Why You Should Grow a Columbine

Columbines don't get a lot of press.  I've never seen them featured in an article and I never hear people talking about them.  You'll never hear folks say -- I've got to get to MOBOT this weekend to check out the columbines.  They are the unsung hero of Spring, providing some unique attributes to the garden.

Here's three reasons you should add a columbine to your garden:

1. It's the earliest source of food for hummingbirds.  It's true.  They bloom right as the hummers arrive in our area.  What a great welcome mat for our migrating friends.  And who doesn't love those little guys buzzing around the yard?  They add another dimension to fluttering things in the garden.
   
2. You can join the "grow native" movement.  At least one variety is native to Missouri. They are already adept to our weather conditions, which means they're easy to grow.  The native variety is very pretty.  It's a reddish-pink with a yellow center.  They reseed themselves, so that's a low maintenance way to increase your supply!
   
3. They have a unique flower.  There really isn't any other flower like them.  They have delicate blooms that hang downwards.  In a light wind, they sway back and forth like small bells attached to wire.  They come in lots of colors, so there's sure to be one that you would find suitable for your garden.

This was a pass along plant from my mother in law.

I found two of these plants underneath the one above.  I think they're seedlings from the parent that didn't stay true to the parent.  Perhaps this is one of the varieties that was used to create the hybrid pale pink.

This is the native variety.

This is a stow away that came in a boxwood I purchased at Lowe's a few years ago.  I didn't know it was there.  The Spring after I planted the boxwood, I noticed some extra foliage growing out of the back of it.  It was a delicate operation to separate the two.

April Showers

The rains yesterday and today have definitely brought more blooms into the garden. I'm impatiently waiting for the bearded iris to begin blooming.  I've already had the "Easter Bonnet" iris going (white with blue center), which is a dwarf variety and a prolific early bloomer.  It's been blooming for a week and a half.  I also have a dwarf variety blooming called "Angel Heart" that is white with orange beards.

Last year, the iris crop was a bust.  I got about two blooms out of the whole yard.  In years past, I've had so many blooms that I've been able to cut and bring them inside and place them in large vases.  They actually make great cut flowers.  You have to snap off the faded flowers each morning, but they will continue to bloom in the vase.  This is especially a good option for iris that have fallen victim to April storms and would otherwise be eating mud.

This is a new plant I've discovered and added three of to my garden this year.  It's called Lithodora "Heavenly Blue" and the photo shows true color.  It's almost an electric cobalt blue and I can see the halo of color from my kitchen.  I picked it up from The Home Depot.  I've never seen heard of it before or seen anything like it.  Fantastic flowers that have been blooming for three weeks and it has foliage very similar to lavender or rosemary.

In the fall, I picked up three named varieties of Coral Bells.  The foliage was great; it had thick veining in two shades of green.  I didn't know the flowers would also be so showy.  They're so hard to capture on film because they're wispy, but from a distance it looks like a floating cloud of hot pink.  Each plant has 5+ stems.

This is a variegated Jacob's Ladder.  I bought 3 of them in the fall.  1.5 of them lived.  It has wonderful delicate foliage and pale blue flowers.  A nice treat to see it blooming now, considering the one I have that is native to Missouri (solid green foliage, same blue flowers) has already finished blooming.

Dr. Ruppel clematis is blooming like crazy.  This is only 1/2 the plant on one side of the trellis.

Ajuga paired with variegated hosta and hosta "Guacamole".  The ajuga has a wonderful purple color this year, and the patch has spread so much that it's a real jolt of color for my shady dry creek garden.

The pansies on the front porch.  Planted in October, $5 for two pots, still blooming... you do the math.

Tyler couldn't resist the mud.  He's proudly showing off dirty fingers.

By the time he was done playing, he was pretty well covered.

This is a side shot of the garden by the street that I created last year in the middle of the worst heat.  I've almost filled this garden with mail order plants and great sale finds from Lowe's and Home Depot.  It's home to fruit, veggies, herbs, and flowers.

Roses are Red...

Well, actually my roses are pink.  And yes, I will have one flower bloomed out by tomorrow morning.  This twilight zone like weather we're having has really advanced a lot of things a few weeks ahead of schedule.

Not only is my knockout rose full of buds, but that my oakleaf hydrangea is filled with small buds.  I have a few iris blooming.  This particular variety is about two weeks ahead of schedule.  My blueberries are leafed out and blooming.  I also noticed my clematis is full of buds and they are swelling.

I hope the bugs aren't too bad this year, but I should know better.  I've already pulled a few ticks off after walking around, and there are a lot of flying "things".  There seem to be a lot of bumblebees out too.  They keep fighting amongst themselves and don't pay much attention to where they go during the quarrel.  I find myself ducking for cover when I hear them coming.

