hellebores

The First Blooms of 2019

– Posted in: Mud Season, What's up/blooming

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Thank goodness my “desperate measures” are already in place. I’ve been planting early blooming bulbs where the snow melts first for several years. And every time the snow starts to melt, I check all those places for signs of emerging sprouts. Do you want to see what I found during our most recent thaw? It's easier than you think to have flowers blooming sooner than your neighbors.

The Last of the Hardiest

– Posted in: Hellebores, What's up/blooming

November started out marvelously with highs in the 50s(F) and one day even hit 66°(19C). The second week the switch flipped and the real November showed up with a vengeance. Most nights have been in the teens, but we also got two nights that dipped into single digits (9F=-13C)--that's unseasonably low for November and was [...]

October’s Bounty: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day October 2017

– Posted in: What's up/blooming

Visitors asked about two plants at my Colchicum Open Garden. The first one is readily available at garden centers or online. The second one is a little trickier to find--it helps if you know someone. But visitors were also surprised to see so much in bloom at the end of September. It helps if you know my special plants and (not so) secret techniques. Click over to my blog post and I'll share them with you!

The January Thaw

– Posted in: Weather, What's up/blooming

The January thaw is an accepted part of weather lore around here--thaw being a relative term--meaning warmer than you would expect but not necessarily warm enough to melt all the snow. But this year almost all the snow did melt, save the piles that accumulate from removing it from the walk, driveway, and road. As a matter of fact, it was 58°F(14°C) on Sunday as I glanced at my phone and read "Winter Storm Watch in effect for Monday." What? It's gorgeous out! But--it is January, after all.

What’s Missing From This Picture?

– Posted in: What's up/blooming

What's missing from this picture are the autumn crocuses. They should be blooming now. No, I don't mean colchicums--they're done. (And they're not crocuses!!) I mean bona-fide crocuses that bloom in the fall. Crocus speciosus, to be precise. I planted more than one hundred of them four years ago, and for the last three years [...]