Spring has sprung-Snowdrops in bloom

I wasn’t ready for the change of seasons but spring couldn’t wait. Cheery little snowdrops are leading the way and the hellebores aren’t far behind.  Their bright white flowers really stand out in the post-winter garden.  I was extra happy because last year I had to move a clump while the foliage was still green, and the shock looked like it was too much for the little cutie, yet it showed up this spring looking strong and healthy.

That was the good news that greeted me yesterday.  The bad news was that there are still patches of garlic mustard in the yard, which was terribly disappointing.  I was sure I had finally slain that beast.  So, I spent a couple of hours weeding it out of the “hidden garden,” a spot in the yard that you can’t really see from the street or house.  Today I will work on the second driveway-there’s a thick patch there too.  Did you know I’ve been weeding out garlic mustard since the summer of 2009?  Ugh.

Another bit of bad news was that our neighborhood deer gang stopped by again and must have been very hungry.  I found that they chewed down one of my kerrias and ate some pulmonaria and epimedium, all things they aren’t supposed to eat.  Now the only plants in my yard that have remained completely untouched this winter are my hellebores. 

Amaryllis blooms again 2 years later

Nice waking up to this!

What a fab start to the day!  Woke up to find that my Amaryllis bloomed today. Yay!

It last bloomed in either January of 2009 or 2010, when I bought it on clearance at Target.   Instead of throwing it out when it was done blooming, I kept it, putting it outside in the summer and bringing it in for the winter.  It's been mostly neglected except for repotting it when it grew a bulblet. 


It wanted to bloom last winter but my youngest child and the cat did a number on it, breaking its stalk and damaging the leaves.  I figured that would kill it but it survived.

This was a photo from the first year it bloomed for us

Several weeks ago it sent up a large 2-foot stalk.  (It's not supposed to be that tall but there's not much light in the winter here, even with a grow light.)

Today it bloomed, just as pretty as the first time.  Surprisingly, it seems like it's just as big too.  I guess that year or two off gave it time to build up some energy.

The kids and I (and even my husband) enjoyed watching the bud over the last few days as it swelled and colored.  The bulblet I removed has two healthy leaves this year but no stalk.  I guess Amaryllis put up their flowering stalk first before their leaves.  Wouldn't that be wonderful if next year I have two that flower?

Bud three days ago

Bud two days ago

The bud yesterday-I noticed my youngest pointing it out to her friend and explaining about how it changed each day.  The excitement it brings my kids-that's a big reason I like gardening!

Bugged by Beggarticks

Beggarticks (Bidens)

Annoying natives.  Yes, they exist.  Anyone who’s ever tromped through woods and emerged covered in sticky seedpods knows they are out there lurking, waiting for you or your pet to walk by.  Who are these woodland natives that use passersby to spread their progeny far and wide?  Well, there are several that call my back yard home and two are really, really annoying.

I’ll start with the ones that are more charming than irritating.  Sweet Cicely is a pretty enough plant, with small white flowers and ferny foliage but can be pretty aggressive if it gets enough sunlight.  One of the benefits of having this plant is that it seems to put up a good fight with garlic mustard.  (I like that in a plant!)  However, these plants produce sharp, needle-like seedpods that while aren't that hard to get out of your clothes, they hurt like the dickens if the pointy ends jab your skin. 

Sweet Cicely smells like aniseed but that doesn't
stop critters from munching on them in the spring.

Tick Trefoil (Desmodium) has flattish triangular seedpods that stick like Velcro.  They don’t hurt like Sweet Cicely’s seed pods but it can take a while to get them off your clothes.  The flowers are pink and airy and I don’t mind the plant either, which doesn't seem to reseed aggressively.

Beggarticks (Bidens) is one of the natives that I’ve seriously considered eliminating from my yard.  It has rectangular seeds with pointy “horns.”  If you wander into a stand of these in the fall, you will emerge covered in tons of their seeds.  They can be a challenge to get out of clothing but aren’t as bad as the seeds of Beggar’s Lice and  Enchanter’s Nightshade.  Beggarticks reseed aggressively and can grow so tall that they don’t play nice with other plants.  Last year some in my back yard were almost 4’ tall.

Another native I’d rather not have in the yard is Enchanter’s Nightshade (Circaea).  It has a round Velcro-like seedpod that is completely miserable to try and get out of pet fur or clothing.  I can’t believe I ever thought their little white flowers were pretty and delicate!  These seem to reseed with abandon and I devoted several afternoons last summer trying to eradicate them from an small island bed in my front yard where they were taking over.  Every time I thought I had gotten them all...POP!  There they were again!

