Spring 2010

Is already here in Seattle. I have many Hellebores out - I believe this is H. 'Snow Bunting'

And my first Hepatica. I got her at the end of the summer and was afraid to put her out in the soil with the slugs. After she blooms, I'll put her in a gallon pot and bury it 3/4 deep. Just for the first year while she's getting established.

This is Hepatica nobilis x cremar. I got it from Rick Lupp at Mt. Tahoma nursery. What a great guy. This beauty was recommended by him and she has impressed me. It was hard to get a good picture. The pink color is strong . . .

katie - Great color on that Hepatica! I do love mine (acutiloba and americana) and look forward to them blooming as much as I do the Hellebores. The flowers look very fresh for such a long period of time (maybe the cool weather helps).

Zone envy!! We've got a foot of snow on the ground here -- Dax

Definitely zone envy! I was in TN for past two weeks, hoping to satisfy my spring craving but wouldn't you know I took the snow down there with me ?!! Did manage to dig a few new rows in DD's garden but that's about it. Did spend time outdoors teaching GD how to snow sled though.
Those Hepaticas and Hellebores are buried under about 8 inches of snow here. Maybe only another month of white stuff?

And it's been unusually warm for us here. I think the high pressure systems over us are actually diverting the El Nino precipitation southward and eastward. So sorry . . .

Everything here is about a month early. I have hydrangeas and clematis leafing out. The Edgeworthias and Daphnes will be blooming soon. Interestingly, I haven't seen early bulb displays so much. I think they must be more controlled by light than by temperature.

Of course, the warm winter just means that we will probably have lots of slugs this year, which is a pain. I've already started to see the little ones hatched out. I have hostas already starting to come up and really have to be on top of that when they first leaf out. If they slugs find them before I do, then I'm way behind the game.

Very few slugs here but DD in TN gets them all of the time, even in her cold frame. I think I'm going to play in seed starting mix later just so that I can smell dirt.

Gorgeous Hellebore....I've never seen a pure white one. Must add one to my "little" collection ! thanks for sharing.....I have to find out about your Hepatica....new to me and it's gorgeous....kim

Thanks!

The pink and white Hellebores are my favorites - they really stand out. The dark red ones, although dramatic up close, kind of get lost in all the green we have around here - especially in the shade.

Check out Mt. Tahoma nursery at http://www.backyardgardener.com/mttahoma/. Rick Lupp is a great guy and helped me to decide what to get from among all his beauties. He doesn't do mail order inside Washington so I just "had" to get down there and see his place in person.

I want to go again this spring to see his alpine beds at the heigth of their beauty. I wasn't really into alpines until I saw some of his . . .

I ordered a few things from Mt. Tahoma years ago. I'll have to revisit their plant list. Thanks for posting the link.

I've definitely got some zone envy going on here, too. And I'm cursing myself for not planting helebores like I planned to last year.

At least it cheers me up to see that someone has spring!

I do that every year with bulbs. I see the results of other peoples' plantings and swear that next year I'll plant them.

Katie, I've been ordering from Mt Tahoma for years, including a pretty hefty order this year.
But you may notice your beautiful hepatica isn't listed in the catalog! I'm jealous!
I'd have snatched it up in a heartbeat, if it was listed! Let us know how it performs for you.

I know, Weerobin. I was trying to be just like you. It was YOU who made me hanker for a Hepatica of my own. And I think it was you who told me about Mt. Tahoma. Thank you!! I also got a Paris Polyphylla from him and am anxiously awaiting her appearance.

I'm absolutely sure that Rick had more of these. Have you thought about calling him?

I e-mailed him yesterday to see if I could add one to my order!

Excellent. What else did you order (read: what else do I need to order this year? LOL).

I ordered too many plants, of course. All for my woodland garden.
Several types of hepatica, especially the different colored ones (rosea, 'red', etc.).
Also some woodland anemones and anemonellas.
I ordered a couple paris's also.
I have a couple small paris's in my yard already, but their survival isn't certain yet.
And 2 trilliums - I have lots of volunteer trillium, but some of the unusual species look great.
So I'll see if any of them like my yard.
How many of them will be around next year, who knows...

By the way, Rick Lupp already replied to my e-mail and will include a hepatica x Cremar in my order.
I'm very pleased.

I have had Fotidus ready to bloom for over a month.
We are having an unusually sub zero winter so they remaine in a state of suspended animation.
Cant find the pic.The plant has been under snow for a month

ge - You've gotten more than your share of winter this year? Snow cover is becoming quite the norm for us so I don't even get a chance to go "touring" the yard until into March. Sigh. Maybe that's why my H. orientalis bloom so late here. Now that I've ordered my H. foetidus, I need to figure out where I'm going to put it and what has to be pulled out to make room.

I might have to relocate one of the 2 fotidu's. I had no idea they would get to be so big.

Yeah - they can get pretty large. I lost one to what I think was crown rot, so make sure that they have good drainage at the crown and good light.

WR, that sounds fantastic - Rick is such a great guy. I'm anxious to see how your Paris does - it's a relative of Trillium, so it seems that it would do fine under the same circumstances.

I'm waiting to see how that Daphne Genkwa I bought last year will come back - it's been pretty slow to show any signs of life . . .

Here's one I dug up out of my woods to transplant into my woodland bed last spring.

Doug

Hiya, Doug. Color me envious on those native hepaticas!!

Doug - You are one lucky guy to have those Hepaticas.

Spring is here in coastal Northern CA. The crabapple and pear trees are in bloom, and the magnolias are already dropping petals. Callas are blooming:

Variegated fuchsia 'Firecracker' has survived the winter and remained with a few flowers:

This is my showiest hellebore. It stays in bloom 7-8 months and survives despite a thirsty silver maple sucking up all the water with greedy roots:

I usually pick the bearded purple iris (unknown variety but it reblooms) to go with the white callas - so pretty in the vase!

I planted this silver lavendar to replace a dying L.stoechas, and it's stayed in bloom for several months now.

Meyer lemons are in full harvest right now, and still forming flowers too. But it's cool enough that you can't smell that wonderful perfume unless you get up close. In summer you can smell them all the way across the yard, though!

I love the pelargonium hybrid 'Occold Gold'. On dreary days like today, when the sun never does come out, the leaves absolutely glow, making the garden more cheerful.

Rhaphiolepsis indica 'Ballerina' is in bloom, too. I'm always surprised more people don't grow this around here. It does so well as a background mini-shrub, and takes so little water while never having any pest problems.

A groundcover rose is hanging on, while the osteospermums reseed wildly. They love the extra water from winter rains!

Rosemary 'Tuscan Blue' is in bloom as well. This has never gotten as tall as I wanted, I think the compost we put in is too rich for it, making it sprawl. But it's right outside the front door, so when I need rosemary, I just step outside and snip a few stems off - very handy!

These are true Shasta daisies, from a plant I bought from the Luther Burbank Gardens in Santa Rosa (he developed the Shasta daisy). It was a little slow to establish itself at first, but I was surprised to see blooms on it so early, although the stems are very short - 2" at most!

Tagetes lemmonii, aka Bush Marigold, also likes the extra winter watering, although frost will nip some of the top buds every once in a while.

Another winter lover is Tibouchina urvilleana. I prefer its cousin T. heteromalla, which has less showy flowers but much prettier leaves. But T. urvilleana can't be beat for stunning impact when in bloom. Those big purple flowers are eye-catching!

Those are pretty. Is it warm for you this year or does spring always start so early for you guys?