Where the Dragons Roam in June....

Ok, this weather is getting rather worrisome with all the rain and cool temperatures during the week and too brief warm respites on weekends ... normally I'm not one to whine (too much!) about rain, but this pattern we've settled into for the past several weeks has me a bit on edge. Long time readers will remember that just a year ago now we had a hitherto unprecedented flood in our basement (on June 12, precisely) and then several weeks of serious flooding in Des Moines, and me being the pathological worrywort I am, I hope we're not in store for any repeats of last year's events....

But on to more exciting things ... it's that time of year again to really and truly believe in Dragons! Well, Dragon Arums at least!

2009 is shaping up to be a banner year for what is arguably the weirdest flower we have at Casa IVG, our prize Dracunculus vulgaris that we have affectionately nicknamed "Mr. Stinky." Every June right about the time the Peonies are at, or just past their peak, he struts proudly to the floral foreground with a grand blast of his distinctive aroma of rotten flesh, brandishing his unmistakably phallic red hooded jet black bloom. Needless to say, he always attracts a lot of attention from innocent passersby, who probably don't know quite what to make of the demented gardeners who have such a decadent monstrosity growing in the middle of their shade garden right out there in plain sight!

Here are a few current views (as of June 7) that start out mundanely enough ... some remaining peonies (we cut most this year and brought them inside to save them from the rains), a pretty little stand of pink Camassia and a maidenhair fern... but if you look closely you can see the mysterious buds forming on that rather non-descript bushy plant near the center....

So let's go in a bit closer to investigate what's going on here ... can you see them? Those spiky, whip-tailed things with a hint of a red stripe? Yes, those are the blooms forming on the plants and this year are going to be a minimum of four blooms for the first time ever! When we we first planted this enormous bulb back in fall of 2005, we weren't even sure it would be reliably hardy to our garden, but by now I think we can confidently proclaim that it is hardy to Zone 5 bordering on 6! Since it first started blooming in 2007 it has only produced one flower per year, but the last couple of years it has been sending up offshoots from the original plant that have leafed out but haven't bloomed. Last year we counted 5 offshoots and when it emerged this spring, we were surprised to see eight! Each offshoot produces a stalk which will leaf out over the summer, but not all of them are likely to bloom for at least a year or so, but given its record so far, even more could be on the way for the next few years.

We have no idea if all four of these will bloom at the same time or on a staggered schedule, so you'll just have to follow along on our journey, but rest assured, there will be plenty of photos while they last! For all the drama and stench involved with blooming, Dragon Arum blooms are relatively short lived and go into a rather interesting period of decline on their way out! You'll see it all chronicled here over the next week or so ... we think these are less than a week from blooming at this point, so I just hope we get some sunnier days to show them off when they finally pop open their stench laden flowers for all the world to see....

Finally, just for fun, here's a newcomer to the garden this year for those curious plant IDers out there ... it's just begun blooming and I'll feature it sometime soon here, but for now, what do you erstwhile gardeners out there think this is? Some previously unseen hellebore? Maybe a Fritillaria? The flowers could resemble either of those guesses, but both would be wrong. If you grow this, you'll know immediately, but I have no idea how popular a plant this really is, but we're thrilled to have it join our garden this year, and may even plant more come fall! Weigh in with your guesses in the comments and I'll reveal its identitity soon!

Hanna sends gallons of puppy kisses to all her admirers out there who left such kind comments yesterday on her #500 post. She loves the attention and is always working on new ways to work the cute angle and will be back soon!

Mystery Flower UPDATE:
We have a spot on winner! Sylvana, The Obsessive Gardener, my compatriot from Wisconsin, was the first to correctly identify this flower as an allium, which we know as Nectaroscordum siculum (aka Allium siciculum) or 'Sicilian Honey Garlic.' It's a really pretty allium that blooms in early June, and though ours didn't quite reach its expected height of 36" this year, it's putting on a nice show, which I hope to feature more of in the next few days.... It's another of Van Bourgondien's "Best Buys from the Bulb Lady," so if you like it, it won't hurt your wallet too much to add some to your garden this fall! Just click on the link above for more information!

I Just Love An Embarrassment of Riches!

As I noted yesterday, it seems like such a relief that May is finally here and we can banish (most) thoughts of snow (and hard freezes) and concentrate on enjoying the rewards of Spring ...the bulbs are outdoing themselves so far this year and I feel like I can hardly keep up with them at this point, thus the "potpourri" format once again. Though I prefer the single focus on plants in most of my posts, that will come soon, because there are certain plants I definitely want to highlight, but for now, let's just enjoy the many colors now on display at Casa IVG.

