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Here it is May Day, and it seemed like it would never get here! Today, all over France, people are already celebrating the arrival of Spring (as well as Labor Day) with the Fête du muguet, when practically everyone gives someone they care for a nice bouquet of Muguet des bois, aka, Lily of the Valley. We're a bit behind here in Iowa (and regular readers know what a protracted winter we had this year!), so we don't have any just yet, but I'm sure it will be arriving soon in the odd spots around the house where it has always grown since we've been here. So, I'll offer you some other pretty tidbits and encouraging previews of flowers just arrived and more to come...
Remember when I posted this shot back in March after the snow finally melted in the Primrose Bed by the front steps?
Here's how it looked on this late April day (late afternoon when there was actually a bit of sun poking through) ... what a difference a month makes when the weather finally improves! After all the rains we've been having the past several days, the Primroses have been soaking it up and revving up to burst into bloom ... these blooms have just appeared within the last two days and there are many more yet to come. And the two rogue Tulips that I swear we never planted have emerged and are strutting their stuff proudly. The Snowdrops and Crocuses in this bed have finished their show for the year and only the foliage remains at this point, but there are other things preparing to take over the show ... the variegated Solomon's Seal is up (and multiplying) as well as the 'Gilt Edge' Toad Lily, Meadow Sage, Bee Balm and Lavender ...but for the moment, the Primroses will rule the roost for the next several weeks.
This tenacious little Muscari armeniacum has persevered for many years now, having been originally planted when there was still a bit of yard along the front steps before we dug it up and created the front boulder bed (back in 2003). We lost quite a few bulbs when we filled in the area, but a few have persisted (crocus and squill) and this little guy shows up in exactly the same spot every year, peeking out from under the rocks. This year it looks like he brought along a friend to keep him (and us) company, so welcome to the garden, little fellow!
Ah, consider the gentle little native wildflower that many consider the bane of their yards and garden ... but the humble Viola papillionacea is such a pretty flower that always reliably blooms for May Day (I used to put them in the May baskets I gave out as a child). At least it does have enough admirers that it was chosen (in a rather odd manner) as the Wisconsin State Flower. We love these little beauties but have to be a bit harsh with them in the garden after they are done blooming or we would have nothing but Violets remaining if we let them have their way. We do allow some to remain (come on, no one could ever really eradicate these!), but we dig as many as we can and dispatch them to the compost or to bare areas in the back yard, where they can perform a useful function without choking out our more prized plants....
Just a couple of weeks ago, our Dicentra spectabilis (Bleeding Heart) hadn't even broken ground, but look at our original plant today! It has just lept from the Woodland Garden and sprung immediately into bloom, and our others aren't far behind, so you'll be seeing lots more of them soon.
A couple of weeks ago I was fretting because I hadn't seen any signs of our Trilliums yet, but just in the past three or four days they have appeared magically and are gearing up to bloom. We originally planted three of them several years ago and last year we had five appear, so we know they are multiplying ... we've only seen five so far this year, but are hoping that more will join the party soon and start staking out their territory among the ferns in the Woodland Garden.
Fernymoss was thrilled to see these unfurling shoots today when he was out with the camera ... they're his favorite fern, the Maidenhair, and every spring we marvel at the many odd shapes they take before they fully develop into their mature fronds. Here you can see them surrounded by their neighbors, the Leatherwood ferns who have been steadily greening up in the past few weeks. Soon they will go vertical and abandon their prostrate ways of early spring and the Maidenhairs will take over the territory quickly for the rest of the summer.
Ok, for a bit of fun here, I'll leave it to you readers to guess what these emerging shoots are, although if you're familiar with the denizens of the Woodland Garden, these should be pretty easay to identify. Let me know in the comments what you think they are and we'll see who can ID these first!
For those familiar with the oddities of our garden, this last one should be really easy ... and it appears that it has successfully produced about five offshoots from last year's growth, so we are hoping for multiple blooms this year! We'll see if that happens, but this one has arrived quickly ... last weekend before the rains arrived, I was out looking for signs of this plant and found none ... so look at it now!
So happy May Day to all you fellow gardeners (and garden admirers) out there! I hope you're fêted with a lovely day to celebrate (looks to be another cloudy one here, alas) and that your gardens are springing back to life as vigorously as ours is currently doing! I've got lots more to post in the next few days, so do stop back for even more colorful flowers now taking their positions on the Spring Stage!
All photos taken on April 30, 2009. Courtesy of Fernymoss
These 'Old Fashioned Bleeding Heart' (Dicentra spectabilis) have quite happily established themselves on the north, Woodland side of the house and represent some of the very first plants we put in that particular area of the garden. (In 1999, hard to believe!) They've since been joined by a lot of other shade lovers, namely ferns of all sorts, Ligularia, Polygonatum (Solomon's Seal), Hellebores, Lungwort and a few others, so this particular area is pretty full, as you can see in the second shot! And if you look way back in the photo, you can see the peonies already up about 3 ft and putting on buds (just in front of the fence to the right ... click for full sized image).
