Bulbarella Stinze And Son

The light in the ridge top garden was not the best, but you get the picture. The unfrozen begin the stinze.

It's a giant flower bowl from beginning to end because the maintenance gardener makes room for Bulbarella.

A Mountain Hardy Camellia

Two rooted camellia sticks followed me home. I know they are cold hardy in a unique south facing garden in the valley below. They are seedlings of the tree sized, fruit bearing camellias growing there that I think came from the breeding program of the National Arboretum. I ID'd them once, wrote the name down and now I can't find what scrap of paper I wrote it on. Oh well.

Will they be cold hardy on the mountain top? Two remaining allegedly cold hardy camellias I bought long ago are still alive and about the same size as these rooted sticks. Maybe these will do better.

I am willing to plant them and find out if these camellia seedlings might be cold hardy on the mountain top. I know they come from good stock. I needed something to replace the Heptacodium miconioides, Seven Son Flower, that froze to the ground the previous winter. It finally came down in this winter's chop and drop.

I have an opening inside the daffodils, red clay pipe sections and the hydrangea. A evergreen camellia can fit in there just fine.

I've been down this road before. Spring freezes up here can be killers. Cold hardiness is almost irrelevant. Being fooled into breaking dormancy to soon by a winter warm spell is the most common method of death and destruction.

It's always something. I keep planting. Abundance is good backup.

Two baby camellia sticks planted together. Two chances to get one plant even if both manage to survive.

The Great Lawn Is Shrinking

Stuff accumulates. Stuff follows me home. Stuff grows. The creeping ornamentation of Creation and expansion of the garden is taking a toll on the Great Lawn.

The Great Lawn is shrinking. It has been filled with bulbs and iris. The rooted Dog Hobble sticks, Leucothoe, I planted last year to close up the hedge are looking quite robust. By the end of this season they will be a solid presence hinting at the short full backdrop to quickly come.

If only the red and yellow twig dogwood planted behind the short evergreen hedge would grow like that I'd be one happy winter camper. I want eternal flames for the firepit.

What will become of the Great Lawn? How small will it get? Will it need a new name? The Great Lawn is shrinking.

Ku'ulei 'Aina grows stronger.

The Turnip Fields

Then it melted the very next day. There was enough left late afternoon for a needy family driving by.

There was enough left for five minutes of concerted selfie posing.

They were up there a good twenty minutes fondling the left over snow. It felt like I was living in a fish bowl. Know what? I haven't wandered up there for a look myself in a while. The Fish Bowl.

Not much snow to see from up here. It melted.

The Turnip Fields in the back forty are going to be so nice away from all the noise and those prying eyes. Major progress was made in the clearing over the winter.

My deer hunter and his sons needed wood to burn. I want sunshine for perennial food crops and fine produce closer to and easy access to the Sister's house. This works out great. They did such a good cleanup I practically begged them to come back for more next winter. After hunting season of course.

The second attempt at Stinze has begun. The first wave of daffodil bloom took a significant hit. The crocus were on a low show year.

The minor bulbs have begun to appear in more profusion.

Most of the natives know enough to wait until closer to April.

One patch of the introduced Trout Lilies was planted in a location that seems to be encouraging rapid multiplication. You never know if your going to hit a sweet spot when you plant something. And you never know when something will come along and eat the whole patch. I can't just plant a plant. I need to plant populations.

Then It Snowed

Seen On An Afternoon Stroll

Click on a picture for the slide show. Day two of a full week of sunshine with no rain and all work and I already need a nap.

Ride On

A lot of chores got done today.

And now that it doesn't get dark till eight, there is time left over.

To wander

The Rider On The Lawn

Keeps calling my weary body down.

I look to see what is waking up.

It reminds me of what I planted.

And makes me wonder what happened to some other things.
Ride On.