Thursday, April 30, 2020

The Carpet Of Spanish Bluebells

They're here.



Wednesday, April 29, 2020

A Few Days Ago

Spring continues unfrozen despite an attempt at snow in the last round of rain and cold. I had to rush the house plants back inside because the suggested low was breached well before bedtime. That's when I saw the snow mixing in with the rain. What the.....




















I went to visit the trilliums on a pleasant evening stroll.





















Trillium grandiflorum




















The Bluebells have arrived. I need to get some pictures of the really big show in the ridge top garden next door.




















It's raining again. Another storm front is passing through.




















Back to cooler for a couple days.




















By this weekend we will be doing hot.




















That will be a good time to start my seed trays of fine produce for the roadside vegetable garden.




















And a long slow stroll with the Spanish Bluebells next door.


Saturday, April 25, 2020

A Very Fine Spring

So far …. there has not been a killer freeze after things started waking up, just the lightest nip of freezer burn.



















That makes a big difference in the presentation.




















The whole world is in a very troubled place. The United States of America is very deeply troubled. Let's go for a walk in the garden shall we.




















I go out looking to see all that is waking with spring. It can take a while to find everything. Sometimes I can't. The plant may be late rising or hidden by a neighbor and needs to get bigger before I can see it. Sometimes they are just gone. Which means some damn varmint probably ate it.

Gardening this way is really more about population dynamics. For many of the herbaceous plant species to remain, they must thrive and begin to multiply. There has to be more than one. The competition is fierce. The good news is the Angelica gigas has started to self sow in my part of the gardens.




















This is Solomon's Plume rising with very cool form.




















Without a killer freeze, all the different kind iris have a much better chance for a good bloom display.




















A sad baying hound parked itself at one of the houses across the byway for the last three days. I called the caretaker this morning to ask for help. My other rescue options are closed for the virus. He kindly agreed.














We found ourselves a scared, maybe year old, Australian Shepard mix. The caretaker looked quite pleased. I was most happy a scared puppy was connected to an obvious dog person who would make sure it was well taken care of.

The day before the barking started a couple pulled down my drive with a nice looking cinnamon brown hunting dog wanting to know if it was mine. No. I suggested they take it to the general store where the dog hunters hang out. And thank you very much for stopping to fetch the dog.

I sure hope another round of lots of lost dogs on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere isn't about to start.




















Uvularia grandiflora, Large Flowered Bellwort.





















Two out of three population introductions are doing well. Uvularia perfoliata is another recent introduction. It came up.




















How much bigger will the heiau get? That is a question only time can answer.




















It has been a very fine spring ….. so far.



















Speaking of lost pets, Solly Kitty is doing fine with her new roommates. Today she and I went for a walk in the ridge top garden next door to have a look at the Bluebells and to douse the Lady Slipper with some hot Cayenne pepper. Damn bugs. Solly is cat now with a strong developing personality.




















We can finish this walk with Fothergilla puffs in this sublime rising time of spring.


Wednesday, April 22, 2020

For Earth Day

It is the gardeners of this world who will leave behind living arks of the world's plant life. It is the plants that are the basis for the bulk of all other life on this planet. Plant something, care for your piece of the earth, for the seventh generation.












Sunday, April 19, 2020

Where The Caged Orchid Still Blooms

The cold rain missed us this morning. Then the sun came out for a short visit. It was a perfect time for a delicate walk deep into the forest to visit the true native stinze. This is some of what I have been introducing back into my own garden.




















The big rock sits near the top of what is a very large, two acre, wet rocky bowl between the two gardener cottages. There is the main stream and two long wet seeps that join the stream lower down.




















An invader from across the byway has seeded itself into the bowl. I pull all that I find.




















This is the wild flower garden Sister #2 said we needed to plant.




















It does not need to be planted. It needs some nice walking paths and a good tidying of all the deadfall. The garden is already there.

Trillium sulcatum perhaps?




















Trillium grandiflorum




















Larkspur, Delphinium tricorne




















Diphylleia cymosa, Umbrella Leaf




















This piece of wet rocky ground was not suitable for apples or pasture a hundred and fifty years ago. Left alone, protected in a hemlock forest and uninvaded until humans returned, an intact native ecosystem grows on.




















There are thousands of trilliums.
















Trillium rugelii?




















There were two clumps of caged Showy Orchis protected from the deer. I think a big dead hemlock fell on the other. I couldn't find it. A huge branch missed this clump by a hair.




















With every gentle step there is the possibility of squashing a nice plant. Path making and deadfall tidying would have to be a late fall or winter chore. Trying to do that in the spring would be far too emotionally taxing.




















Asarum canadense




















Up above in the sunny utility easement is Bulbarella's meadow filled with Spanish Bluebells. In another week they will be aiming for peak bloom.




















The old chimney remains from a time gone by, beside water, on the edge between rocky ground and long since vanished pasture and orchards.




















Here the native and wild cultivated mix.




















The Buddha remains guard.




















And primroses bloom.




















The time of vegetation is underway.




















The barren time fades away in gentle hues.




















And Dandelions fill all of Creation. In the land where the caged orchids still bloom.