Enchanter's Nightshade peeking out from Virginia Creeper

Beggar’s Lice (Hackelia) has round seeds that look like bigger versions of Enchanter’s Nightshade seeds and just the slightest brush past will fill up your pant leg or arm full of the little horrors.  I thought I didn't have many of these in the yard and so didn't have to worry about them but this year I realized that this biennial’s first year basal rosettes were all over the back yard and that I seriously underestimated this plant’s ability to reseed. 

There is really only one plant that I feel has nastier seeds than Enchanter’s Nightshade.  That plant is non-native Burdock and it is definitely not welcome on my property.  Anyone who has run into a patch of these knows how awful their burrs are, especially when the balled burr dissolves in your clothing and you have to pick it out strand by strand.  Ugh!

With the exception of the Burdock, it took me a while to figure out what the rest of these plants were. Because they are natives, I just want to control them, not eliminate them.  There’s a wild part of my yard that has no particular use other than feeding and sheltering birds, bugs and squirrels.  I figure these plants can do their thing there as long as they stay on their side of the 2^nd driveway.  We'll see.

I should be shoveling but...

White skies today.  Haven't seen that in a while and I'm glad we're getting some snow now.  Watching the flakes swirl past my window is strangely relaxing as I am hunched over my computer and working over the hot chocolate I shouldn't be having but am.

Native Tradescantia, probably Ohio Spiderwort

Yep, the snow we had in January didn't last long at all.  Two weeks of weirdly warm, dry weather really did a number on the snow cover.  I've been so worried about all the perennials and shrubs I planted this past fall. I have been watering some of them.  Will spring be drought-y too?  

Anyhow, although I need to go out and shovel, instead I've been working up a garden to-do list and tidying up my disorganized garden planner.  Among my notes I found multiple reminders to get more of a certain plant that I haven't spent much thought on...spiderwort.

Even when it's not in bloom Sweet Kate's foliage looks good

I have two kinds in my garden.  A native that just showed up one year and a cultivar with chartreuse foliage, "Sweet Kate."  Both bloomed well for me this past year.

I'm assuming the native is Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis).  It has a long bloom season but the flowers close up on hot, sunny days.  It doesn't get supplemental watering but seems to be happy anyway and I've noticed some new plants starting to spring up around the bed.  I like this plant because although it reseeds itself it doesn't go crazy.  Also there doesn't seem to be pest or disease issues to worry about.

'Sweet Kate' Spiderwort

'Sweet Kate' also doesn't seem to have any big issues.  When I first saw it in the garden catalogues I thought it was very garish and ugly.  But knowing how easy these plants are, I decided to give it a try when I found a nice specimen on clearance at the garden center.

In my front shrub border, in a dark spot made darker by a couple of mature spruce trees, the chartreuse foliage of 'Sweet Kate' is lovely, not garish.  I have it paired with 'Wide Brim' and 'Sum and Substance' hostas.  I like the contrast of the hosta and spiderwort foliage.

It's curious, though.  Searching the 'net for info on spiderwort cultivars I noticed that often culture is listed as full sun and moist soil but my native plant tends to reseed where there's part shade.  And, it didn't seem to care that I wasn't watering it over the summer despite it having thirsty mature spruces as companions. Maybe the cultivated varieties are pickier?

I don't do any maintenance on mine but I read that cutting them back after a big bloom helps them rebloom and that they can get messy when it's really hot out.  I haven't noticed that myself but maybe summers here just aren't enough to make spiderworts miserable.

So, bottom line is I like spiderwort and I want more of them in my garden.  There are more cultivars on the market every year, including a couple with bi-colored foliage but I think I'll stick to the two I have.  Do you believe me?

Winter's Here

Still have our Christmas lights up;
sometimes I turn them on in the morning
so the kids can see them as they head out to school

The snow and cold are finally here.  So are the first of the gardening catalogs.  


Guess it was kind of silly to be so worried about a too-warm and snow-less winter back in December.  Now there's enough for the kids to make snowmen and I even saw a couple of snowmobilers out on the trails a few days ago.

Snow cover is a good thing so I'm pretty happy we've finally got some.  Also, fluffy white snow is just SO pretty, even when you are out shoveling before the sun is up.

I bought some Gnatrol for my fungus gnat infection but I'm nervous to use it.  The list of instructions and warnings seems awfully long for an organic product.  After all, it's just Bt.  I keep my houseplants pretty dry so the gnats have dwindled on their own.