Great weather in the high 60's is forecast for today (and no rain for a change!!!) and we plan to get a lot more of the clean up done and get some things in the ground, notably the entire flat of Snapdragons that Fernymoss brought home today after work! We also have a trip to Petco planned for Hanna (her favorite store!) and either today or Sunday we're going to hit our favorite garden center for more plants ... Tonight we vowed that we won't make any major purchases of plants without having gotten the previous ones in the ground first, so that means that we have to get 2 Serrano Pepper plants, some 'ginormous' Italian parsley and that flat of Snapdragons in the ground before we go bringing more things home with us ... we'll see how that works out!

So let's take today's tour ... these are some more of the many Grape Hyacinths we have planted around in the front boulder bed ... this little stand has multiplied nicely since they were planted several years ago (quite late as they were forgotten in the fall and I stuck these in the ground in December!). Though Grape Hyacinths aren't really Hyacinths at all, you can see two real ones in the background, the variety 'Peter Stuyvesant,' which is probably my favorite of all of them, and of course it has that lovely Hyacinth fragrance that perfumes the area, something we don't get from many of the spring bulbs. If you enlarge this photo, you can see the now withered remains of a few of the Species Tulip 'Persian Pearl' in the background as well. That's my only minor gripe with them, they only last a bit over a week, but they're so pretty while they do last!

Let's round the corner and enter the Woodland Garden area where the Daffodils are gradually winding down and take a look at some more Hyacinths ... this is another 'Peter Stuyvesant' along with the other variety we have planted, 'Jan de Bos.' For some reason a couple of the latter have disappeared this year (alas) unless they're just going to be up really late, but anyway, I really like the color of 'Jan' with its almost fuschia shade (though it's typically considered red). I love the combination of these bold colors with the Daffodils, but then, I've been known to appreciate rather "loud" colors once or twice in my life....

We were hopeful that our Darwin Tulips would finally recover somewhat after the disastrous last two springs that had late very cold spells after they had come up ... and though they're nowhere near as numerous as they once were (in 2006 there were about 300+ planted out front), at least they are making a comeback. This is one of the masses we have in the corner Boulder Bed and if you look closely you'll see a few Grape Hyacinths have survived as well (we lost a lot of those in 2007 and 2008 as well), so we'll just keep hoping for future improvement in these areas. I'll have more of these soon, once we can get some shots of them when they are actually open during the day (hopefully this weekend).
Here we have some newcomers to the Boulder Beds ... these are Fritillaria uva-vulpis, (aka, 'Fox's Grape') that were just planted last fall. Though they look similar to the Fritillaria michailovskii we have planted elsewhere, they are much taller (apparently they can reach over 12 inches at maturity) and the colors are a bit more muted, they do share the same sort of lampshade shaped blooms, and instead of single blooming, these little foxes of the garden often bear two or more flowers per stalk.

According to most sources I've read, Uva-vulpis also tends to naturalize much more readily than Michailovskii, so we are looking forward to seeing many more of these in future years. When they first emerge they look pretty insubstantial, much like a long blade of grass, but these have quickly matured over the last two weeks and are just now popping into bloom in various places, so you can probably expect to see (and hear more about) them again soon....

From the better late than never department ... we now have three Hellebores in bloom, two for the first time! Finally, our patience is paying off, and these tiny plants we put in way back in 2005 are starting to bloom for us. Since they were sold as a mix, I really have no idea what varieties they are, other than they belong to the "Royal Heritage" strains (which doesn't really tell one much). We're just happy to see them blooming! Though the plants have done pretty well over the past few years, only one has deigned to bloom for us until this year so this represents a bit of a milestone for this particular area of the Woodland Garden. And, as any garden blogger with Hellebores knows, they're not particularly easy flowers to get good shots of without literally getting down on the ground and looking up. Though they're beautiful flowers, they don't make it easy for us to appreciate that beauty, so hats off to Fernymoss for getting down and doing some "wet belly photography" to bring these to this humble blog....

Ok, I'll admit that this shot makes me feel a bit voyeuristic because my first impression was that I was invading the private space of this Hellebore bloom ... for some reason (maybe because I'm so immersed in iconic film imagery?) this reminded me of that famous picture of Marilyn Monroe with her skirt being blown upwards by a subway grate. Maybe I just have a dirty mind (heh, like I try to go looking up women's skirts!), this shot just seemed so overtly sexual that I had to include it in this post. Not that this is a prurient blog at all, but let's just remind ourselves that the whole reason that flowers bloom in the first place is to reproduce themselves, so we have to give them some (ahem) license in what they do! I do think that this is one of the more creative and stunning shots Fernymoss has gotten in a while, and hopefully we'll have even more Hellebore pictures soon....

Finally, I've gotten a few comments lately that I've been neglecting the "gratuitous puppy shots" in my posts, so we did some quick improvised "cuteness" shots tonight for this post. And just for Marnie, who remarked recently that she thought Hanna looked like such a calm dog when I had said that she was so often in motion that she was challenging to capture in still shots ... here she is running across the living room after having retrieved her favorite Kong. Though Hanna definitely knows when to be mellow (amazing for such a young pup), her usual mode is in motion and jumping and running. We love her all the more for that, and especially when she knows that it's inappropriate behavior and calms down. Once again, we thank our lucky stars that she chose to come and live with us and brighten our lives after our recent losses of Pepa and Rolly....

