Cold Climate Gardening

There’s no more denying it: winter’s right around the corner. Wait! is that snow falling outside? Shucks. Winter is here. I’m not going to say “already” because there’s been other years when we’ve had enough snow to go sledding at this point, and that snow falling out there today is having a hard time sticking and accumulating. Oh, you want to know what’s blooming in my garden? The only thing that was blooming in my garden yesterday and looking like it was enjoying it was the Johnny-jump-ups:
(There’s a reason why they’re called cool weather annuals.)

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Unseasonably warm autumn
Thanks to our unseasonably warm autumn, many of September’s flowers are still lingering around. We just had our first frost on Saturday morning (13 Oct 30.4F;-0.8C) and the leaves haven’t really turned color yet, and usually by now they are almost all off the trees.
Cut back and came back
I had cut the mallow and yarrow back and they are reblooming. The phlox was deadheaded and sprouted four blossoms from the original stem. This particular phlox is blooming in a stand of ‘Bright Eyes,’ and I presume it is a self-sown seedling. It is taller than the surrounding phlox and a deeper pink, and I think I like it better, so I am going to see if I can encourage it.

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Currently blooming in my garden:
These flowering tobaccos (aka nicotianas) were grown from seed saved from last year.

Petunias, including two full hanging baskets that I bought for a buck each from Lowes in late August.

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Larkspur ‘Sublime Dark Blue’Ah, yes, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day has rolled around again. I always seem to have trouble finishing these bloom day posts on time. Even though I take photos for days ahead, the actual middle day of the month always seems to be a busy time. I should probably make it short and sweet, but making anything with words short seems to be difficult for me. I wanted to start off with larkspur, just to astonish all those Austin bloggers who seem to think it is a spring blooming plant. Are you kidding? Mine hadn’t even germinated for the April bloom report. Johnny’s is one of the few seed merchants that sells larkspur by color, and I always get this dark blue-purple to sow in the peony bed along with peony-flowered poppies, so there will be some color here after the peonies are done blooming. That’s the plan, anyway. Germination of both poppy and larkspur is always sporadic, and the poppies often look spindly.

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‘Bev’ was planted in fall 2002 and has filled out substantiallyPeonies remind me of my paternal grandmother. Whether it was an evening with her bridge group, Sunday Mass, or a family cookout, she always dressed fashionably, including fully applied makeup and perfume. To be called glamorous was a compliment she always appreciated.

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Yes, I know the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day was yesterday the day before yesterday. I didn’t get finished in time. So just pretend this is May 15th, okay? (As always, hover your mouse over any thumbnail for a caption, and click on any photo for a larger image.)
Narcissus
Let’s start off with the narcissus. The early daffodils are all gone, but the later ones are in their prime. Do you remember those new ones I told you about? Let’s start with them.

Left to right, the most recently opened first: Malin Head, Achnasheen, Rimmon, Eland, and (second row) Vernal Prince. Angel doesn’t look like it will bloom, as Mr. Burdick suspected. It’s been a cool spring–until today, when it got up to 88F–and many of my daffodils have remained good looking for a long time. Here’s more that are blooming right now:

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In contrast to what gardeners in many other parts of the country have endured, where Spring arrived in full force, only to be slapped down by Winter’s last stand, Spring has not really made its grand entrance. It’s only been peeking through the window, wondering if it really wants to come in.

The snowdrops are dangling the last of their bells. The crocus bank would look pretty good–if only their blossoms would open, which they won’t do without sunshine. The daffodils have been on the verge of blooming for a week, likewise just waiting for a bit of sunshine:

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