waiting, waiting (part 3)
I AM WAITING for the first bunch of homegrown tulips to set on the dining table, but so far all I have is foliage and some emerging buds. I am happy to say I’ve been visited by the blue cohosh of “waiting, waiting: part 1” and by those sharp little hosta shoots from “waiting, waiting: part 2.” From here on out it will all happen fast, maybe too fast, and then I will be regretting instead of waiting. Perhaps you already have your first tulips for cutting, but I bet there’s something that hasn’t happened yet that holds a special promise. (Like maybe some rain?) What are you waiting for in your garden?
Up here in paradise I am waiting for the trout lilies to appear. They are one of my favorites of the spring ephemerals. Then I start looking for the pinxter-flower (I like the name as much as the flower!). When I find one in bloom in the woods, it’s the most wonderful gift, but they’ve been more and more scarce each year. I wonder if the deer browsing is to blame?
Dear Farmgirl,
Welcome to A Way to Garden. Sounds like you have found heaven on earth.
Yes, the pinxterbloom azalea, Rhododendron nudiflorum or R. periclymenoides depending on how up to date your taxonomy is, is an exceptional thing. Not sure what’s going on with it in your area; I know that at North Carolina State they have written about some issues affecting it in the home landscape:
https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/Ornamental/odin16/odin16.htm.
Funny, I almost bought some plants recently to add to the fringe of my property…your comment gets me thinking I should hurry back to that nursery and snap them up.
Margaret
I’m already waiting for my poor little tree peony to bloom…the thing is just a stick growing toward the light [I planted it in the wrong place], but its buds are already swelling, and despite its crippled appearance, it gives me gorgeous flowers. Is there anything so sublime?
I am waiting for the rhubarb which in Vancouver is nearly ready to pick. There is nothing like homemade rhubarb pie or crumble and I feel rich when this old fashioned “doer” yet again unfurls its magnificent leaves as the spring unfolds too. I have friends who have bought new roots to grow but never as strong as our aged clump which was planted by some long gone gardener before we moved on to our property over 30 years ago.
There are many structural elements of my garden I will never trade for a newer fashion in homage to those who have tilled the soil here before me.
Terri
I am also waiting for tulips but let me ask you: when I bring mine into the house they seem to have lots of tiny black bugs crawling on them. How do I get rid of these bugs?
Tulips and daffodils both have yet to make appearances in Ottawa, although the foliage you mention is beginning to unfurl. Crocuses are up and shining, however. We had 435 centimeters of snowfall this winter, or roughly 14 feet, so there are still white patches around the neighbourhood. Ottawa’s International Tulip Festival is quite a delight (over one million bulbs in public spaces around the region) and after such a colourless winter, we’re eager, to say the least!
Mmm me too waiting for those tulips, and the daffodils, but most of all I’m waiting for my roses and dahlia but I think I’ll have a long wait in front of me ;-) I guess I’m starting to wait too early every year…I should restrict myself to only wait for the next flower to bloom ;-)
Welcome to A Way to Garden, Kate. Ah, yes…the houseplants: I will be glad to send them to summer camp, too, but I have another month to wait I expect. It’s great to hear from you and hear what is going on in your garden (well, except the pollen cloud…please don’t send it this way).
Margaret
Alas, tulips are a luxury down here in the south, too much effort to plant something that won’t come back and may not even bloom. The thing I have been anxiously waiting for is for it to get warm enough at night to kick my houseplants outside, they are so ready for some fresh air. And for our hideously bad cloud of pollen to disperse so we can all actually enjoy being outside. Hopefully that will happen in about a week and I can go back to stalking my irises for their first bloom.
Thanks for your nice comment on my blog, it made my weekend!
Jean,
Funny, I was just thinking of writing about Alliums yesterday. They are one of my essential plants…can’t garden without them. And in my garden, too, their foliage is everywhere…but no flower stems quite yet. Soon. Very soon. More on them before long, I think.
Margaret
I’m waiting for the first alliums I planted last fall to appear. Their green leaves are reaching up, and I can’t wait for those architectural beauties to bloom! Jean