Make of this shot what you will ... though Hanna still doesn't spend all that much time on Pepa's old bed, she does take advantage of it on occasion, and here she seems to be enjoying some "loungy" time.... Hopefully, if the weather cooperates this weekend, we might be able to get some cuteness pictures of her outside this weekend, so stay tuned!

The Crocus Parade Continues ...

Today we finally had some sun again, which pretty much finished off the rest of the snow lingering from Sunday's "storm," so the crocus were able to show their faces again to the world after spending two days closed up and shivering. The temperatures have also begun to moderate slowly and with any luck, we'll be seeing the upper 50s by the end of the week, with partly sunny days in store. That's a Spring I can start to believe in, but it's still too chilly at night to begin putting anything into the ground (other than early planted seeds).

My goal for this weekend is to get at least one afternoon spent cleaning up the back yard because it's a mess! If you recall, after the tree came crashing down last October, the weather turned cold very quickly and there's still a lot of branches and stuff that need to be picked up and disposed of, and then there's the matter of getting the tree taken out. Fernymoss finally got a lead on a reasonably priced tree service, so we'd like to get that taken care of before too much longer, not only to get rid of the unsightly mess, but also to ensure a sunnier back yard this summer. I can see my tax refund disappearing already ... but it has to be done soon!

Now we return to our regularly scheduled Crocus coverage, already in progress...

Note: the shots in this post are also from my most recent session on April 3, 2009.

(Be sure to click through to see the larger, more detailed versions.)

I'm a bit baffled as to exactly what variety of Giant Crocus this one is ... it definitely came from one of our Van Bourgondien mixes and I thought it might be Blue Pearl, but after looking at that one in the catalogue again, I'm not so sure. It's definitely not Pickwick (shown below) because it doesn't display the prominent purple striping that characterizes that variety. But whatever this one turns out to be, it's another reliable bloomer and has been multiplying quite happily over the past 3 years or so out in the front boulder bed, and at this point has grown into a respectable, showy clump that stands out in the bare ground of the central bed.

This is one of our small clumps of Pickwick that we have scattered around the front beds ... I suspect this is one of the more recently planted groupings because it doesn't show signs of having multiplied just yet. Though this variety doesn't seem to colonize as quickly as the other Crocus do, it's definitely one of the more dramatic cultivars with its white tipped petals striped with deep purple hiding the brilliant orange stamens. We should be seeing more of these soon, and though this shot doesn't really do it justice, it's the best I have for the moment. The only drawback I can find for this variety is that, like Jeanne d'Arc, it's really prone to lose its petals in a heavy rain or strong wind, and its bloom period is somewhat shorter than most of our other Giant and Snow Crocuses. Still, it's a very worthy crocus to have in your garden and would make a nice planting companion to others like Jeanne d'Arc and Golden Yellow. Have I sold you on the virtues of the Giant Crocuses yet?

I have no clue what variety of yellow snow crocus this is because it was in a grab bag mix I got from Park Seed several years ago ... this little clump is one of many I planted along the line of the sidewalk on the Woodland side of the house (on the north). When I planted them, I just mixed up a bunch of crocus and Muscari (Grape Hyacinth) and planted them in groups of 5 or 6 every foot or so down the sidewalk line. This year, this is one of the first ones to show up, and there are still quite a few more that should be appearing sometime soon, so consider this a sneak peek at more to come....

I was really happy to see these little guys coming up in profusion last weekend when I was out with the camera! Though at first glance one might mistake them for Squill (Scilla siberica), they are actually Chionodoxa forbessi, aka 'Glory of the Snow.' These cheery little star shaped blue flowers with white centers and yellow stamens are really a great naturalizer that can go just about anywhere you want a splash of blue among the early spring bloomers and would look good with snow crocus, because they start (at least here) blooming just about the time the snow crocus are on the way out (but while their foliage remains). I think we have about 3-4 clumps of these near the edge of the front boulder bed, where they have been happily colonizing for the last several years. I think I started with about 5 bulbs in each planting and I've definitely noticed that every year more and more return in the spring ... they're definitely a bulb you need to plant in masses, because the sight of one or two lone flowers just wouldn't do them justice ... they need to be seen in groups for the full effect! I'll also note that getting good photos of these flowers is a real challenge for some reason ... if there's not enough sun, they look muddy blue, too much sun and they end up looking bleached out. I hope I have better luck capturing them this year than I have in the past few years. You'll see soon enough....

