Kaseys Korner

this is not the year

to push the growing season.  There certainly haven't been many warm, gentle days to lull a gardener into feeling secure enough to plant early.  Unless there is a dramatic turnaround, this gardener will most likely be planting late and that hardly ever happens. 

The first lily-flowered tulip has opened.  One lone 'Ballade' variety lights up the back corner of the garden in front of the terra cotta bird cloche. 

Speaking of birds, a robin that has been faithfully sitting on her clutch of eggs outside my kitchen window (for close to two weeks) had a horrible day.  I wish I could have helped her but I was too late spotting trouble ~ those dastardly grackles took three eggs out of her nest right under my nose:

It makes me mad and sad at the same time. 

I've usually had success running them out of the yard by this date but my neighbor has made it infinitely harder by continuing to feed them.  I'm sure that's how they spotted her.  I know it won't be long before they get the final egg and that breaks my heart. 

Meanwhile, this weekend will be another cold one ~ in the 40's with a chance for snow (!!) and rain.  ugh.  I guess we'll keep waiting for a warmer forecast....

 

not wind, sleet or hail

can stop spring from rolling along, even when the gardener questions it.  Looking around, it's obvious spring has sprung.  The bed under the aspen trees is awash with color:

as is the back corner bed anchored by the giant bleeding heart:

Out front a pair of yellow tulips flank 'ocean magic' muscari with a peach hyacinth blooming in the background:

By the pond 'Miller's crimson' primula japonica is beginning to bloom:

and buds have appeared on the Virginia bluebells:

It's hard to believe it was 39 degrees yesterday and hailing!  At least the little bletilla striata bulbs blooming in the "greenhouse" are protected:

Our normal last frost-free date is Mother's Day weekend so it better warm up fast! 

Spring projects

I've undertaken several bigger (for me) garden projects this spring that are keeping me a little too busy.  One of them is digging out some of the grass in the back garden to make room for a few more shrubs and perennials (and maybe even that weeping pussy willow I recently purchased)!  I'm thinking of adding a picket fence section thru the center of it but haven't made a final decision yet??  My plan is to break up the yard into two "rooms" which shouldn't be that difficult considering it isn't very big to begin with.  I wish I'd started all this last fall so that the grass could have been turned under and composted.  Maybe it won't get planted this year?  Could be I just lay the framework?  We'll see. 

I have to say it's a most delicious place to be working right now.  The nannyberry (viburnum lentago) is in full bloom and it smells heavenly. 

It's also humming with bee activity.  So many bees the air is abuzz with the sound.  It's like having your own personal symphony.  I listened as I did a little planting in that corner of the garden.  Two (nursery propagated ~ not harvested) Jack-in-the-pulpits (Arisaema triphyllum):

and more primulas!  You know how obsessed I am with them by now.  These are 'pubescens' variety:

They are hardy to zone 3 which will make them more reliable than the 'gold lace' ones I like but can't always winter over.

I also noticed the goldfinches eating the buds off another viburnum (name failing me at the moment).  I remember reading about this on someone else's blog last year but hadn't witnessed it here yet.  Now I have and I'm not sure I like it.  Although I do like the goldfinches so it's a bit of a conundrum what to do.

Above is a rather really bad photo of one caught in the act!  I hope they save me a few blooms (and thus berries) and don't strip the buds clean. 

I also made an exciting discovery ~ buds on the tree peony I bought at the end of season last fall. 

If the buds actually open, they will be my first tree peony blooms ever.  I never even got it into the ground last year either ~ it spent the winter in a container, nestled in a protected spot next to the house.  I suppose I ought to plant it now that it appears it can survive and even thrive here!

Anyway, as soon as a little more progress is made on the projects, I will share some photos with you all.  Now I better get back out there ~ too long a break and I feel like slacking....

 

Fritillaria Imperialis 'lutea'

is just gorgeous right now despite being buffeted about (almost daily) by persistent strong winds.  I think it helps that I propped the buds up on the rungs of an obelisk?

