First Junco!

Just to note this for posterity and tracking purposes...we saw the first Juncos (n=2) this afternoon, in the backyard and on the birdbath.  One of my most favorite teeny tiny birds!  Preceded at the birdbath by our sweet pet Song Sparrow who appears to prefer late-ish in the afternoon...also a favorite! He was still singing his spring song as of earlier this week. Temp today at 4pm is 45F on the deck.

The garden is essentially done for this year.  Pruned the last of the tall white anemones, which were still blooming as of yesterday, but it was time to get them in the paper bag.

More later.

Hurricane (Tropical Storm) Irene

Well, yes, it's the end of August.  We have passed through the longest day of the year, and last week we had both a very rare east-coast earthquake, and later in the week, on Sunday, August 28, an east-coast hurricane/tropical storm.  The garden had no damage, our skylights held, and we didn't lose power...for us, it was essentially over by early afternoon on Sunday.  Vermont is suffering mightily, and they say it could take weeks for the power to be back on.  42 people have died so far.

What I have been doing since end of May:

• Savagely pruned the (male) holly in the side yard, which was large, ungainly, and not contributing much.  It is now pretty interesting, although skeletal, and has been putting out little green leaves.  I think it will be fine.  In the space that opened up I put in a dwarf oakleaf hydrangea, a few short astilbes, a pale apricot-leafed heuchera, a gaultheria procumbens, and several white anemones.
• I decided that the spreading-out-of-control daphne in the back yard needed to be severely pruned.  Much better.  Transplanted a Viburnum winterthur to the space, plus some Achillea red velvet, and more of the heuchera with pale apricot leaves.  

 Random issues:

• I am trying to prune things before they get out of control; makes it all easier. 
• The grassy strip between the street and sidewalk did pretty well.  The ajugas failed, or are hidden or something, but the grass seed that washed down from some other place, and the portulacas that began to spring up, and the purple (really pink!) love grass now blooming (Eragrostis spectabilis) along the edge are nice.  The two short sections of flimsy white fencing was enough to keep the delivery trucks at bay.

Spring Anemones

I forgot to give a shout out for one of my favorites, the charming, always elegant Snowdrop Windflowers (Anemone Sylvestris), that just continue on, every spring.  They are gently expanding in a linear way along one side of the driveway and look, unlike some other plants, "friendly."  Maybe it's their nearly willful waving, as if they are glad to be out there, making our driveway look better.  Maybe it's their size; small/short, but not too small/short, and they are dazzling white.  They seem to stay in bloom for quite a long time, and easily survive whatever dreadful winters come along.

Suddenly, It's May!

No no, I haven't just returned from six weeks in the south of France, in time for a second Spring in New England...no no.  I've just been uh, unfocused.

It has been raining for 5 or 6 days, but now (6:30 pm), as we have come to expect, the sky is finally blue and the evening is golden and glorious.  Meanwhile, the TTG is beginning to look a lot like a jungle.  Really.  I  was out there earlier today, transplanting, cutting back some encroaching vegetation, occasionally pulling out a fistful of weeds (note: we don't have ANY dandelions here, because I fork them out if I see one; one of our neighbors has about 41,627, all tall and having gone to seed now; good going, neighbor!)

Hitting a few of the high spots of what's happening here:

• On the deck.  The Achilleas of last year (Achillea millifolium Snowsport--white, and Paprika--red) survived the lousy winter in pots with no problem and are doing well/in bud.  The newest ones from this year, Achillea Red Velvet, are also in bud.  OK, some people think of these guys as weeds...but I say, hey, they're terrific contained in a pot on a deck in scorching sun, etc.  
• Also on the deck.  Ripped out the pots of Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia Goldsturm)--honestly, they were never happy like this--and replaced them with Lamium maculatum.  Two Lamium Silver Beacon, with hot violet flowers, and one Lamium White Nancy, which is really spectacular.
• I dug out the terrible (dwarf-ish) Rhododendron from the front bed which the developer had selected, and which never did well, closely bounded as it was by the front sidewalk and the driveway and near the street; Rhodies are salt-sensitive, and this one was pretty unhappy.  It took me about 4 hours of hard, hard labor (John was at work, or he would have helped), but the worst part was the dense network of surface roots, like a Brillo pad, that anchored it into the ground in all directions.  And of course the main root which was as thick as my arm...yikes.   So if you have something like this that you don't like, don't wait to get it out!
• This opened up that space.  Replaced the Rhodie with one (of the two) Coral Berry shrubs (Symphoricarpos Amethyst) that had been languishing elsewhere.  Added a Campanula, another Lamium, some Lavenders, a Rock Cress ( Arabis caucasica), two Thyme,  a May Queen daisy, and two transplanted Scabiosa Buttterfly Blue from elsewhere in the TTG.  I like it better already.  More about the new little guys as they settle in; also, pictures later.
• The scrap of thin dirt/rocks between the street and our sidewalk, which, apparently, we don't own but the city doesn't do anything with, and the delivery trucks, etc, drive over since we aren't given curbs...I planted 15 Ajuga genevensis.  I read somewhere that they are "invasive", which is certainly what's needed here to survive; so far they are ALL still alive in the DMZ of our yard; a few have even bloomed!!  I'm hoping that they soon start "invading" and spreading toward each other and join up and eventually make something wonderful.  Maybe I am expecting too much?
• The Flowering Quince "Cameo" (Chanomeles/Cydonia), was really spectacular this year; it seems to be spreading in a good way, and the apricot blossoms are (surprisingly) just the right color for the space.
• The Scilla (Siberian Squill) is colonizing, which is just what we were hoping for; for awhile there we had wonderful sweeps of the intense (intense!) blue everywhere; also Muscari, also very, very blue.