Now these are a bit of a mystery so far, but one thing's for sure, they're something that Fernymoss planted that day last fall when I was sick, so I don't know where anything he planted is (and he can't remember what went where). My best guess is that these are either Nectaroscordum ('Sicilian Honey Garlic') or Fritillaria 'Fox's Grape.' Now that I think more about it, I think they might indeed be the Fritillarias because they are up so early and are supposed to bloom in April or May, while Nectaroscordum doesn't bloom until May or June ... so time will tell what they really are! If anyone can positively ID these just from the initial foliage, please let me know what you think it is, otherwise we'll just have to wait until they bloom....

This is a bit of a wider view of one of our mass plantings of Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths and Crocus we have on the Woodland side of the house (where, as you can see, we haven't gotten much cleaning up done yet!). I'm cautiously optimistic that some of the tulips we had there that didn't return last year may be back this year, because it seems that I'm seeing more there than last year. These 'Yellow Trumpet Daffodils' are a very basic version of the flower bred primarily for naturalizing, which is exactly why we bought a whole half bushel back in 2005 to plant all around the garden. We have experimented with some of the fancier varieties in the past and been disappointed that, like the fancy tulips, after several years they either disappear entirely or revert to some kind of unattractive mutant Narcissus resembling the stinky Paper Whites we made the mistake of forcing one winter. That's an experience we won't repeat again because those pestiferous things stunk up the entire house and we ended up sticking them on the porch to kill them!

Fortunately, these Daffodils come back true every year (so far) and have been multiplying nicely in the 3 years they have been blooming for us. And they even escaped the great Des Moines Daffodil holocaust that hit so many gardeners last year, who lost entire long-established beds of them for some as yet unknown reason. Our neighbors across the street used to have masses of lovely Daffodils next to their house and their bed was decimated last year and only a few still remain ... yet ours were seemingly untouched and actually thrived last year. It looks like they're gearing up for a good show again this year, so we're looking forward to their appearance soon!

And for those of you who need a puppy fix, here's Lil Miss Hanna ...
I call this shot "Inscrutable"

What dog owner hasn't wanted to peek into the mind of their dog when s/he gives them one of these kinds of looks? Of course, Terriers are notorious for their staring capacity and can stare the best of us down (Pepa was a pro at this too) ... actually this shot kind of reminded me of that old Frasier episode that had a section called "Stare Master" where Eddie got the best of Frasier, despite the latter's best efforts to out-stare Eddie. Hanna definitely has the talent, so when you combine that with her incredibly expressive face and her frequent brow wrinkling and you get truly inscrutable looks. How do you interpret this gaze? Is it Hanna concocting some devious plan? Is she merely expressing concern? What wheels are spinning inside her head at this moment? Let me know if you have any good ideas....

Blogger's Super Glitchy Tonight!

Howdy folks, just an update here: I was all set to get a quick post up tonight, but Blogger's acting up again and though it claims to be uploading the photos I wanted to post, they're refusing to appear on the page. Hopefully this is just one of those temporary Blogger hissy fits (as it's wont to do from time to time), so sorry about the lack of photos!

With some halfway decent weather today (in the mid 40's) Fernymoss did manage get all the rest of the bulbs planted around in the garden and in parts of the yard, something we've been trying to get done for the past few weeks! First Halloween got in the way, then the weather went south (at least the good weather did!), and with all the rainy, cold days we've had lately it's been nearly impossible to complete the task. But thanks to Fernymoss, they're all in the cold ground now, ready for their winter naps before emerging in the spring. This year we decided to forego any new tulips, partly to save money and partly because we doubted we'd have the stamina to do such labor intensive plantings this fall, given how busy things around Casa IVG have been. So, since I can't post images right now, I'll just give you a preview of what all we planted, via links to our source, Van Bourgondien. We focused primarily on beefing up our stock of Crocus, though we did add some different bulbs, some old friends (Crocus and Camassia) and hopefully new ones Fritillaria 'Fox Grape' and 'Sicilian Honey Garlic' --an allium.

So here goes ... 96 of our favorite Snow Specie Crocus (click link to see descriptions and photos), the earliest. and to my mind, showiest of the Crocus we have. You may recall these from last Spring, and you'd have a good memory, because it's the exact same mix we first planted in 2005, and this mix has performed extremely well for us. There are some real beauties here! This addition now brings our Crocus total up to probably around 300 or so in various places ... and happily, they just keep spreading more each year! If you don't have Snow Crocus in your garden, you really owe it to yourself to indulge in a few dozen (at least) to start, because they are one of the very easiest bulbs to plant, only needing to go 3-4 inches down (unlike Tulips who require 6-8 inches!). For an afternoon's effort of planting them, you're more than amply rewarded with the splashes of color they provide to signal that winter's finally near its end!

30 more of the 'Giant Dutch Crocus,' also a repeat planting of a quite lovely mix of the later, bigger Crocus ... every one of this mix is a stunner when in bloom, though alas, they often fall victim to hard early rains and winds and lose their petals quickly, they are real beauties to see when they emerge and start blooming....