The photo above also gives you an idea of 'lutea's' height ~ standing approx two foot tall, it's definitely an attention-grabber amongst the other (smaller) surrounding bulbs.

I also read an interesting tidbit about Fritillaria Imperialis 'lutea' the other night in my Random House Book of Bulbs.  A native of Turkey, in Persian the bulb is called "Tears of Mary" because of the great drops of nectar at the base of each petal.  Having never turned the blooms up to look inside, I was surprised to learn that and went outside to investigate/verify it.  Sure enough, there were large nectar drops just as reported:

See them shining at the base?  The book furthermore writes "Christian tradition tells the story that only the proud Crown Imperial (of all the flowers) refused to bow its head at the Crucifixion but it has bowed and wept ever since."

I found that information fascinating for some reason and I know I will never look at 'Lutea' again without thinking of it. 

The next Fritillaria waiting in the wings is 'Persica:'

I wonder what interesting "floral lore" I can find out about it??

inside the "greenhouse"

not exactly where I want to be this time of year ~ I'd rather be outside ~ but we've had day after day of incessant wind.  It wears on a person after a while.  Today it finally got to me, I feel totally wrung out from the howling so I've stayed inside and tried to "will" it away.  That's totally not working so now I'm pretending I can't hear it.  Really not working either.  The only other logical option is to get "lost" behind the camera lens ~ that's where the "greenhouse" comes in.  So many pretty blooms there right now, we may as well make the most of a bad day:

Above: mini cattleya 'Alvin Beggman Poem' with yellow spotted phalaenopsis.

Below:  White Phalaenopsis with Streptocarpus 'Blue Ice:'

'Blue Ice' again with 'Black Panther:'

and finally the latest addition, cattleya BLC Greenwich 'Elmhurst:'

Believe it or not, I "think" I'm done adding orchids to the collection.  I know it's early to be making a serious declaration like that, but I feel forced into it because I'm running out of space.  Unless of course, something extravagantly drop-dead gorgeous comes along to change my mind!

wild bird chasing

I'm back to my crazy girl antics ~ running out the back door, arms flapping, trying to shoo out the starlings, grackles and blackbirds.  It makes me realize how nice winter is without them in the garden.  I've pulled all my feeders except the suet (which I'm trying a "starling stumper" on) because I refuse, refuse, refuse (exclamation point) to feed them.  When I read about the blackbirds falling out of the sky earlier this year, I was secretly hoping it would make a difference in how many came north ~ it doesn't appear so.  It will be a test of persistence & endurance that's for sure ~ but I am determined to run them out!

My camera has accompanied me on several trips ~ might as well do something productive while all the other shenanigans are going on, right?  I found my favorite spring flower of all beginning to bloom ~ primula veris (cowslip):

I could never have too many of these sweet yellow blooms.  Now that I know the secret to germination, they are becoming a lot more prolific in my garden.

Getting ever so close to opening, Fritillaria Imperialis 'Lutea:'

I thought you might like to follow the progression from bud to bloom?  It's such a stately bulb.

An impromptu trip to the greenhouse yesterday resulted in a flat full of gorgeous pansies.  My favorite (at least for the last couple years) has been the 'frizzle sizzles.'  I did not make that up!  Here's 'frizzle sizzle yellow & blue:'

Those ruffles get me every time.  However, I think they are in jeopardy of losing their most favorite ranking.   Look what's giving them the stiff competition ~ Karma series 'Blue Butterfly:'

Quite possibly the most beautiful pansy ever ~ what do you think?

I also found several more daffodils to share with you.  Narcissi 'Dreamlight' was added two years ago and makes me wonder now why more weren't added last year:

I am really digging these "small cupped" varieties lately.  'Dreamlights' cup is so tiny it's barely there!  I have my eye on several more (different colored cups) I want to remember to order this fall.