People ask us every year what we do to make these grow so huge, but that's always been entirely up to them! By a happy confluence of circumstances, of light and consistently moist, well drained soil they have almost become garden punks, spreading out a bit further every year, and we often have to dig new plants (from seeds and/or natural spreading) to keep them from taking over entirely. So usually a few people are the lucky recipients of the unwanted offspring each year ... well except for last year when they too were severely zapped by that cold spell. Well, they're back with a vengeance this year and have just flown out of the ground the past couple of weeks, hardly waiting for the leaves to open fully before they started blooming. There is a white one that hasn't been doing as well so far this year, but I'm pretty confident that it will eventually hit its stride soon, and I'll be sure to post it here. But in the interim, just enjoy these first few shots ...
Photos taken by Fernymoss on 6 May, 2008.
Continuing with our recent highlights of the Woodland Garden, I thought I'd put this wider shot up just to illustrate how lush and filled in it has become in the past two weeks. There's an amazing amount of growing going on here, and a discerning eye should be able to pick out at least six kinds of plants all sharing this same space. And that's not even counting the ivy which serves as a groundcover as well as climbing up the side of the house.
Though we're expanding and filling in more of the overall Woodland Garden, we don't plan on adding anything more to this particular area (which was the beginning of the whole space) because we're really happy with how everything has come together and formed a distinct garden area. We will be adding more to the right of this area (in the part where the Mystery Plant is), including a few new toad lilies, a Jack in the Pulpit, some Irish and Scottish moss and a few other shade lovers. We've already got several Hellebores planted over there and got a new one to include for this year's addition. We've got a lot of planting to happen soon around here, so we're going to be really busy getting the last of the clean up done, areas weeded, seeds planted and new plants installed.
Oh, and our lawnmower died on us, so time to go get a new one this weekend! So many garden tasks, so little time ....
Planting a Woodland Garden was one of our first intentions when we started reclaiming the soil from the grass on our property.
We started tentatively, before we bought the house, but since then we have been working consistently on enlarging the area on the north --which coincidentally faces Woodland Avenue-- adding a few more plants each year. Though we didn't follow any defined plan (such as this one), but rather, let our inclinations run wild to reproduce a slice of woodland landscape with what native (and non) plants would fit the growing conditions we have at our disposition.
Ferns, of course, were a necessity, along with the various specimens of Dicentra (Bleeding Heart), Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum), Coral Bells (Heuchera sp.), Ragwort (Ligularia sp.), and of course Maidenhair Ferns, which have figured prominently here of late.
This is also the area where we have three Hollies (Ilex sp.) planted nearby, and though they were slow to get started, they have now reached a good size, despite one of them having lost an entire branch during one of the late winter ice storms we had in late February and early March. Those were the original plantings we started with, and since our expansion of the area in 2004, we've added a lot more plants, such as Hellebores, several Tricyrtis (Toad lily), more ferns and most recently, Trillium (planted in 2006). The whole area is bordered on the sidewalk with Daffodils, Tulips, Indian Hyacinth, Alliums and Alpine Blue Columbines. It's also the home of the currently featured Mystery Plant, which is on its way to blooming soon, but just taking its time since I posted a picture of it last week.
We've already purchased several new specimens to add to this area this year, though we haven't gotten them into the ground just yet, but they will be within the next week or so ... we got a new species of Ligularia, commonly referred to as "The Rocket," another Toad Lily, Lungwort, and if we're very lucky (the supplier has ordered five more of them for us), several more Trillium, a species I have yet to post here, but will be doing so in the near future. I expect there will be a few more ferns to call this area home this year, as well as some other new additions. We're already so taken with "The Rocket" that we want to get another one to work into the general area ....
A few notes on the photos ... the top shot is of course Maidenhair Ferns and primarily Bleeding Hearts in the area behind the two female Hollies.
The second is pretty much more of the same, though if you look carefully to the right, you'll see the red-leafed Ligularia in the background.
And finally, the third shot has a lot going on in it ... Maidenhairs, Ligularia, Polygonatum, Heuchera, and of course, just a bit of one of the female hollies. The center area (original planting) is, at this point, pretty much filled in and maturing nicely. What remains is to fill in the adjoining areas ... a work in progress, but one progressing quite nicely we think!
A favorite species in generations of gardens from probably the Victorians onward, the apparently delicate Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) is an absolute must-have for any serious perennial gardener! And as much as I hate to keep repeating it, this is another flower that suffered greatly during the recent deep freeze period ... in fact we weren't sure that they'd even recover, after going from thriving 1-1/2 foot plants to a mass of what looked like limp spaghetti, they have finally re-emerged, a bit smaller, more stunted, but still determined to bloom. Believe me, when we saw them coming back, there was significant rejoicing around Casa IVG! These specimens were among the very first perennials we planted back in spring 1999, and have a bit of a reputation in the neighborhood for their ability to reach nearly gigantic heights... most years they top out at about 3-1/2 - 4 feet tall! I doubt they'll get that big this year, but just seeing them survive a very harsh period is testament alone to the tenacity of this old-fashioned favorite.