24 of the Fritillaria 'Fox Grape,' a new variety for us, and one we're quite excited about having in the garden. We've become real fans of the various Fritillaria in the past few years, and though we've lost both of our large, Crown Imperials due to bad winters, and our F. michailovski have been dwindling in number recently, so we decided to try another very attractive (and relatively cheap) variety. You'll have to wait until mid-spring to see them here, but I think the wait will be worth it....

8 'Sicilian Honey Garlic' (Allium sicculum) which we once tried years ago, but we were stupid and planted them in areas where they got engulfed by the early summer growth of Bee Balm and other taller plants. There's one surviving (barely) in the back corner bed bordering the sidewalk, but alas you really have to know when to expect it to bloom and then search for it, so these went in a much more prominent position out front near the Finger Rock, where we have several of the purple Globe Alliums planted. Yes, the choice of more alliums was deliberate. As I've frequently extolled the allium virtue of adding sulfur to the soil over time (protection from Powdery Mildew in susceptible plants such as Monarda), these were yet another addition to that particular soil modification. And we actually would like to see them perform in a spot where they can be appreciated too!

The last bulbs (24) to list are one of our emerging favorites, Camassia esculenta, aka 'Indian Hyacinth." This plant is also known as 'Quamash,' a Native American moniker because in the past they used them as a food source. If you search the blog, or use the labels below, you'll see some much better pictures than VB's image conveys. Camassia is a bit deceptive when it emerges because its foliage is easily mistaken for a tall grass, and it isn't until they bloom that they reveal their true beauty. We ordered the blue ones this year, and when we first planted them in 2005, we purchased a mix that also has a nice pink in it, but it's really the blue ones we now prefer. The mistake we made initially when we planted these is that we interspersed a few here and there among other larger bulbs (Tulips, Daffodils) where they tended to get lost. So this time, Fernymoss concentrated on a few mass plantings (1 bag per mass) so they'll stand out more and get their fair share of attention. Camassia does have a nice tendency to naturalize freely after a few years, so we're hoping that over time we'll get some really nice masses where they can strut their under appreciated stuff! We certainly don't have any intentions of eating them, so we're just going to encourage them to live long and prosper!

So there you have it, the inventory of fall bulbs recently planted here at the Oasis ... now the long winter wait begins.... But if you'd like revisit last Spring (what serious gardener wouldn't?), just click on the various labels below and enjoy!

Work continues to be an obstacle to blogging, but I'm going to try to post when I have some spare time at night, so do stop back frequently to see what's going on. Winter postings are always a challenge, but I've been mulling over some possible topics (ranging from film to recipes and archival photos not seen previously) to keep the garden going, while we wait for winter's passage and the renewal of the promise of a new season to come! And of course, there's always Christmas Ornament blogging in the offing ... much sooner than I'd like to admit!

So what have you folks out there been planting bulb and otherwise in your nearly slumbering fall gardens? I'd love to hear what gardeners in other zones have to say, though I'm sure that some of it would make me envious! Let us know....

A Few Halloween Sights

I hope you all had a great Halloween, however you chose to celebrate! Of course, I'm a bit late, given the stressful, busy week we had dealing with the tree damage and all the preparations, not to mention that little annoyance known as work! So, though late, here are some views of the front garden and exterior, and soon I'll have more shots of the spooky porch display inside .... Anyway, here's what confronted our Trick or Treaters on Thursday night as they approached the spookiest house on the block ... but the one with the most generous treats and prizes! (Note: the three pumpkins to the left of the door came from the garden ... there was another one out there, but it rotted before it was fully ripe, so we only ended up with three, all told.)
Here's a view of the primrose bed to the left of the steps ... I didn't get the tombstone into the shot because I wanted to make sure our garden stone made it in ... Isn't it cool? It was a homemade gift that Shady Gardener brought me when she visited the garden back in August. Thanks so much for your generous contribution to the garden Shady! I think we'll leave it there at least for the time being, though I am planning on putting some of the new crocus and fritillaria bulbs in there, so it may have to move eventually, but it will always have a privileged and visible place in the garden!
I know I posted this tombstone last week, but notice the new addition! Isn't he eerily magnificent? I'm not sure if we'll leave him out over the winter, but he certainly does look at home under the holly amidst the dead ostrich plume ferns, doesn't he? You can also see that despite the killing frosts we had last week, the Hellebore is doing just fine, and may well stay green all winter, even when it's buried under the snow....
Now you know what a zapped Castor Tree looks like after a killing frost! And sometime on Friday, this bony dude decided to drop by and hang around for a while, a sort of Halloween ornament on a spooky dead tree ... and in the shot below you can see that one of his less fortunate friends decided to take a rest at the base of the tree....
As for our usual Halloween festivities, we only unpacked about half of the decorations we had because we were so short on time this year, but still had plenty to go around! One of our neighbors told us that we always have the best decorations and spookiest display, so our reputation goes unchallenged yet again, even though we had much more grandiose plans, but we just ran out of time! We had a smaller than usual turnout of Trick or Treaters this year, which was really odd, because the evening was so mild for a change! Still, those who came by went home thrilled and loaded down with candy and toy prizes! All told, we had about 36 show up, and we had a great time making them squeal with delight at the decorations and treats ... and not to be outdone, Queen Skelepepa acted as a very accommodating "Ghostess" who charmed the little ones and got lots of attention and petting! After it was all over, she came in and just conked out for the night ... she was clearly pooped out but content with her contribution to the festivities!

