The Seasonal Page: EARLY SPRING (1998) Page 2

The spring walking tour got just too large so I've split it in half (the pages are still kind of big!). We'll continue on...

	Here is a view of the "white bed" with Magnolia loebneri 'Merrill' in full bloom. This tree has probably been here for about 5 or 6 seasons and this is the most bloom it has ever produced. If I had it to do over, I probably would not have planted the birch in this bed. It's greedy and messy. It was a volunteer from the front rhody bed and we wanted quick shade. The white bark is very nice, however. It was on the lowest branch of this tree that we first saw our cockatiel in August of 1997.
	This is a later picture of the spot shown above...called the "White Bed." Right now there's more blue than white. In the foreground are Lamb's Ear, Bulbous Oat Grass, Pulmonaria 'Mrs. Moon' and Geranium macrorrhizum (pink flowers). Center right is Pulmonaria 'Roy Davidson' with a Helleborus x hybridus in front. In the background you can see the leaves of a variegated hosta poking through the ground and English Bluebells at the halfway point. In another week, this will be my favorite spot in the yard. There are some delightful Anemone nemerosa 'Vestal' at the base of that birch trunk, and I hope to get a decent photo of them to put in here soon. The shrubs at center top are Choisya ternata (Mexican Orange) and they bloom from April to May. Dark leaves on the right belong to Escallonia 'Apple Blossom.'
A closer view of the Bulbous Oat Grass. I really love this plant...it adds such coolness to border compositions. Even after it "flowers" it is attractive since the seedheads are so white. I cut them before they drop their seed and cut the top back on the grass as well when it gets rough looking in midsummer. It will send out fresh growth for the early fall.
	Another euphorbia for your viewing pleasure. This will thrive in dry shade and is Euphorbia amygdaloides robbiae... commonly known as "Mrs. Robb's Bonnet." It colonizes by runners, so you must place it where its roving ways won't be a problem (not sure whether I've done that or not!). Notice the shape of its evergreen leaves at the bottom of the photo. They almost look like a rhododendron.

	You really have to pay attention to catch this in bloom. It's gone in a few days! This is a "Trout Lily"...Erythronium oregonum.The mottled and streaked foliage continues to be attractive until it goes dormant later in the season.
These flowers of Anemone blanda are always in the shade and it's nearly impossible to get a good picture of them! They really add a nice touch to the foreground of a shady bed and seed themselves. The cool grassy plant to the left is Variegated Bulbous Oat Grass (Arrhenatherum elatius 'Variegata' ... how's that for a mouthful!). On the right are emerging leaves of Hosta.

I'll keep trying to get a better picture of these, but this will have to do for now. This is a wood anemone growing underneath the birch tree in the white bed (Anemone nemerosa 'Vestal'). It was given to me by a couple of avid "seasoned" gardeners...with disdain, since they had it encroaching on smaller treasures in their garden. I was thrilled, and so far, they have been pretty considerate of their neighbors. There is a tuberous root attached to these little guys and they are tougher than they look! That blue blur in the foreground is actually an English bluebell.

I ordered as many varieties of Double English Primrose as I could when we were stocking the perennials section at the nursery. They seem to be hardier than many and have such wonderful form...just like little roses. Maybe that's why they call them "primROSES?" The name of this variety is 'April Rose.' To see if you have an outlet for this plant near you, check out Heritage Perennials (Valleybrook). The purplish flowers belong to Viola labradorica (Labrador Violet). It spreads itself around, but not as much for me as the mauve violet that I've been pulling up with a vengeance! The Labrador Violets have a burgundy cast to the new foliage, so are easy to distinguish from the other violets even before they bloom. They are quite low growing and tend to hug the ground. This picture was taken after a rain, so the primroses are drooping a bit.

This picture is almost as tiny as its subject. Spring means Johnny Jump-Ups everywhere in the back yard. I especially like these rich purple ones better than the ones with more yellow in the face. You can find many named varieties in various colors this time of year at a good nursery.
	This is a seedling from the original Helleborus lividus corsicus that was purchased at a nursery. It sprouted in a rock wall below where the Styrax japonica is planted. Those flower trusses are huge! I imagine the sizes on this plant vary, but if you use it in your garden, give it some room. This one got to be about 2 1/2 feet tall.