Ours are planted among maidenhair and leatherwood ferns toward the back of our Woodland garden, where they create a lush backdrop for the other shade perennials planted nearer the sidewalk. If you look closely at other photos of this part of the garden, you'll likely see Dicentra lurking among the other flora.
Cultivation is really pretty simple ... just give them a mostly shady position (early morning light is ideal) in moist, well-drained loamy soil, and once established they are practically indestructible. (April 2007 was proof of that!) Ours have created such a thick crown of growth over the past eight years that if we even tried to divide them, we'd probably end up ruining a shovel or destroying their territory. So we leave well enough alone, and if we have a few too many volunteers (which does happen, thanks to self-seeding!) we just move them or give them as a gift to another gardener who will appreciate them. As my sister has learned the hard way, the worst thing you can do to Dicentra is to plant it in a too sunny spot (e.g. full southern exposure) where it is subject to heat and lack of moisture ... though it will take a year or two to kill them that way, they will not bloom long each spring and will disappear at the first hint of June heat. Give them the cool shade they crave, and the foliage and even a few sporadic blooms will last well into the summer. Once they start turning yellow and dying back, you can safely cut them back and let them rest until the following spring, where they will come back to reward you with masses of blooms once again.
Here's how it looked on this late April day (late afternoon when there was actually a bit of sun poking through) ... what a difference a month makes when the weather finally improves! After all the rains we've been having the past several days, the Primroses have been soaking it up and revving up to burst into bloom ... these blooms have just appeared within the last two days and there are many more yet to come. And the two rogue Tulips that I swear we never planted have emerged and are strutting their stuff proudly. The Snowdrops and Crocuses in this bed have finished their show for the year and only the foliage remains at this point, but there are other things preparing to take over the show ... the variegated Solomon's Seal is up (and multiplying) as well as the 'Gilt Edge' Toad Lily, Meadow Sage, Bee Balm and Lavender ...but for the moment, the Primroses will rule the roost for the next several weeks.
This tenacious little Muscari armeniacum has persevered for many years now, having been originally planted when there was still a bit of yard along the front steps before we dug it up and created the front boulder bed (back in 2003). We lost quite a few bulbs when we filled in the area, but a few have persisted (crocus and squill) and this little guy shows up in exactly the same spot every year, peeking out from under the rocks. This year it looks like he brought along a friend to keep him (and us) company, so welcome to the garden, little fellow!
Ah, consider the gentle little native wildflower that many consider the bane of their yards and garden ... but the humble Viola papillionacea is such a pretty flower that always reliably blooms for May Day (I used to put them in the May baskets I gave out as a child). At least it does have enough admirers that it was chosen (in a rather odd manner) as the Wisconsin State Flower. We love these little beauties but have to be a bit harsh with them in the garden after they are done blooming or we would have nothing but Violets remaining if we let them have their way. We do allow some to remain (come on, no one could ever really eradicate these!), but we dig as many as we can and dispatch them to the compost or to bare areas in the back yard, where they can perform a useful function without choking out our more prized plants....
Just a couple of weeks ago, our Dicentra spectabilis (Bleeding Heart) hadn't even broken ground, but look at our original plant today! It has just lept from the Woodland Garden and sprung immediately into bloom, and our others aren't far behind, so you'll be seeing lots more of them soon.
A couple of weeks ago I was fretting because I hadn't seen any signs of our Trilliums yet, but just in the past three or four days they have appeared magically and are gearing up to bloom. We originally planted three of them several years ago and last year we had five appear, so we know they are multiplying ... we've only seen five so far this year, but are hoping that more will join the party soon and start staking out their territory among the ferns in the Woodland Garden.
Fernymoss was thrilled to see these unfurling shoots today when he was out with the camera ... they're his favorite fern, the Maidenhair, and every spring we marvel at the many odd shapes they take before they fully develop into their mature fronds. Here you can see them surrounded by their neighbors, the Leatherwood ferns who have been steadily greening up in the past few weeks. Soon they will go vertical and abandon their prostrate ways of early spring and the Maidenhairs will take over the territory quickly for the rest of the summer.
Ok, for a bit of fun here, I'll leave it to you readers to guess what these emerging shoots are, although if you're familiar with the denizens of the Woodland Garden, these should be pretty easay to identify. Let me know in the comments what you think they are and we'll see who can ID these first!
For those familiar with the oddities of our garden, this last one should be really easy ... and it appears that it has successfully produced about five offshoots from last year's growth, so we are hoping for multiple blooms this year! We'll see if that happens, but this one has arrived quickly ... last weekend before the rains arrived, I was out looking for signs of this plant and found none ... so look at it now!
So happy May Day to all you fellow gardeners (and garden admirers) out there! I hope you're fêted with a lovely day to celebrate (looks to be another cloudy one here, alas) and that your gardens are springing back to life as vigorously as ours is currently doing! I've got lots more to post in the next few days, so do stop back for even more colorful flowers now taking their positions on the Spring Stage!