We had our annual small Halloween Bash for a few friends and co-workers Friday night, and it was a very pleasant evening among friends with lots of good food, drink and spooky tricks. We were both wiped out with all the preparations and vow that next year, we're going to skip the party entirely so we don't stress ourselves out like we usually do. Next year, I think we'll just have a quiet Halloween at home watching spooky movies and snacking, without all the preparations we usually put ourselves through. All in all though, it was a great Halloween Weekend, and now it's on to the Election on Tuesday, which we're hoping will be a great celebration as well ... we will all know Tuesday night, won't we?

I hope to get back to a somewhat more regular posting schedule after the election, so keep stopping by and again, thanks for all the kind comments and positive thoughts you've been sending our way during these past stressful weeks! They really brighten our day!

Lovely Lampshades: Fritillaria michailovskyi

Funny how quickly the 'archives' of spring bulb pictures get outdated in the mad rush to bloom in which so many flowers compete at this time of year ... We took these shots back in late April and of course, at this point, they've already packed up and gone away for the rest of the season. But I thought I'd post them anyway, as a fond farewell to the early spring bulbs ... but there are still Wood Hyacinths (Hyacinthoides hispanica or 'Spanish Bluebells') just starting to bloom now so they'll be the absolute last of the truly spring bulbs to do their thing.

Fritillaria michailovski was the first Fritillary we ever planted years ago (thank you Martha Stewart, lol) and though I think there were originally about six, but they've dwindled over the years, most likely due to the rather poor spot we chose to plant them (at the edge of the sidewalk, where they're almost too small to see up close) and some harsh winters, as well as last year's disastrous spring. But when we planted them, our first bulb bed was brand new, and the front boulder bed was only a dream that had not yet been accomplished. But still, they persevere and this year we vow to dig up that bed, re-do it and transfer these lovely little fellows (natives to Turkey, of all places!) to a more prominent spot in the front border for next spring. We also plan on getting some more to increase their numbers, because having a nice little mass of F. michailovski would make a great companion to other early bloomers such as the Snowdrops and Crocus (which was the original idea where we have them planted now), so hopefully we'll just move the whole lot to some newer spots and give them a little more prominence next year. I've whined enough this spring about last year's débacle (and I promise to stop!) but I thought you might be interested in seeing how they looked last year. They definitely did better this year! (Notice the difference in quality between the old Fuji and the new one -- the S700-- I'm constantly amazed at how much richer colours the new one captures!)

Next week I am taking a week's vacation to really get out and get serious in the garden, as planting season (especially for veggies) is quickly slipping away from us after what has seemed like such a brief nice period of spring! There's still a lot of clean up and weeding to be done (the dandelions are done, so out they go!), so I hope to tackle a bit each day I'm off and get areas weeded and planted with some of the new plants we already have. Fernymoss actually has this weekend off so we're probably going to get some new plants, do some digging and weeding and get down to business ... then fire up the grill for the season! Can't wait to cook my first pork tenderloin on the grill this year ... that's our new favorite, and after all, if it's summer (with the World Pork Expo coming up in early June), we gotta have our tasty Iowa Pork! It's right up there with the sweet corn, but we'll have to wait a bit longer for that, I'm afraid ...

Purple, Yellow and White Crocus

Well, as Crocus Explosion Week at Casa IVG draws to a close, I'll share some more shots Fernymoss took last Sunday when there was still lots of color bursting out of the ground all over.

Now, after a week of extremely windy and damp conditions (except for that glorious day yesterday), the crocus are pretty much done for this year. Their petals have been blown who knows where by the wind ... they've been pounded quite a bit by the rains that are still continuing tonight (and likely through Friday as well) ... and, well, their bloom time just isn't all that long in the larger scheme of the garden.

That doesn't mean we don't miss them (already), just that their role in the seasonal garden cycle this year is almost done. Now it's the Daffodils' turn to dazzle the stage while the Tulips progress off in their spaces ... they'll be along soon to complement the Daffodils, along with the Muscari ('Grape Hyacinths') and hyacinths. I've been trying to get some decent shots of the Chionodoxa ('Glory of the Snow'), but it was actually too bright yesterday and they got all bleached out a bit and I wasn't happy with the results. Hopefully they'll still be around on Saturday when it's supposed to be dry and sunny again, but given their rather ephemeral stay in the garden, I may have to post what I consider inferior views (hate it when that happens).

