As I've been reading the posts of other northern gardeners, I realize that some are much more than a little concerned with what's happening in the weather. I'm attempting to be more optimistic, simply because it's less stressful that way. A frost could damage the blooms of many of the trees that are now flowering seven weeks early... that would indeed be disappointing, but a hard freeze could well be devastating. That's the game we gardeners play and the chance we take when we consistently challenge the zone barriers. Hopefully some of our preparations for growing non-natives will serve us in good stead. The soulangiana magnolias pictured above and below are good examples of not properly preparing for difficult weather situations. For one thing, they were bought cheap and very small... I just stuck them in the ground, never really expecting they'd make it through even a couple of winters. Now that they've grown to eight feet, it would be disappointing if I were to lose them.
The weather man says chance of frost for us tomorrow night... the 33 predicted degrees typically means 30 degrees or less in actuality. These three trees are on the southwest corner of the property in the open... if there is a strong frost, these blooms will be turned to mushy brown. At least I'll have one more day to enjoy them and take lots of photos.
The wiser gardener in me generally plants trees that are better adapted to our climate. The magnolia pictured below is definitely zone 4 hardy with acuminata in its genes. It is blooming early this year as are all the magnolias, however, if you will look closely, you will see lots of buds that are still tight. "Simple Pleasures" generally blooms over a four week period... if these flowers frost, there will be more to follow. The tradeoff is less blooms at any one time, but I can live with that...
In the little caged area behind the magnolia in the photo above, I have been anxiously awaiting the appearance of hybrid tree peony seedlings from seeds that cost $3 each. They have a double dormancy, making a root in the first year and top growth the second. I have anxiously been awaiting their appearance, concerned whether voles might have found and dined on them... today I saw the emergence of #1... 29 to go! Tree peonies are a lesson in patience for the gardener with the first bloom generally 5 to 7 years after the emergence of the plants... wonder what color it will be!!
Back to the frost concern for a moment... this Brozzoni is poised to bloom heavily any day now (tomorrow?). Because of its position next to the windbreak, it may well escape difficulty, despite the fact that the lawn area to its left is low and always gets frosted when the temps hit 32 or less.
The following pictures are of an area where we did some serious culling of trees last fall... I'm not entirely sure where I'm heading with this yet... one thing for certain is the addition of well spaced conifers and I have moved in several this spring. I think the idea of more rock garden is an interesting concept for me and I may eventually head in that direction. In the first photo you can see the conifer plan starting to take shape.
I've also added six Japanese maples which can't really be seen at this stage... it all looks pretty barren to me just now, but that could change considerably when the trees leaf out.
To the right of the robin in the photo below is a rustic trellis where I used to grow Betty Corning clematis. Betty gets much larger than we are told and if was shading out the conifers that surround it. I moved it to a more appropriate site on the arbor and got rid of the massive sweet autumn clematis that generally didn't bloom all that well. Betty's root system was very large and I do expect to really enjoy her most of the summer blooms. In Betty's place, I plan on adding a much smaller rooguchi clematis which has a very long season of bloom.
The miniature conifer rock garden came through the winter just fine. I had thoughts of adding numerous small statured ground covers, but now that I think about it, this area is pretty much filled up, especially as the trees develop through the years. There is a cattle tank at either end of this area which used to contain my large brugsmansias... this year I will plant oleanders, small statured Inca Sun brugsmansias, with vista petunias overflowing the containers.
The area around this canoe birch is becoming a spot for a number of wildflowers... the biggest show involves Virginia bluebells, or mertensia. This year I have added Stylophorum diphyllum or celadine poppies which should bloom in conjunction with the mertensias. Brunnera self seeds freely here as well and I love its blue forget-me-not look alike flowers. I actually should try to get some myosotis started beyond the birch as there is some wonderful and fairly moist woodland soil there.
We are starting to see some much welcomed color in the rockery. As I was weeding the other day I dug out something that seemed a bit odd, so I stuck the pieces back in the ground. In the middle of the night I suddenly awoke, realizing that it was my Sanguinaria canadensis multiplex, or double blood root... I was quite upset with myself, as it was a gift from a friend just this past fall. Today I checked and there it was... sending up flower buds... yea!!
There's the 'multiplex' in the center of the photo in front of the larger rock. Other plants blooming or starting to bloom include primulas and helebores... especially Ivory Prince which is easier to see in the photo above... I love this plant! Epimediums and saxifrages are also approaching bloom along with other neat oddities.
Well, I fully expect this weekend to be goodbye to the earlier magnolia blooms, so I'll post some final photos of them... wishing you happy gardening and hoping for not too cold temps, Larry
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