Random April Flowers

Unknown clematis.

'Pink Climador' clematis.

'Blue Bedder' Sage

Daylilies.

Daylily and Mexican bush sage.

Mexican bush sage.

Gaillardia.

White loropetalum.

'Pizzazz Purple' salvia.

'Jeri' Louisiana iris.

Unless I'm mistaken about where I planted things (and I don't think I am, in this case), the Louisiana iris I bought last year that was supposed to be 'Sinfonietta' (more bluish in color) has turned out to be 'Jeri'-- which is the variety I already owned.  This is annoying, because while I like 'Jeri', I really wanted to try another variety.  It just goes to show that even when you buy in person at a botanical garden plant sale, you have no guarantee of what you're getting, unless the plant is in bloom at the time of purchase.  Oh well, the extra pot of 'Jeri' will still add years of lovely flowers to the garden.  They'll just be a different shade of purple than I was expecting.

The new Louisiana irises I bought on sale online ('Ann Chowning' and 'Black Gamecock', if there wasn't a mix-up) are doing well.  They won't bloom this year-- maybe not even next-- but they look healthy and happy.  I'm satisfied!  Here's one piece out of several:

Critters

Painted lady butterfly (probably...) on salvia ('Blue Bedder').

Cardinal in a river birch.  (Which reminds me that the female cardinal has not abandoned her nesting site in the 'Peggy Martin' rose on the arbor.  She's still at it!)

Luna and Trixie helped me take photos for a long over-due "garden survey" (which will come along at some point in the not-too-distant future, I hope).

Focus on the Foliage

This time of year is full of beautiful, fresh foliage!

There's no sign of life from the original Japanese shrub mint, but all of the ones I grew from cuttings (still in pots) are leafing out.  (Note to future self:  This plant doesn't put out new leaves until fairly late in the spring.  Don't give up on it too soon!)

{Leucosceptrum japonicum 'Gold Angel'}

The caladiums I stored in the garage over the winter have come back!  I wasn't sure they would, so this is a happy surprise.  All I did was take them into the garage before the first freezing night.  I left them in their pots and didn't water them until I noticed the first signs of new growth. (It might've been better to have begun watering them a little earlier, but spring came so early this year that it caught me by surprise.)  I'm not sure if that's the best way to do it, but it worked this time.

Based on what I've read, some caladium will survive our winters in-ground, if it's a mild year, but I didn't want to risk it-- plus they were in pots, which makes them more susceptible to the cold. Maybe I'll try some in the ground, this year...

{Caladium ('Candidum'?)}

You may remember that I put the Carex 'Everillo' back in pots after the rabbits were nibbling it?  Rabbits seem not to want to come onto the covered patio, so the grasses are safer in their pots.  'Everillo' has put on a fair bit of growth since then-- very brightly-colored leaves.  I think it will darken as it ages (at least it seemed to do so last year), but it's very pretty at the moment.  Part-sun reportedly helps it hold its brightest color.  I guess I can give it a try.  (One benefit of potted plants: They're very easy to move around until you find the right spot.)

The toad lily on the right edge of the picture below has interesting foliage, too, though I didn't give it its own photo.  If you look closely, you'll see that it is very faintly speckled with darker green spots.  (Speckled leaves!  How very toad-y of it!)

{Carex 'Everillo'}

Carex 'Evergold' is lovely, as always... Graceful, elegant, cool... Don't hate her because she's beautiful! ;o)

{Carex 'Evergold'}

The new 'Iron Cross' oxalis has very interesting marked leaves-- and sweet little dark pink flowers-- but mine is terribly leggy.  Maybe it needs slightly more sun...

{Oxalis 'Iron Cross'}

The trees that are latest to leaf-out in our garden have begun to do so-- even the ashes and the red oak.  Bald cypress has much more interesting foliage than many conifers, because it is deciduous.  It goes "bald" over the winter, but in spring it is a bright apple-green, and in autumn it turns rusty red.

