Spring has sprung

The front yard

After a very late cold blast last weekend it looks like spring has sprung. Last Saturday we were in a winter wonderland with 5 inches of snow which melted by Sunday afternoon.

The camellia Nuccio's Gem are in full bloom and I expect one more round of flowers before the end of the season. The plant looks absolutely gorgeous. I bought 2 new camellias; bella rosa which is similar to nuccio's gem but red in color and Chanleri Elegans Variegated which is an anenome form with pink petals and pink and white inner stemanoids. Need to make sure to prune soon after end of bloom. Will plat them in the next few weeks.

In the front bed, I planted 14 hyacinth bulbs in pink, blue and white and the scent is just intoxicating as you walk to the front door. Every time I open the front door I get a good whiff. The colors also are perfect. May need to look for a hot pink one for next year.

A few days ago I rescued 25+ daffodil bulbs from a neighborhood garden plot. Been admiring these daffs for 2 years on my way to montessori and saw them dug up by landscapers to plant new beds. Asked if I could take them home and now they are planted in the front garden. I'll keep them in place until next year because I want white daffodils in the front yard to play off the pink and red camellias instead of yellow. The bulbs that I had bought and planted late are just sending up leaves and no blooms and since I cant remember what color they were I'll have to wait till next year.

This morning I added a peony to my collection; found the ever elusive buckeye belle and managed to grab it for 12 bucks using coupons for about 5 eyes. I should get a couple of blooms out of it too. I am going to see how the festiva maxima and inspecteur lavergne bloom before I decide where to plant buckeye belle.

The itea little henry is getting tiny leaves on it. Cant wait to see it in bloom.

winter chill

We had a dusting of snow right before xmas and in January an arctic chill for 3.5 days with temps dipping to the teens.

Camellia in the pot survived

Limri was in garage but garage door was left open all day so no idea if its ok or not

Abelia Kaleidoscope lost a lot of leaves....worried

Hawaiian ginger, and tuberose are probably toast

Dug around in peonies and saw the pink shoots forming :)

Peony - Bowl of Beauty was 5 bucks at Lowes for 2-3 eyes. Had to buy it.

Peony wish list - Red Charm, Buckeye belle, White Cap

Researching apple trees for espalier

been away a while

looks like I got a little distracted last summer and forgot to update this blog.

Here's a recap of how well everything grew in the summer:

Front yard - the purples spires bloomed like crazy. I'll probably move them back this year. 

The knock outs did ok for 1st year. The dining room side did better than the living room side. I'll have to prune them down hard for better branching in the spring.

Ornamental peppers were amazing...loads of very colorful peppers all summer. I'll probably get some in 2010 but plant them in the back yard. 

I planted 1 sunpatient in white and it was my fave plant all summer. This year I'm going to have a whole bunch more as they bloomed all summer until first hard freeze.

The OSO easy roses were a dissapointment. I'll probably end up returning them this spring before the 1 yr is up. I'd rather use that space for other flowers.

The gaura were great at first but the deep pink didnt do too well for long. the light pink one did well - going to move it though

Backyard - the thunbergia black eyed susan vine was gorgeous once it bloomed in late summer. Always covered in hubdreds of yellow flowers. 

The black eyed peas vine grew really well too. Loads of flowers and loads of purple beans. 

Figs didnt do too well. Seriously considerring chopping the celeste down and planting brown turkey. 

Knockout rose in the back yard grew almost 4 feet and bloomed profusely.

Tuberose sent out 2 shoots but didnt bloom due to cold weather

Hawaiian ginger sent up 5 shoots but didnt bloom

Lantana grew like wild fire. Always had butterflies visiting. 

Bird of barbados was a gem...three sets of blooms and cant wait to see how it grows in 2010

yellow esperanza bloomed really well and will have to be moved to the back as it will grow taller

2 out of the 4 lavenders bloomed well and this year I will try new varieties

Winter update coming up soon.