I've started putting together a list of plants I want to get this year.  The viburnum from my front foundation planting that I chopped down to the ground last year did not return, so I've got a hole to fill there.  I love the planning part of gardening best of all.

Dead Aspens-What to Do?

Sometimes it seems like gardening is like politics.  You can be a ruthless dictator and spend your time defending your turf against all manner of fellow creatures, or you can be a compromiser and try to coexist peacefully with others, taking action only when the balance is threatened. Being the latter reduces time on the battle field but makes every decision complicated.

Take a dead tree for example.  We have several snags on our lot.  I recently had an arborist out to quote me for cleaning up our remaining buckthorn and he asked me if I wanted all those snags removed.  Now, if I wasn't concerned about wildlife I'd have had him take them all down, no other thought required.  However, we have a lot of woodpeckers on our little lot, including downy woodpeckers, who happen to live in dead trees.  So I want to be selective in which dead trees to remove.   

I love seeing and hearing the birds in our yard and I know they eat a lot of bugs so it's not just sentiment that makes me want to provide a haven for them.  They are worth it. 

Looks pretty pathetic with no snow...sigh....

So, only one will be coming down-an aspen felled a couple of weeks ago during our last bit of windy weather and snagged in an oak tree that I want to get pruned this winter.

Changing subjects...who would think that in January it'd be too warm to safely prune oaks? You probably already know, but oaks and elms should only be pruned in the winter so disease-carrying beetles don't get them.  I've seen the damage oak wilt can do to a neighborhood-it's scary!

Seriously, I love a 40 or 50 degree winter day as much as the next person but day after day?  It's gotta stop!  Bring on the cold...I've got yard work to do!

Hot Tubs Look Good in the Snow

Staying warm?  I'm trying to; anything below 20 and I avoid going outside if I can.  Guess I shouldn't be living in Wisconsin...

Anyhow, I think I promised to put up a picture of the neighbor's new hot tub, the crowning glory of his back yard landscaping renovation, and it is indeed glorious!  Hot tubs look good in the snow!  Now, I just have to figure out how to get an invite (insert scheming smile here).

Before it snowed I noticed that I have a lot of plants in my yard that haven't gone dormant yet.  And of those plants, a lot of them have purple or burgundy foliage.  I've scattered some pix of them throughout this post.

'Caitlin's Giant' Ajuga-bought some of these on clearance
 to try under my cedar out front; it's a tough spot-
even lamium and lamiustrum didn't care for it

January is starting off pretty quiet.  Not much new happening in my gardening life currently; we finished the retaining wall before the ground froze but not in time to plant the boxwoods I got on clearance late fall.

They are in my basement under a full spectrum lamp, along with some of my less-loved houseplants and outdoor tropicals.  It must be a pretty tortuous environment.  The cilantro plant I bought from the store died immediately after I put it down there.  My coleus starts also died pretty much as soon as I put them there; I guess I should have kept them in water on my kitchen windowsill a bit longer to build up the roots.  Too bad about the coleus, they were very pretty over the summer.

Some type of sundrops/primrose-
I didn't plant these so I don't have a tag for them

As for my Amaryllis; it doesn't want to go dormant this year.  Not sure what that's about. I'm wondering if it will bloom for me this year.  Last year it went dormant first before it put on new leaves and bloomed.

Buglossoides- these kept their color last year until the very end of winter

Other than trying to keep plants alive in the basement (it's cold down there but those plants are just too big and heavy to haul upstairs) I've been reading up on unrefrigerated cold-room food storage.  I think I'm going to dedicate some space in the basement for this purpose and give it a try.

Regular Heartleaf Bergenia-during the
summer I couldn't tell the regular from 'Eroica' (seen below);
however the difference in their fall color is striking

This winter I need to prune out the black knot fungus I found on most of the chokecherries in our side yard.  I also plan on taking down some big buckthorns.  I marked them with string earlier in the fall when they still had leaves.  I'm just not very skilled at winter tree identification.  There's always a winter tree ID class in late winter at the Retzer Nature Center but it's always on a weekend that I am unavailable.  Frustrating!

Other than that I don't have much gardening stuff to do other than drool over catalogues and draw out plans for the spring and summer plantings.  Oh, I even gathered up all my plant tags and sorted them.  They have their very own labeled plastic box now.  Ooh, I feel SO organized!

Well, gotta go and figure out how to get the fungus gnat infection I've got going in the house under control...

'Eroica' Heartleaf Bergenia's fall color