Blooming season off to an early start?

I will say that my Spring garden is just beautiful this year. So many of my hellebore are blooming like crazy and the new bulbs added last fall are making a real impact. The wisteria is gorgeous and the scent would make you swoon. I'd take a pic but with this wind it won't hold still long enough to get a clear picture. LOL

GardenQ.. That is great news, wishing you a peaceful gardening season. Now keeping my fingers crossed my neighbor will do the same. but I think a relative bought the house for them so i might be stuck. Right now their back yard looks like a hay field.
Everyone get well, I do not like hearing that so many of you are sick, and without much of a brake.

Black Jetbead usually blooms late May and early June. It's out now. So are the "late" tulips, usually in bloom mid-May.

GQ- that's good news, you can enjoy being out there. My mom is bordered by weird neighbors, maybe not that bad but like chris said, these two seem to have inherited a house to live in so it loooks lke they'll be there for good.

gayon, Ive never heard of Black jetbead.

Rhodotypos scandens: Black Jetbead
Shrub with 4-petaled flowers larger than but similar to mockorange. Leaves light green, look a little like small elm leaves. Grows well in half shade. I have read that it can be invasive in some areas, replacing under-shrubs in forested areas. We have had one for over 25 years and never seen a seedling. Black seeds are interesting during the winter.

Grayson

My late tulips are up and have been for awhile. I should keep a journal of when things bloom in my garden. My journal is mostly plant lists right now which are very helpful. I am slowly getting more organized. I could put bloom time in the notes on each plant or just do a monthly log with bloom times and seed starting. These are one of my favorite tulips. I love the foliage and the bloom.
Esperanto

Finally got some "pink" daffs.

More weeds than ever in the gardens. The flop down the stairs that I took is really slowing me down. I didn't get to throw down Preen in some places and haven't been bending too much. Yesterday I had the TV on to QVC and I saw this long tube that you use your foot and a little lever to pluck out weeks. Kind of like the thing we us to pick up our golf balls when we practice in our yard. Hope it works, although 2 of the perennial gardens are just too far gone.






This is some kind of crazy big yellow tulip.

Roses hope you start feeling better soon, We seem to be a group of injuries and illnesses lately. LOL Maybe the warm weather will turn us around. I got up today feeling like doing something so I finally put my Easter decorations away, did a few small tasks. I tire easily but feel much better not sure I will get outside today to work in the garden but I am doing some painting. It is windy but very nice outside finally some sunshine. Your Pink Daffs are pretty. Azaleas in full bloom and the Wisteria sprawled over the drive way. How different this will look next year with the arbor in place.

I can't imagine it looking better than it does now, Holly

Holly and Ric---

Have you been eliminated for pneumonia???? Viral OR bacterial.
Your symptoms sure sound like it could be that.....

We had a few people at work that were always tired, could not breathe right and all that------
Diagnosis? Pneumonia.

Thanks Grayson. I think my entire yard is some kind of half shade or another.

Thanks Grayson. I think my entire yard is some kind of half shade or another.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/76814/

The antibiotic I'm taking is one commonly used for Pneumonia.

Talk about early stuff in the garden....

My perennial Hibiscus is starting to break dormancy. This usually happens closer to the end of May...

Sorry about your fall, roses. Hope you are feeling better soon.

I am waiting for my wintersown seedlings to be big enough for the garden. I put snow in summertime in between my paving slates yesterday. Most plants had only one set of leaves, but the roots were filling the container. They seem to be still alive today.

I have been putting some annual seeds in bare places. I didn't get seeds started inside this year. I had too little space, too little energy and too many other things to do.

It is nice and warm today. I am waiting for the shade to reach the garden.

I was just wondering when I usually saw new shoots on my hibiscus... thanks, Gita!

More irises are budding... must get out back with the camera this week!

critter- those 'awful' peach iris, Affluence and High Spirited that you passed along to me are about to pop for the first time. Whoo! Thanks again.
Most of my iris are in bloom.

Today will be a great day to go out in the rain and start potting up some stuff for the swap. It's rainy and much cooler than it has been and much more comfortable for me to work in. I will throw down all my leftover seeds to see what happens, even though I felt the need to throw Preen on the new bed where I was seeing thousands of weeds taking hold. This will be my first year with Irises and I'm really excited about the buds that I'm seeing. The older peonies have lots of buds and some of the newer ones look really full for newbies. I left the plants outside last night, but I did hide some of the more fragile ones under the deck tables because I thought the storm would be too much for them. I saw the most beautiful bloom in one of the pots! It was only a white petunia, but I've never seen one that looks like a huge carnation. Of course, I have to look in my notes to see if I can find its name. I start out with such good intentions, but in the end, lots of the names are lost to me after all the shuffling around.

None of my irises are open yet but I have flower stalks up on some of them. Boy Sally those 'awful' peach iris sound soooo bad maybe I have a spot for them. You know some place out of the way in the back yard where passerby's wouldn't be offended by their sight. LOL

My first iris bloom opened last night...It is soo breathtaking!!!!

Another one is in "fat bud" stage. Will pop today--I know it!

LOL I'm just happy that other people will rehome any "pink" that blooms out "peach" for me!

Here's another one that's pretty, but the brownish hue to the falls just isn't growing on me... I think there are a couple of clumps out there, so I'll be digging some this summer..