This is one of several Viburnum tinus 'Spring Bouquet' planted along the front fenceline. These get no coddling whatsoever, so they probably have not grown as quickly as they might, but they still look nice. (This variety is compact by nature, however. )The flowers have a sweet smell, bloom very early on evergreen plants and there are interesting bluish colored berries after. Viburnums have a subtle and solid beauty all their own.
	While not exactly "sweeps" of tulips... still pretty at this time of year. This is in the back yard in the "Ash Bed.' The acid-yellow flowers at the front belong to Euphorbia polychroma (Cushion Spurge). They will gradually get taller and will have color for a long time. The violet-pink tulips are 'Attila' and the white 'Purissima.' The other little yellow flowers belong to the good old dandelion...something we DO have sweeps of in our yard and pastures! They almost look pretty in the spring out in the field, but are a bit of a distraction in the lawn and flowerbeds. I hope to weed and mulch this bed soon after finishing the one by the driveway.
Behind the group shown above are these little dogtooth violets, Erythronium 'Citrinum.' They are a bit hidden, since they grow closer to the trunk of the ash tree, but so far they have returned for several years. It's too bad they don't bloom longer, but they are very charming and have lovely foliage.

	Several years ago, I invested in a packet of seeds for Eschscholtzia californica 'Milky Way' (California Poppy) from Thompson and Morgan. I've gotten more than my money's worth. They have returned somewhere in the yard ever since and I save quite a lot of seed each season to be sure. Once the seed pods form and start to look lighter green and drier, you can harvest them and store them in a paper sack. Within a week or two, they will pop open and deliver their bounty of seeds. If you put the bags anywhere near your bed, be prepared for a start when they go off!
Tulips are such a staple in the spring garden, but how often do you actually look down inside their flowers? It's worth getting nosy, because some of them are quite striking. These are fairly simple with mostly black markings, but some have blue, white, red and multi-color patterns inside their flowers. I wish I knew the name of this variety...it just came in a mix, but it is the only one that still returns. Once you discover a tulip that has perennial tendencies, you should plant a lot of it!
	Another old faithful that still blooms in one of the barrels on the deck. I think I know how this flower feels. After getting a few years on the old body the posture really starts to suffer! Even though it's nice for tulips to stand up good and straight, there's something graceful about their droopiness. This variety is called 'Rosy Wings.'

	April-May is the time for the Clematis montana rubens. In the early evening, you can smell it the most...a sweet vanilla-like fragrance. The color is similar to the flowering cherries at the top of the page when they are out full...one of those "not of this earth" colors. The rhododendron blooming to the left is one of the crosses I did when we were first married, using 'Fabia' and 'Unique.'
A closer view of the flowers of C. montana rubens. The ivy it is sharing space with is on the north side of the carport and provides some winter interest when the clematis looks more dead than alive! The ivy variety is Hedera helix 'Glacier.'

	I've already shown this spot, but put this in so that you can compare growth. This was taken during the first week of May...see how much things have filled in (or overfilled...those hostas need dividing!) since the earlier shot on the first Early Spring page? The poor bench is getting swallowed up. You know, of course, that gardeners never sit on those things! At least, not for very long.
This is a flowering branch on an Enkianthus campanulatus. It's a bit rangy since it's been growing behind and underneath the oak tree in the back, but it still has a graceful habit. We usually have a bit of a breeze that comes off Hood Canal and it is very difficult to try to take a close-up of this shrub (when I had to use an autofocus camera it was nearly impossible!). The only other plant that is more difficult in that way is Dierama (Fairy's Fishing Rod). With Robert's manual camera, maybe I'll get a clear photo of that plant this season! Enkianthus has beautiful red color in the fall and that is part of the reason I put it in...also I just like its subtle beauty.
	This Cheiranthus 'Wenlock Beauty' is a few years old and I should take some cuttings or replace it, but I wanted you to get an idea of its flowers. I love this little plant for blending in borders between hot and cool colors. The flowers open a rusty orange and fade to mauve (a softer shade than its famous cousin, 'Bowle's Mauve'). It's a bit odd looking, but you'd be amazed how it can smooth some rough edges along the front of a border where the two color spectrums meet. I used to have one in the back for that purpose but have lost it. A trip to the nursery in the near future may remedy that!

