What's doing well in your corner of the world?

We've had a long, cool, and moist spring. Many plants are happy about it, but I've got a few that are really struggling. Here's one that's enjoying this Wisconsin spring.

Keeping your distance, eh? 'Fraid that nice spruce will tackle you, and pin you down for sentencing it to Wisconsin?

'Round here, it's Yellowwood Year at Viburnum Valley...

OK, "must get closer to object" is now my mantra. Here's a little fella that didn't handle this past winter so well. It came through the winter of '13-'14 without a hitch, but it was also under a toasty blanket of snow. We had a bit of a snow drought last winter and it does seem to have made a difference with this Juniperus 'Golden Joy'. That's not a good sign and I have low tolerance for wimpy plants that burn in winter sun, which is why the two Alberta Spruce were moved to the north side of the sauna. Take that!

What a treat Yellowwood is. I've got one on the place and it has been slow to take off. One of these years...

This week's offerings:
#1 Sinocalycanthus chinensis
#2 I have no idea what the correct current nomenclature is ... x calycalycanthus raulstonii Venus? Each time I see it in print, it's listed differently.
#3 Stewartia rostrata - always the first of the stewartias to bloom in my yard. With a very distinctive pink blush on the flower.
#4. Viburnum dilatatum 'Daruma Type'. Smaller in all aspects than the type.
#5 is my first lesson in the reliability of glossy plant catalogs. I bought a cornus kousa Satomi about 20yrs ago based on the add showing the brilliant pink bloom. Here is my Satomi (on the Rt) adjacent to the standard cornus kousa chinensis (on the Lt). The color difference isn't quite as startling as I had hoped...

Does the St Louis show ever end? OK, I admit it, I have a serious case of zone envy.

Time to spruce things up: P. glauca 'Mac's Gold'

Don't worry, everything will come screaming to a halt once we hit our summer swelter.
Sadly, won't be too far off.
Then I'll be having some serious reverse zone envy...

At least you had something wonderful to contribute Pseudo. Oh, I have something...

just not in my yard ; (

Here are the Azalea's in my yard...much more green and white space, lol.

Hot dry spring for us. I love it! We had a late frost that messed a few things up.
Here is Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' hanging out with Cotinus coggygria 'Golden Spirit' aka 'Ancot', and Peony 'Bartzella'.
'Bart' is more yellow than I captured in my snapshot, and looks nice with the blue. I like the blue with the lime green new leaves. I can't take pride in the combo because I didn't know the new growth was that color when I planted it. In the fall they are a glowing apricot color.

Mipii, your azaleas are much more understated than that big splashy swath of color.
A more refined presentation, if you will!

Wow, Pistil, you've really got that gold/blue thing going on!
Our spring has been typically weird, certainly not hot/dry.
Temp was 47 on my way home from work yesterday eve; cloudy/drippy;
thought I was in Seattle.

Geez, I wish I could grow Azalea's like that. I've tried, but they seem to resist all efforts. Much like my first wife, they seem to want what I can't give them.

We've got several peonies that are on the verge of flowering and if they look anything like 'Bart' I'll be thrilled. Stay tuned. :)

Prunus serotina is flowering at this time, but I won't bore you with that. Daphne is currently wafting throughout the garden, which is always a joy. They seem to do well here and I should have more of them.

Pistil...that's beautiful, love your eye (I'm sure the rest of you is fine too, but that eye...woo)!

Wee, our spring has been much like yours, maybe a few degrees colder and without the show.

Pseudo, lol! Somethings just aren't worth the extra effort to keep. Similarly, somethings give you more than you could imagine...I can smell that Daphne from here. Looking forward to your Paeonia.

Here's three that seem to be benefitting from the moist spring we're having. The first is Abies lasiocarpa and the second is Acer maximowiczianum. I don' know my mushrooms, but they sure look like they're enjoying the spring conditions.

Hey Suedo!

Nice A. max - need to get me one of them planted. And great mushroom crop too.

I've slipped behind the Cheese Curtain - spending three days around Madison. Too bad "all rain, all the time" was on the menu.

Old Glory fried cheese curds, German sausage platter, some local brews, and deep-fried pretzel bites with fudge dipping sauce are all that's keeping me going....

