ABOUT | TOPICS |
Search  Hint
| Newsletter Signup
| rssrssfacebooktwitter

blooming this week (2)

April 22, 2008

WITH A WEEK OF DAYS NEAR 80, the garden has moved ahead fast (perhaps too fast). No rain in sight, but blossoms everywhere, including these shot today. (Technical note: Neither the thumbnail photos nor the ones you click to next are as luminous as click #3. Mea culpa or the limitations of this technology, who knows? It’s worth that extra click, while I’m investigating a solution.)

Related posts:

  1. blooming this week
  2. fall’s finest: savoring some last bits
  3. blooming this week: species peonies
  4. and the hits… (part 2)
  5. more, more, more (and then some)

{ 19 Comments }

Comments

  1. GardenGuyKenn says:
    April 22, 2008 at 7:01 pm

    Absolutely beautiful! We’re having very warm weather here in Southern Michigan too.. I’m a bit fearful of a cold snap – but hopeful that it won’t happen!

    Happy Earth Day everyone!

  2. Elaine says:
    April 22, 2008 at 7:49 pm

    You are right – the third click is the ‘charm.’ The photos are beautiful! Thank you for sharing them.

  3. Layanee says:
    April 23, 2008 at 7:46 am

    First, congrats on the first month. Great job! I love that you posted a picture of the Lindera. I love the way it looks ‘dancing’ in the woods! I don’t know Dirca…will have to check that one out.

  4. Andrew Ritchie says:
    April 23, 2008 at 8:19 am

    The tulips here are just about ready. The forsythia is all aglow. Even the rhododendrons are about to burst open. Temperatures in the high 70s for the last two weeks have sped things up considerably.

    Damn, I love those dark helebores!

  5. Barbee' says:
    April 23, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    These are beautiful! You surely have accomplished a lot if this blog is only one month old. I found you on Blotanical and I will be back from time to time. Great work!

  6. margaret says:
    April 23, 2008 at 12:52 pm

    Welcome, Barbee. I just joined Blotanical YESTERDAY so talk about fast…you are my first new garden friend via that route. I look forward to your next visit.
    Margaret

  7. leslie land says:
    April 23, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    First, thanks so much for the link. It’s an honor to be in your company.

    nifty to see what’s in bloom up your way, not very far north of us but still… a clear illustration that even little distances make a difference.

    We’ve had too many too-hot-for April days; about half the narcissi got fried, early peonies are threatening to open (yikes!) and we have our first asparagus, about which I have mixed feelings; this is roughly a week earlier than usual. Bill wants to cook it with black morels and has gone hunting over by the river, hoping it’s less dry there…

    Congratulations on your beautiful, extremely useful site and your fast start out of the gate with it.

  8. margaret says:
    April 23, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    Leslie,
    Welcome. I was tipped off to your blog by Sally of WKZE, and it is wonderful. Thanks to you as well.
    Yes, I harvested asparagus, too (nearly two weeks early) and it doesn’t feel right. I am doing rain dances between shoveling barrows full of mulch. Dust bowl here. Happy spring? Hmmm…
    Margaret

  9. gardenboy says:
    April 23, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    Lucky you are no longer a weekends only gardener, otherwise you would miss almost everything this year. It is all happening so fast. It scares the hell out of me.

  10. margaret says:
    April 23, 2008 at 4:58 pm

    Gardenboy,
    I used the word “hell” a few times myself today to describe the conditions outside, and also “Dust Bowl.” Not good. Am madly soaking the weaklings and piling on mulch like it was three weeks from now.
    Send reinforcements.
    M.

  11. Amy says:
    April 23, 2008 at 10:09 pm

    Hello Margaret – I just found you tonight through Blotanical. You’ve got a fabulous blog. I can’t wait to read more posts!

  12. margaret says:
    April 24, 2008 at 6:10 am

    Amy,
    Welcome to A Way to Garden. So glad you found me, and that you enjoyed what you saw so far. Now if I can just keep juggling the outdoor chores with the blogging duties! See you again soon.
    Margaret

  13. mplonski says:
    April 24, 2008 at 6:28 am

    Luminous. Seriously throwing around the technical terms on a gardening blog, aren’t you?

  14. margaret says:
    April 24, 2008 at 7:25 am

    Well, mplonski, aren’t WE full of (coffee) beans this morning?
    As chief creative director and chief technical officer AND staff writer and photographer over here, I was frustrated that the photos didn’t look good on the first two clicks. I’m on the WordPress boards trying to figure out why, but it may just be the deal.
    So there! Maybe you can lend some insight?
    M.

  15. elizabeth says:
    April 25, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    i too am in zone 5, and i hope it will be enlightening to see the differences in the same zone. forsythia is done here (in iowa), hostas are really up, bluebells are dangling, magnolias just begun. in my own yard, i have a fritillaria blooming, which i thought werent supposed to bloom until june.
    happy one month anniversary, by the way.