Narcissi 'Derringer' is not a small cup (it's more of a bowl cup) but still too pretty to leave out:

Finally, a salmon-pink "short trumpet" variety whose name escapes me right now:

Aaahhh.  Annoying as grackles can be, they sure can't stop the excitement of spring.  I love that there's something new in bloom almost every single day.  These are the moments we've waited all winter for, aren't they?

daffodil blooms plus more...

I'm finally back with another post.  I've been thinking that I really need to decide what to do with the blog.  I just haven't been that into posting but I'm sure NOT ready to call it quits.  Maybe I need to set a schedule ~ like every Sunday, or twice a week, etc., ~ there will be a new post?  I know how frustrating it can be to go to a favorite blog and not see a new post.  Before I started blogging, I had my own favorites and I'd think "darn ~ that's the same as the last time I was here."  After joining the blogosphere, I finally understood how much time it took to photograph, upload, resize, watermark, etc., all before a single word is typed (not to mention visiting and commenting).  Enough of that ~ I'm sure I'll settle back into a routine at some point.  If I figure out a schedule, of course, you'll be the first to know!

Now to the garden!  It's starting to fill in with spots of color dotting the beds and faint sprinklings of that glorious "spring green" color everywhere you look.  The bulbs have really geared up since the last time I posted too ~ below is a tiny snapshot of the front garden.  You can see Greggi tulips 'Tsar Peter' are blooming along with Hellebore 'Blue Lady' and Narcissi 'Lemon Glow:' 

A close-up of 'Lemon Glow' because the above photo does not do it justice at all:

It really seems to "glow" in the sunlight, don't you agree? 

Of course there are many other narcissi ~ I haven't photographed them all but here are a few that have been captured. 

'Mount Hood:'

'Fortune:'

and 'Ice Follies' (which I think I shared before?)

I'm sure you'll see more featured in posts to come. 

Meanwhile there are other blooms to admire ~ like diminutive Fritillaria 'michailovskyi:'

and not-so-tiny Fritillaria Imperialis 'Lutea' (about to burst open)

Bleeding hearts are almost ready to pop too:

Before I end, you also have to see the 'maudaie hybrid' Paphiopedilum currently in bloom in the "greenhouse:"

It's the orchid my brother shipped to me from Hawaii last January.  He had no idea I could get it to rebloom and that he was giving me such a long-lasting gift!

And that dear friends and readers, is it.  Thank you so much for hanging in there thru all the lulls in my blog.  I can't say when it will get better, only that I'm working on it.

Weeping Pussy Willow

My first purchase of the 2011 gardening season.  I've never had a weeping tree of any kind even tho I've long admired their graceful drooping forms in other gardens. 

What finally pushed me to quit admiring and take the plunge was noticing how crazy the bees were for the fuzzy yellow blooms.  I knew I'd like to have something to illicit that kind of early activity in my own garden.  Sure enough, it only took 30 minutes for "my" bees to discover it upon arriving home.

They've been swarming it every warm day since. 

Right now, I don't have a spot in mind to plant it so I'm thinking of putting it in a large container.  It stands no more than 4' high but according to the tag, will max out at 6' in height.

Otherwise, the garden is still faithfully returning to life.  New blooms show up every time I stroll around although that hasn't been often since we've experienced a lot of ferocious wind this spring.  When I do venture out, I wait until evening, hoping the wind will have eased up (but that certainly hasn't always been the case this year.)

Here's what I've managed to capture in-between gusts:

Hellebore 'Blue Lady'

Striped Squill (Puschkinia libanotica)

Primula denticulata opening in more colors.

In the "greenhouse" Streptocarpus 'Blue Ice' is blooming:

I feel like 'Blue Ice' is the lucky one since it doesn't have to endure the large temperature fluctuations like the outdoor blooms.  This past Saturday we were 80 degrees ~ plants and bulbs were almost popping open before our eyes ~ then Sunday snow returned, followed by overnight low temperatures dipping to 19 degrees.  That was harsh.  A gentle warming spring (versus a roller coaster) might be nice but who am I to make requests when the bulbs are weathering the elements just fine?