Rising From The Leaf Litter

The great awakening has begun. One warm day was enough for many things to break through the leaf litter after waiting patiently just below the surface for the right conditions.

This scary looking thing is an ornamental rhubarb.

I'm finding a lot more of the strange bulbs. I must have been handed a big sack full.

Lupinus perennis that I grew from seed and planted out last fall made it through the winter. I'm looking forward to these lupine and hope they like it here enough to turn wild.

The Goat's Beard, Aruncus dioicus, that I bought is back. I do remember where I plant most things. I just have trouble with the bulbs.

The store bought cultivars tend to be smaller than the wild varieties that grow up here. I'm fine with that. I also keep meaning to go dig me some of the wild ones to plant in the garden.

Bleeding Heart, Dicentra (Lamprocapnos?) spectabilis, is one of the earliest spring bloomers. The plant is growing fine. It just needs to bloom better than it did last year.

The baby Oconee Bell, Shortia galacifolia, is going to bloom its first spring in the garden.

The wild Anemone acutiloba down in the forest have started to bloom.

While the horticultural Anemone blanda, Grecian Windflower, bloom in the sunny utility meadow.

We still wait for the Bulbapaloozathon to get going in earnest. All this snow and cold has slowed things down. A week of spring like weather will get things blooming and nudge so much more that still lies below the leaf litter to rise up to life.