  16. margaret says:
    April 25, 2008 at 9:06 pm

    Elizabeth,
    Welcome.
    Your comment points out how general the Zone system really is…with so many factors to consider, it’s just a rough guess, isn’t it?
    I will look forward to comparing our “Zone 5″ timelines as the season progresses.
    Margaret

  17. Brent says:
    April 27, 2008 at 3:05 pm

    Hi, Margaret

    I am so jealous of your blog (and your garden). I guess I will have to be content to learn from it.

    We went on a hunt this morning for the lone trout lily that we came across in the woods on the farm last year, but we were not able to find it. The search will continue next weekend.

    We’ve started our own farm website and blog, http://www.beekman1802.com, and as soon as I figure out how to set up the blog roll, I’m going to link right to you.

    Hope all is well,

    Brent

  18. margaret says:
    April 27, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    Brent,
    Welcome and thanks for your good wishes. If you stay somewhere and keep digging holes for 20 years, this is what happens. Plants everywhere. And then some.
    I am going to take a trip to your blog now and see what’s up…
    M.

  19. Brent says:
    April 28, 2008 at 9:55 am

    I have to wait 20 years?!!

Speak Your Mind

The Sister Project

The Confessional

Some stuff really gets A Way to Garden-ers going. Weigh in, or just lurk while everyone else shares about these hot buttons:

Compost, Compost, Compost

I am as proud of my compost heap as I am of any part of my garden. It is the archaeological record of my garden past; it is the stuff from which future gardens will arise. I read a lot about, from sources like these: Garden Organic, a 50-year-old British charity; Journey to Forever (don’t worry, not some into-the-bunker survivalist cult); and the vast Cornell Composting archive. Dig in.

Juicy Bits

375 VISITORS, 1 BIG RHODIE: spring garden open day, in a virtual visit. How it looked, and also what they all asked about

keeping deer out DEER FENCE: I tried every potion and anti-deer trick till I finally got real and fenced. Strategies for every garden situation.

secrets to great tomatoes TOMATO TIPS, seed to harvest: Dozens of tricks for a better crop.

yes, even in dry shade MY 4 TOUGHEST GROUNDCOVERS perform even in the worst spots, like dry shade. Maybe these tough perennials will serve you as well?

5 great small trees GARDEN-SIZED TREES can’t just be the right scale; they need to have multi-season interest, too, to earn a spot here. Maybe you have room for one of my 5 favorites?

10 underplanting do’s and don’ts MAKING MOSAICS—that’s what I call good underplanting of trees and shrubs with a tapestry of plants for many months of enjoyment. Here’s how I do it.

a ribbeting bullfrog whodunit LET BULLFROGS BE BYGONES? No way. Where have all my biggest frogboys gone? The latest frog mystery explained.

stars of the spring shrubbery BEYOND LILACS (and forget forsythia!), a slideshow of some of the finest spring shrubs you may not grow (yet).

speeding up the compost DRIVE BY, HIT-AND-RUN composting is my latest craze, and speeds up the decomposition process while making good mulch quickly. Here’s how.

making a 365-day garden THINK FALL (YES, FALL): Don’t get sucked in by spring-bloomers only when nursery shopping. A great garden happens 365 days a year: Shop smart to make it so.

the facts about bulbs SOMETHING UP with a flower bulb? Paltry bloom, or wondering when to feed or cut off the foliage? It’s all here.

must-read garden poem MY FAVORITE GARDEN POEM celebrates loss, one of gardening (and life’s) realities. It does it with humor: "Why Did My Plant Die?” is a must-read.

12 steps to sanity? HELP FOR GARDENERS: Hi, my name is Margaret, and yes, we operate a 12-Step program here. Welcome.

orchid rebloom made easy I REBLOOMED MY FIRST ORCHID last year (finally!) and it turns out to be pretty easy going. Here’s how.

my seed-starting 101 WHAT ABOUT SEED-STARTING in general? The A Way to Garden method.

crispy refrigerator pickles WHAT IS IT ABOUT refrigerator pickles that makes everybody so happy? Get those cukes growing now. And then some.

hail the stewartia I LIKE PLANTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP. By that I mean they do more than a week or two of showing off; they look good in more than a single moment, or season. The small-ish to medium trees in the genus Stewartia are a good bet if that’s the kind of multi-season interest you are looking for. Sound good?

can-do pruning REPEAT AFTER ME: I can prune. I can prune. If you follow this simple method for starters, your woody plants will thank you.

the ‘other’ peonies JUNE IS PEONY TIME, the big raucous kind of peony time, but just before that another kind of peony you might want to consider adopting does its subtler, wonderful thing.

which lilac to plant? SO MANY LILACS, so little space. Browse a glossary of some of my favorites before you shop—maybe you’ll like them, too.