Just behind the gazebo is a young plant of Daybreak magnolia that is basically a whip about 4' tall. On the very top of this plant is one lovely blossom pictured above and below... color combinations have been a problem with redbuds in my past... I'm not at all sure that these two colors will work together, but then again, I'm not certain that they will be blooming at the same time in a normal season either... Daybreak's color can also vary considerably depending on the light. These two pictures were taken in the evening and with the east light coming through the tepals the next morning.
We've had two nights without frost and as a result, haven't had to cover things... that will supposedly change tomorrow night and possibly into the weekend, so here we go again. I'm tempted not to cover the hostas in hopes that there is now enough canopy to protect them. The tulips still look reasonably good despite their tangles with the cold...
It's not the 'last rose of summer', but rather 'the last Verbanica of Spring'... this little tree will rapidly develop into a specimen and a heavy bloomer with the loveliest tones of pink and white...
The Floribunda crabapple is fading but still attractive enough and heavy with blooms...
A stop by the rockery shows that there are still a number of primulas in bloom but the epimediums are way behind this year... to the left is the 'Pink Picotee' hellebore which seems to have an extended period of bloom when compared to many others in the gardens...
I wish I had some info on this creamy yellow primrose... it certainly is a stalwart!
Taking a peek through the branches of a witch hazel, reveals my 'Crescendo' primula continuing to put on bloom... I find their longevity of bloom period to be quite amazing...
There are a number of early iris blooming in the rockery just now... I believe this one is called 'Boo'...
In the photo below, the Veronica 'Water Perry Blue' is beginning to bloom, surrounding an Iris cristata called 'Powder Blue Giant' which is a bigger plant than many of the other cristatas...
Sedum Angelina does very well here also, and I'm constantly pulling and disposing of pieces because of its rapid growth...
The Flame crabapple continues to look fresh... if I had it to do over, I'd only plant white and the lightest of pink crabapples...
My latest blooming tulips are the 'Blushing Brides' which are fully in bloom right now...
The Prunus avium 'Plena' still looks good and the magnolias in front of it in this photo are 'Ann'. These blooms were touched by frost pretty badly, but there was a reserve of buds that hadn't opened, now giving the small trees a fresh start...
I'm not sure what this magnolia is as it was definitely mislabeled when I got it... I do love the combination of its blossoms and the yellow barberry...
The large Snowdrift crabapple is just coming into full bloom...
... and throughout the gardens late daffodils are coming into peak bloom as well...
We are adding a small perennial bed on the west side of the house... this an area that I've never been pleased with... the canadian tree lilac is a part of the area and I've surrounded it with Monatana aureomarginata hostas. I was amazed at the number of roots we hit while removing the sod and am hopeful that this doesn't create problems for the tree lilac.
I've spent the last two days in the greenhouse, potting up all sorts of plants for the gardens. It's been raining since noon today and we are headed for an inch and a half of slow, gentle rain by tomorrow noon with the possibility of snow flakes... I expect I'll spend the morning cutting glass where it's warm and then re-evaluate what needs covering for the weekend. I'd hate to let things get damaged at this stage of the game after all the effort put into protecting the plants over the course of the last several weeks. One of these days the weather will stabilize and it won't be any too soon for my liking! Take care, Larry