From one original plant, I have many volunteers of Euphorbia characias wulfenii. They vary somewhat in height and size of flower heads. This one grew next to a pile of junk by the access to the basement (Styrax bed is in the background). Of course, it is the most handsome of the babies! The size of the flower heads on this plant are enormous! It certainly got the attention of the children who had to walk past it to get to their rooms ("What is that thing growing by the basement?") The stalks when in bloom are just about face height for me (around 4 to 4 1/2 feet).

Since this photo was taken this plant looks more like a regular hosta, but here it looked like a green geyser...what an eagerness to grow! I can't remember what the name of this plant is and am not sure if I'm going to leave it here or find another home (with someone else possibly) for it. [I did give it way since this photo was taken.] It's gotten rather large. I just removed a large hardy fuchsia from the area to the right and planted the bleeding heart (Dicentra 'Luxuriant') in the gap. The messy needly looking plant that is light green is a Podocarpus that my son bought as a houseplant years ago in a 2" container. It got big enough that I decided to let it have a go outdoors and since this is near a vent from the downstairs bathroom fan, it tends to stay warm enough for the plant to survive the winters. It's not very happy right now because I transplanted it and cut it back. I expect the new growth to look much better.

	In our Northwest yard we will never be able to produce lilacs like they can in Utah and Idaho (and I'm sure other states in that zone), but this bush provided enough to cut for the house this year. This was purchased as 'Ludwig Spaeth' but I don't really know if its color is as dark as it was supposed to be. The fragrance is the thing though... and it has lots of that!
It just wouldn't be spring without apple blossoms. This poor tree is badly in need of thinning and pruning and maybe next spring we'll get to that if enough gets done in the flowerbeds this season. This is a semi-dwarf 'Golden Delicious' tree and it makes an excellent pollinator. If it was pruned and thinned the apples would probably be wonderful. As it is, the branches have become congested and I'm not able to keep up with thinning the whole thing since it's gotten so large.
Another shot of the front yard during the first week of May. The white bed is in the foreground and those shrubs blooming to your left are Choisya ternata (Mexican Orange). The soft yellow rhody in the background is 'Odee Wright.' By midsummer, the lawn won't look so nice and green because we have a shallow well and I don't usually use extra water for the grass. There are so many flowerbeds, that the grass fends for itself, unless we have a really hot dry spell and I take pity on the stuff. The edges usually stay pretty nice though!

It looks like I cut the bottom off this picture, but that was the bottom! This is the original Euphorbia dulcis 'Chameleon' that was mail ordered. It was a rare new plant that sounded like a "must have." It is a nice plant, but boy...is it ever a prolific seeder! I have these little guys all over in the West Deck bed and on the fringes of the White Bed (where it must go). I'm sure it could be more artfully used by being surrounded with some sort of brightly contrasting groundcover, but I haven't done anything like that in this location. All the leaves have that burgundy coloring and the babies are very easily spotted by their color.

From the other direction (behind the above Euphorbia) is a shot of the Choisya ternata (Mexican Orange) in bloom with a neighboring clump of bluebells. I really love bluebells because they were growing all over at my childhood home. I've read how pesty they can be, but I haven't had them spread to that point in this garden. The foliage on the Choisya gets a bit lighter green in this exposure than if it were in more shade, but it really blooms its head off. The flowers are very fragrant, but the type of smell you don't want to bring in the house...nice from afar but overpowering in close quarters. That little gremlin spreading its arms in the background is the Styrax tree...something you probably already guessed since it's been pictured so many times.

I love how cool this looks. The grass on the left is Carex 'Frosty Curls.' It seeds itself, but it's not hard to pull the babies up if you don't want them. It kind of reminds me of "Cousin It" from whatever that show was. The color is a nice soft sage with a bit more blue in it. The little violas volunteered from something I'd planted a couple of years before and they have gradually gotten smaller. The ajuga is probably a variety labeled as 'Pink Silver' but it may be similar to 'Silver Beauty.'

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