Its name is 'What Again?" and so I think it's a rebloomer LOL

OOOHHHHHAAAAHHH

OK, Holly, I'll trade ya for some of that bicolor historic I admired in your garden last summer! You & Ric are welcome to come down at the end of July and help yourself to rhizomes of anything big enough to split. :-)

I'm watching for that to bloom so I can get you some.

Don't divide it until late July or early August though... just take a photo with a landmark in it so you know which clump it is! :-)

Oh I was going to dig some irises up for the swap. Shouldn't I??

No, this is a bad time of year to dig/divide irises. They need to bloom and then they need some time to grow... by July/August they're almost a bit dormant (at least in terms of new growth), and that's when to divide them. It's good to try to plant rhizomes at least 6 or 8 weeks before the ground freezes, to give them a chance to put down roots before winter... around here, September is fine, and I've planted later than that and just put a rock on top of the rhizome to help keep it from heaving.

So a fall swap would be a better time to share rhizomes.

Poopie I really wanted to move some of these at the swaps. Guess I'll have to wait.

My irises have buds, but not blooms, yet. I had to cut back my Wildeve rose because branches were blocking the iris stalks. (Eve is larger and healthier than expected, gives me a chance to improve my pruning skills. She has so many new canes, I am less worried about cutting some of the old ones.)

My pruning efforts are still like my dog grooming efforts. I research and try my hand at it. The results are steadily improving, but still in need of more improvement. I have a dog grooming video, but the dog in the video stands perfectly still. Tiffany does not stay still at all! I need to use a muzzle, especially when working on the back end. She is getting even more stubborn in her older years. She is cooler, at least.

I need to get one of those long handled tree pruners to get some of the canes at the base of Wildeve. It is own root and has been adding canes from the base of the plant. I cut back some branches and canes that were blocking other plants and plan to prune more after her first flush of blooms. Here is a picture of the base of the plant. New canes reached over 6' last year. I really need to thin some of these canes out. I wish I had space for her to grow to full size, but I have to keep her in bounds in my current cluttered cottage garden.

i so many plants blooming in my basement and in my garden room. however, typing with one hand and one finger. 2 weeks ago fell down deck stairs because the "deck stain" that my husband bought after giving our old can to the paint clerk, turned out to be "lateral and siding" upon close inspection of lower part of label. i was barefoot and it was raining that day. this weekend was dry so that no one seemed to be having a problem (most had sneakers on). yesterday, i watered a few pots on the deck. i had on crocks that, upon later inspection, i found to have no more tread left. i just hate feeling so stupid when i have to tell everyone that i slipped down the steeper deck stairs and broke my wrist. now that i'm high on pain killers, the depressing thoughts of what i can't do has not really kicked in yet. it is taking me forever to get.myself together today. i hate this hunt and peck typing. will copy this and paste wherever necessary.

Roses! Oh, no! *ouch* I hope you heal quickly so this doesn't limit your summer activities. I'm sorry!

Oh NO!! Hope you heal fast!

Roses I knew you took a bad fall but I don't think I realized that you broke your wrist. You know Ladyg did that last year. We are a sorry lot with our illnesses and injuries. I'm feeling better but Ric has crawled back into bed. I know how you feel about not being able to do much, I had that shoulder surgery a couple of years ago and not being able to do any gardening it was the worst part. I called it my summer of walk and point. I would take one of the boys either Josh, Jamie or Ric and walk around and point telling them dig that up, plant that there. Boy it was horrible.
I hope you are on the mend and will be back on track soon. Holly

looking on the bright side, my dh now walks along side me to help. maybe seeing the result of what HE dug in will get him more interested. i will go back to the doctor next tuesday for an evaluation before they put on the hard cast and decide whether pins are necessary. He waits to do this until the swelling is stabilized.

I didn't realize that you broke your wrist. I hope that it mends well. You sound like you have a very nice husband.

You can add a bit of sand (they even sell a special box of it in the paint aisle) to paint/stain to make the stairs less slippery. It may already be added in some paints for decks.

I think one of the hardest things in the world is being unable to do things for yourself and have to ask for help. I sympathize with your frustration.

thanks for your kind words and suggestions ladies.

sure hope you don't need pins, Roses
Meanwhile my peonies have started to bloom.

Oh Roses, I know how you feel girl! Hope you don't need the pins. My surgeon gave me the option. He said do to my age he would not recommend the surgery, to much trouble for the same result of just wearing a cast, I have full use of the wrist and will sometime wear an Ace bandage for added support if I am doing some lifting or pulling my self up with my garden kneeler. It gets ache when the weather changes.
Those pin contracptions are such a pain to deal with. I was and still on Zometa for my bones so healing took a little longer but the it was worth being just in a cast. They shortened it up in the palm area so I could at least drive.
I guess it really comes down to how much damage you did when you fell. There are a lot of small bones in the hand and wrist. Good luck and heal fast.

Chris, When my arm was broken I'd go to see the orthopedist and he would "fix" my cast. One of the things he would do is reinforce the part through my palm. Since I was usually on my motorcycle, I'd sit on the curb and customize the grip by filing it down on the concrete to fit on the throttle. It was the only way I could ride back to work or wherever. By the 3rd visit, he put me in a thinner, lighter fiberglass cast. LOL
Teri, when they cast you be sure to get the fiberglass or plastic cast. They are so light, easy to dry, and you can actually scrub them. If it's allowed and not painful, use it and exercise it as best you can, you will get it moving so much faster when it comes off. Ric