colchicum acquisitions, I discovered three different varieties that, to my eye, were indistinguishable. It turns out a [...]

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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day September 2009

September 15, 2009

Annuals
Our growing season is so compressed, that most annuals are only now looking their best. My children like to grow zinnias every year, and the bright colors of Renee’s Garden Crayon Color Zinnias really appeal to them. They like both the Cool and the Hot. (As a member of the GWA, I received the [...]

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Black Negligee Actaea and Angelica Gigas

September 8, 2009

I first became acquainted with Angelica gigas in the pages of A Year at North Hill, some fourteen years ago. I’ve wanted to grow it ever since then, but acquiring it proved problematic. The information I found in those pre-internet days said that it did not like to be moved; start it from seed where [...]

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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day August 2009

August 15, 2009

Here are a few highlights of my August garden.
I purchased a twenty-bulb mix of Oriental lilies twelve years ago, and only a few of them remain, but they are very vigorous. I know I got them twelve years ago, because I planted them the same spring my son was born. The same spring my gall [...]

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Endless Summer Hydrangea Has One Bloom

August 13, 2009

Every day I take a walk around my garden, and check my ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangea for buds.And every day I sigh, and walk away disappointed. But one day I was on my knees, weeding a bed about six feet away, and happened to glance over at my bloomless shrub.

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