We're still apprehensive about the appearance of the 'Crown Imperial' Fritillaria, but we do think one is poking through now (the big orange one), so we still hold out hopes they'll do fine this year after being frozen and essentially banished by the cold April we had last year. The primroses, however, are really perking up and growing lushly now, and after all this recent rain, I don't think it will be long before they are blooming. They look like they're starting to spread a bit, which delights me to no end, because I can think of few things prettier than a big planting of mixed Primroses blooming! So ... stay tuned!

Galanthus Forever! (I wish...)

Some more shots of Snowdrops ... in the snow this time, albeit briefly! I took the first shot Friday late afternoon, when the sun was literally pouring through the flowers out front (such as the crocus in the previous post) on a really nice spring day ... whereas Fernymoss took the second shot just the previous day when we got that surprise snow. Though the second environment is how we usually expect to see the Snowdrops emerge (which usually happens in February, not late March!) ... eager harbingers of spring, bearing promises of crocus soon to come ...

Though I didn't get out to take some more shots today (household tasks got in the way), I did take a quick tour around the back yard and front gardens to see how things are progressing ... still no signs of the big Hyacinths, the Crown Imperials or the Siberian Squill, but there are lots of crocus, tulips, Daffodils, Chionodoxa and Spanish Squill breaking ground. It won't be much longer, that is, if the weather cooperates!

Olivia asked me recently if the Dragon Arum had broken ground yet, to which I of course had to answer Not yet... If I recall correctly (I should check the archives on this), it broke through in late April or Early May last year, and was in full bloom a month later. We're hoping that this year (its third) it may actually be able to muster up more than one bloom, though even if it's just one (as last year) we'll be more than happy. We're planning on adding one or two more of these spectacular oddities in the fall, if all goes well ... we'd love to incorporate some more Arums into the scheme of things, but I think we'll need to take stock of the landscape after everything is up here to see if there is enough room. They're somewhat pricey bulbs to plant, but well worth the results they offer!

If you're interested in planting some interesting bulbs, I'll conclude by linking to two resources we have used (to great satisfaction) for purchasing bulbs online.

The first, McClure-Zimmerman bulbs has a fantastic selection ranging from the more common bulbs (tulips, crocus, etc.) to more esoteric collectors' items such as a wealth of Fritillaria species and of course, Arums.

Van Bourgondien bulbs and plants was the original source for the Dragon Arum, as well as that half bushel of daffodils we planted several years ago. They have competitive prices, a great selection and best of all, they ship exactly when you're ready to plant, so you can order in June (usually with a significant discount) and they'll arrive right about when you're ready to plant. They usually also include a freebie or two with larger orders (we got a couple of Iris from them last time) and don't charge your card until they ship (in case that's a concern). --End of shameless plug-- But I'm often asked where one can get certain things they've seen on the blog, and these are two sources we consider reliable, high quality purveyor of bulbs.

Fritillaria michailovskyi

I'm a bit late getting this post up, as these little ones have already done their thing and moved on for the season ... if you're a regular reader you'll recall I was lamenting the non-appearance of our larger Crown Imperial Frtilliarias back in April. But our dwindling, if faithful, colony of Fritillaria michailovskyi (for some scant growing information go here) did manage to put on a nice little show this year.

These examples have been where they are for at least six or so years, and haven't naturalized to the extent we would have liked, but they're going to be moved over the course of the summer into a newly constructed bulb bed, where we hope they will be happier.

These fritillarias are pretty cold hardy, and people seem to plant them a lot in rock garden type spaces, though we prefer to just let them have their spot toward the front of the bed, where though not the splashiest of flowers, they do attract attention!

More diminutive than their larger cousins the Crown Imperials, these fritillarias originally native to Turkey and Iran definitely deserve their place in the serious bulb collector's garden where they make a perfect complement to the Snowdrops (Galanthus) who usually precede them by a couple of weeks. Again this year was an exception and they appeared later, but we were just happy to see them return! If you're interested in a good source for these, and other fritillarias, the following link will take you to a good supplier who has a lot of great species (at reasonable prices too).

MIA: Fritillaria Imperialis Rubra

Happy Earth Day, despite the recent abnormal weather!

After a gloriously sunny, warm and windy day Saturday, today brought frequent thundershowers, wind and rain ... welcome rain, I might add, since I spent several hours out yesterday cleaning up about half of the front boulder beds. It was the perfect capper for all the flowers just getting going after a really cold last few weeks, just the thing to get them out from under their wraps (now removed thanks to my efforts yesterday) and ready to take on the season.