Probably the freakiest thing about our early warm up is that the crape myrtles are budded out.  They are about 2 months ahead of schedule.  Explain that!

Photos - March 25th

I spread two yards of mulch today, so I'm a bit tired.  Here are some pics of what I got to enjoy all day.

Virginia Bluebells - have colonized on their own!

The pansies I planted in September.  Still going strong.

Garden outside my bedroom window.  Bluebells, bleeding heart, columbines (buds but no flowers yet).

Looking up at the red bud tree.

Hostas

Viburnum - EXTREMELY fragrant.  Am in the market for another one.

Caramel Heuchera - love these

Garage garden

I LOVE this angle of our house in Spring.  It always looks so green, fresh, and inviting.

 

Obsessed with a Fig Tree

My newest quest is adding a fig tree to my garden.  It all started last fall when I took a trip to Bayer's in Imperial.  They had a handful of great looking fig trees.  The leaves have an interesting shape that is not like other things I have in the garden, plus they are fruit bearing.  What's not to love?  I asked some questions about cold hardiness, and growing conditions, and eventually shied away from purchasing.  Fifty dollars for a plant is a huge investment, and I want to make sure my investments give me a return.  I had doubts I could keep it alive over the winter.

Well, technically Spring isn't here yet, but the warm weather is here already.  I started thinking about that fig tree again, and now I'm obsessed with researching them.  I have done my homework and I'm now ready to purchase.  I called around, and Bayer's has the best quality, and price, and my parents have graciously offered to pick one up for me sometime in the near future (they live a lot closer).

The type of fig I'm getting is Brown Turkey.  Missouri Botanical Gardens grows this variety, and says it will do well as long as it's got some shelter, it's well mulched, and stays in a shrub form.  This is very good to know, since the Spring arrivals at Bayer's are already in shrub form, but the ones they had in the fall were tree form.  Apparently in shrub form, a few leaders (main stems) might die back, but you have less chance of losing the whole thing, whereas with a tree form, you lose the trunk, you lose the tree.

While I won't be providing my fig with any sort of true shelter, I will probably wrap it in a frost blanket or other tarp like material and stuff it with hay or leaves.  I found out from my dad that his grandfather grew figs, and overwintered his in a similar fashion.

I already have the site selected, and the design in mind.  It will be a formal style planting, hedged with boxwoods, and filled with a single variety of some perennial or annual for the greatest visual impact.  Pics to come after it's installed.

The Difference a Day Makes

"Pow" is a good way to describe the impact that a couple of warm days has had on my yard.  I walked out there today and saw so much coming up that I realized time is of the essence to clear the leaves from my garden beds.  Fifteen wheelbarrow loads later, most of the gardens are clear.  It is evident that several tons of mulch will be needed this year.

Pretty much everything is either up or is budding.  There are a few late starters in my garden, such as the dwarf crape myrtles.  It's sometimes all I can do to not pull them out and replace them with something else I've been eying at the garden center that is budding.  And when I say slow, I mean they literally don't show signs of life until almost the end of May!


I'm happy to report that the mild winter has helped everything get a kick start.  Unfortunately, the downside is that the bugs will be horrendous.  I have already seen a handful of flying "things" outside today.


My double-knockout pink rose bush kept its leaves all winter and it has put on a huge flush of new growth.  I'm so happy to see this, because all of my past roses at this house (all knockouts) have been spindly, poor bloomers.  I donated all of them to various other gardeners, and they've done well in their new homes.  So if this one thrives, then I will blame past failures on my choice of location.  Finding the right home for plants here is definitely a challenge.  Some plants have moved so frequently that they really haven't grown much.  Some have literally moved each year... or dare I admit, twice a year.  That's gardener's impatience at its finest.


Here are some photos of what I got to enjoy today.

It's Starting!

I walked outside on this beautiful sunny morning and found that the breeze was warmer than I had expected.  Our thermometer says it's 55, but I know it's lying a little because it's in the bright sunlight.  Not direct sunlight, but in a deceiving enough position.

There has been one daffodil blooming up near the street for a couple of weeks now.  I don't know how it's lasted so long, but I'm glad it has.  I was too lazy to go out in the cold and check it out when it first started to nod, but today I ventured up there.  It has companions.

I wandered around the rest of my property to check things out.  There are little sprigs of green everywhere.  Sedum, Thyme, Sage, Brunnera, Catmint, just to name a few.

The pansies on my front porch have provided a non-stop show of color throughout the winter.  I also got a peek at one of the Hellebores (see below).  Another bud is on the plant.  I thought these would do better where they're located, but I'm happy with any blooms at this point.  A lot of my daffodil foliage is up, but there aren't many buds among them.  I guess it's time to think about dividing this year.