I'm glad you were able to escape to Wisconsin -- that's always a good move. Yes, we've had a bit of a rainy spring, but the lushness of it all is worth it. It sounds like you're recovering from a deep fried hangover. Hey, that's how we roll...over our belt...

There's a magical power in cheese curds. BTW, did you know that Ellsworth, WI, is the cheese curd capital of the US? Oh yeah, that's true.

Isn't that Nikko Maple looking just awesome? And what else do you notice about it?

What, no love for the lasiocarpa? That hurts.

Mmm, Wisconsin sounds yummy.

I think your Abies lasiocarpa looks exceptionally happy, I bet it's even got that new Abies smell.

Here's my little Acer...yes I need the landscaping redone (it's so 90's).

I'm totally jealous of your a. max. I've been trying for years to get a decent sized trifoliate maple. I have a couple each of Nikko, triflorum, and mandschuricum but they just sit there - none is 4ft tall yet after 10yrs in the ground. But they're not dead either - like they're in acer limbo. I'm not sure what's keeping them from growing & looking lush like yours. I've got a couple monster paperbarks in similar exposure, otherwise I'd blame the entire trifoliate group. You must tend them more lovingly than I do!

"You must tend them more lovingly than I do!"

Yes, I'm sure that's it! I've been known to love plants to death. ;)

Acer limbo is a great description for a number of woody plants I've got here. Sometimes I think it would be easier if they'd just die.

Acer griseum is tried but by many up here, but with minimal success. They're simply not hardy to a true z4 winter. Once it gets below about -22-24F, they suffer mightily. I've tried two, and they both looked so ragged after a few cold winters I pulled them. There's about a 15' Paperbark in the small river town of Afton, MN, but that also took a major hit following the winter of '13-'14. I'm not saying I'll never try it again, but I need to find the right micro-climate to make it worthwhile.

Here's my A. mandschuricum, which was moved along with the Nikko and Three-flower from the old place in 2011. It looks a bit awkward, but has grown about 5' the past couple of years. The trunk was damaged at the nursery and a deer did a number on it the first fall following its move here. BTW, if you ever get to UBC in Vancouver, they've got a stunning Manchurian Maple in their collection.

Mippi, try not to laugh, but I'm actually kind of proud of this A. palmatum 'Dissectum'. It's not much to look at, but it has been through three stout winters and has lived to tell. It probably doesn't deserve the real estate it occupies, but I'm willing to let this play out.

I totally understand the value placed on a survivor eking out an existence. I've got a yard full of similar tortured creatures. I think I have the only remaining cork bark oak in St Louis - MoBot lost their mature specimen a few years ago. And they cheated by having it in a controlled atmosphere rotunda. Mine is in a pot lugged lovingly in-and-out of the garage as the seasons go. Looks awful, of course, but it's alive - at least it has a few leaves.

As for showpiece trifoliates, if you ever get to MoBot, check out their a. triflorums in the Japanese garden - it's the whole reason I've been trying to grow these maples in the first place. I'm patiently waiting for that 'leap' thing ...

You guys really make me chuckle...oops, that wasn't a laugh at your A. palmatum 'Dissectum Pseudo either. My A. palmatum 'Shirazz' looked just like that for a couple of years after planting it, she's just nicely filling out now. I'm looking forward to seeing it start to weep as it's supposed to in maturity.

The chuckle was you're both die-hards with so many successes and yet you're still human with a minimal amount of failures. I love the effort and the passion, kudos to you both and thanks for sharing.

Now, Mipii, don't you be laughing at my palmatum.

Here's a couple Tree Peonies that are doing their thing...and that thing they do is very nice. I'm getting sloppy in my old age and can't find the name of the magenta-colored plant, but the yellow is 'Kinshi'.

We are in a really sweet spot here weather wise. I don't know what tomorrow brings, but we've been fortunate of late. :)

We had a great day today, yesterday was mostly rain. We had just planted a crop of corn and needed the rain for germination. Your palmatum just needs a friend, I should adopt the poor little thing.

Your Peonies are scrumptious, very beautiful...

Very nice peonies, Pseudo. Mine are done 'til next year...