But, as you've no doubt seen me lament recently, the bulb extravaganza just was unable to equal last year's display ... even though most of the tulips are bravely blooming, they're stunted and fallen down, nowhere near their usual potential. And there are a few flowers just plain missing in action this year, notably among them, two of our recently acquired Fritillaria Imperialis species. This one is Rubra, a rich orange to red variety that starts out and finishes looking a bit like some very stalky kind of pineapple. The joys of Fritillarias are addictive ... we've just begun collecting them a couple of years ago, and already have several more species we hope to add next fall.

As the larger bulbs go, they're pretty easy to get established, though that two weeks of deep freezer weather seems to have put them down for this year. Although we may yet be surprised, we've pretty much given up on seeing any blooms from them. So these two shots are from exactly a year ago today ... 22 April, 2006, where they were enjoying near perfect blooming conditions.

Though their bloom span is relatively short (about a week or so depending on the heat factor), they're hard to beat for sheer eye-catching power! No wonder they're commonly referred to as "Crown Imperials," because the majesty of the flowers and the sheer size of the plant (this one made it to about 24") just beg royal comparisons I guess. No matter, they're a great treat when they bloom and leave you wanting more ... in fact, the whole Fritillaria family has such a variety of sizes and blooming habits, (not to mention unusual coloration), that every serious gardener should consider making room for them in a prominent spot in the perennial border ... even though their appearance is brief each year, it is far from mundane.

For further information on the Fritillaria genus, here's the link to the very worthwhile Wikipedia entry on them.

MIA: Fritillaria Persica

Here's the other species, Persica, that has not appeared yet this year, and perhaps won't .... One of the more unusual shades, Persica appears to range from deep, dusty purple to an almost chocolaty maroon color, depending highly on the light conditions in which you view it.

Like the Crown Imperials with which it often seems to be lumped in the bulb catalogues, it's one of the taller Fritillarias which, in its native habitat in Turkey, apparently grows on mountain slopes in relatively rocky terrain. And to honor that lineage, we've planted it relatively close to the signature "finger rock" near the front of the boulder perennial bed in front of the house. It put on quite the impressive show last year (in its first year blooming), but alas, we fear it won't be doing an encore this year. Our hope is that it is just taking a rest and will be back about a year from now, better than ever, and carrying on its impressive display ...

The first shot was taken in natural sun, showing its rich purplish hues. The second, taken with flash near dusk, gives an interesting detailed view of its inner bits, and shows off the "dusty" texture of the petals.... However you choose to view it, it counts as one of our new favorites among the spring bloomers. We're missing Persica this year, and should we yet be surprised, you'll see it here!

For very detailed species information and growing instructions, check out this link, since the Wikipedia link to it is mysteriously quite dead.

Mesmerizing Olympic Flame Tulips

As much as I praise and love the Darwin varieties, it's Tulipa, "Olympic Flame" that truly embodies for me the perfect combination of sun and fire ... and what better variety to liven up a sunny spring day! And that this particular strain belongs to the Darwins is only testament to its dazzling staying power ... These are some of the original tulips we first planted in the small bulb bed out front, our first foray into planting spring bulbs back in about 1999. Way back then, we quickly filled this bed with various varieties of tulips, fancy and otherwise, as well as daffodils, snowdrops, crocus and Fritillaria michaelovski specimens. Certain ones have come and gone (mostly the fancier tulips, who never seem to last over time ... as I keep preaching) and a few remain, the most faithful bloomers of which are these lovely examples. There are also a few remaining "Parrot Feather" tulips (more on them soon), but for the most part, those tulips whose pictures originally dazzled and seduced us (such as the "Blue Tulips" that turned out to be mauve!) have moved on and just quit appearing over time.

Ok, you can see this coming, so I'll say it just one more time ... if you're going to go to the trouble of planting tulips, make the effort worth it! Darwins are by far the best way to go for years of dependable color ... go ahead and plant those hybridized poodles of the tulip world for a few years of unusual splash if you want, but you'll always come back to the Darwins in the end. I guess it's kind of like the old saying ... you date the flashy ones, but will eventually marry the Darwins. Well, that is, if you have what's commonly referred to as a "lick of sense" in your head. Barring unforeseen catastrophes (such as our disastrous recent cold spell), they will return to reward you and delight you for years to come ... long after the last ruffled petalcoat has left town.

These three shots were taken last year (4-22-06) on a gloriously sunny day, which really helps to show off the true range of fire you can get with Olympic Flame, thus justifying its rather high-falutin' moniker. All pretentions aside, they remain one of my all time favorite varieties ... so go ahead, click to enlarge them (or right click "view image" in Firefox) and get lost in the mesmerizing patterns of their striking inner bits!

I'll have some more different varieties up soon for you to compare with these so you can get a flavor of just how intricate the private regions of tulips can really be ... (Stay tuned, Olivia!)

And since this post was originally conceived of as a joint garden blog post, give a click here to see what Olivia has been doing with one of these!