Things I have learned:

• Vinca/periwinkle/creeping Myrtle is extremely invasive, and is quite happy in direct sun...it is beautiful in the spring, with its lavender blue flowers, but it's alarmingly invasive.  Uh oh.  At least it doesn't climb...yet.
• Daphne burkwoodii Carol Mackie is way more robust than the literature would have you imagine; much taller, wider, etc.  The fragrance is intoxicating, and they are beautiful (we have four!), but I would have done things differently had I known!
• Our "dwarf" Japanese Maple is out of control.  I've never liked it, either; another non-optimal choice by the developer...one of those burgundy-red things,  too clunky and too tall...now what?

 A female Baltimore Oriole in the backyard today, hopping from shrub to shrub!

First Robin, 2011!

Yes, first robin today, looking for worms!  It's downhill from here as far as spring, eh?  A song sparrow in the birdbath, and more snowdrops and tiny crocuses popping up everywhere. Also, a beautiful day, 55 degrees, and blue skies!  I need to get out there and pry up the pasted-down leaves, prune some dead wood, and plant the new lily-of-the-valley pips.

Note for the future...even those shrubs that were horizontal and under heavy snow since the Christmas blizzard more than two months ago, and have just now sprung free, appear to be [generally speaking] OK.  One or two of them have some broken limbs, which will need working on, but the merely bent-over shrubs will  recover.  Whew.

Blue Skies. Yellow Crocuses!

One of the best things about Boston, I think, is the weather--generally speaking.  [You have to remember that we moved here from Buffalo and Pittsburgh, not San Diego.]  Right now, for example, the sky is blue and a few clouds are moving off to the South; ten minutes ago the rain was ending, and everything was gray--how terrific is that?  Except for this past winter, which was truly difficult, we think the weather here is mostly great.  And here is something else...it is seldom overcast in Boston; either it is actively precipitating or it is sunny, and usually as soon as it stops precipitating the sun comes out right away.  In many other places it is gloomy most of the time, instead, which is less good.

About those Persian crocuses. The very tiny yellow ones are blooming, which they always do a bit before the pale blue ones (also very tiny). 

Quickly surveyed the TTG for winter damage today; not as catastrophic as I feared, but the male holly, Ilex x meserveae (Blue Stallion), is pretty well snapped off at its top main stem, which is problematic for vertical growth!  When it isn't so windy, I will need to do something for it; not quite sure what.  Some artful pruning can probably make him presentable, and the female hollies (four of them) will be glad that he's still nearby. Hollies seem so flexible, but apparently that isn't exactly so.  We think the firethorn, Pyracantha, will be OK, although every year it's something else with that guy; fireblight, falling forward and coming nearly out of the ground, etc, etc.

Early March, 2011

Here is a view of a rear side fence with (from L to R) climbing hydrangea, H. anomala petiolaris;  a small clump of Fothergilla gardenii; and one of the female hollies, Ilex x meserveae (Blue Princess).

Snowdrops, the Sequel. Also, Crocuses!

To anyone wanting to know...yes, the snowdrops look to be in fine condition, even those that I hadn't yet seen yesterday, and therefore hadn't covered with snow.  So single-digit temps with below-zero windchill is NOT a problem.

Persian Crocus 3.11

Discovered some little ferny green tufts of what I have always called Persian Crocus--I wonder why I think that is the right name?--more correctly referred to as Snow Crocus, or C. chrysanthus.  They are short, and the bloom is about the size of a small jelly bean, and I really like them; lots of tiny blooms in pale, pearly colors that look great against the dark ground.  [I like jelly beans a lot, too.]  I would show you a picture of them from my favorite plants/bulbs supplier, but right at the moment Bluestone Perennials, http://www.bluestoneperennials.com, isn't showing pictures of their spring-flowering bulbs (since you would have had to plant them last fall).  I've been ordering from them for 15+ years, and they are wonderful; also in a good climate zone (Ohio) for Northeast gardens. Finally, here is a picture taken a few days ago of the Persian Crocuses...
 

Lots of juncos zooming through the yard.  They keep looking for food on the deck banister...so, OK, I caved in and put out some crunched-up Kashi Autumn Wheat.  This is their favorite food; I know I probably shouldn't give them this, but they won't eat flax seeds, for example; they just kick it off the railing...

Snowdrops!

High drama in the TeenyTinyGarden!  Last week I noticed two (2) Snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis, completely freed from under the slowly-retreating snow rubble; one in the front mulch bed, near the (dwarf) Rhododendron, and the other under the Japanese Maple.  There are probably many more, waiting to emerge.

On the noon weather forecast today, all stations are calling for "single digits" tonight, and below zero windchill in the morning (yes, I know that plants don't actually respond to "windchill"). John asks, "Will they survive?"  And I say, "Yes, I think so...I tossed a bit of snow around them when I was out earlier, to protect them."

Fingers crossed...

[Now would be the right place to add an image of our little guys, but first I have to master the camera.  Well, first I have to find the camera...  Instead I will mention that I haven't much liked doing photography since things went digital, and especially since good B&W paper is barely possible to find, and Kodachrome went away--but more about that another time.]