{Bald Cypress spring foliage}

This next plant is one I started last year from seed from Nan Ondra's seed give-away.  Agastache 'Golden Jubilee' has golden-green foliage (which is anise-scented), violet-pink flowers (which attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds), and seeds that goldfinches are said to enjoy.  All this and it's supposed to suffer heat and humidity gladly!  (We'll see.)  It's still tiny, but what a color!

{Agastache 'Golden Jubilee'}

I'd read that fast-draining soil is an absolute must for this plant and that it performs best in full sun, so I planted it in the new Oval Bed, which has both sun and well-drained soil in spades-- but now I'm seeing other reports that it may benefit from some light afternoon shade to protect the foliage.  *sigh*  Isn't that always the way it goes?  Just when you think you've figured something out... I may move just one or two of the clumps to see which perform best, but it's no easy task to find "light afternoon shade" that's not already spoken for-- or doesn't come with morning shade, too.

{Agastache 'Golden Jubilee'}

'Purple Volcano' lyreleaf sage has a habit of reseeding and spreading itself hither and thither, so I may regret helping it along and giving it a foothold in a couple of new parts of the garden, but for the time being, it's not a problem.  (It seems easy to pull up, too.)  I like the rosettes of dark leaves.  The flower spikes aren't hugely ornamental or long-lasting, but they're pretty in a very simple, unobtrusive way.

{'Purple Volcano' lyreleaf sage}

The tomatoes (not pictured) are getting along nicely and have started to set fruit.  I planted few 'Sundance' yellow squash today, too.  That's it for edibles, this year-- well, not counting the dark opal basil and mammoth dill I'm trying to start from seed, some onion chives, and this pot of fernleaf dill.

{fernleaf dill}

I neglected to take a photo of the new Black Diamond crepe myrtles.  One or two of them are having some slight issues-- a touch of powdery mildew, maybe?-- but the others look great.  The foliage really does look very nearly black!

The new leaves on the 'Victor' crepe myrtle are prettily edged in red-- and the very newest ones glow when they catch the light.

{'Victor' crepe myrtle}

The two gingers that are the farthest along are white butterfly ginger (Hedychium coronarium) and the pincushion ginger, with its more textural, corrugated leaves.

{Hedychium thyrsiforme}

Speaking of texture, you can't beat forsythia sage for tactile interest.  Look at those crinkly leaves!

{Salvia madrensis}

{Salvia madrensis}

The two new dwarf gardenias ('Double Mint') are not doing as well as I'd hoped.  One is in particularly bad shape.  I don't know that there's much to do but wait and see what happens.  At least 'Daisy' is still alright-- and all three are promising flowers:

{'Daisy' gardenia}

I think the one shrub that I'm still waiting to see much from, this year, is the large viburnum.  It's being very slow to put out leaves, and I can't recall if it's always this slow-- but there are tiny starts of flowers, so I think leaves will follow, eventually.

Rose-Tinted April

'Peggy Martin' is still absolutely covered in bloom, though some of the flowers are yellowing and beginning to fall apart.

Yesterday evening I spied a female cardinal on the gate under the rose-covered arbor.  As I watched, she flitted into this rose, but I couldn't see what she was doing there.  A little later on, when I walked outside, she left the area in a startled huff-- and that's when I found the very beginnings of a nest, right by our main gate.  Not a very private location for a nest, with people passing just inches away multiple times a day.  I expect she's now decided to keep looking, though I can't blame her for dreaming of a rose-covered bower...

On the other side of the arbor, 'Joseph's Coat' is still not looking its best, but the smattering of blooms are pretty, in themselves.

The Knock Out roses would have benefited from a pruning, this year, but I didn't get to it in time... I might still do some lighter pruning, but maybe it's better to just wait and do a hard prune next late winter/early spring.

'Nearly Wild' is another that needs something-- not sure if it's pruning, fertilization, better sun, or what.  Maybe a combination of things.

The earliest-pruned unknown pink shrub roses are covered in candelabras of buds.  The first flush of bloom should start any day now...

The unknown pink climbing rose isn't blooming as much as it has in some years.  I think it needs a little pampering...

What blooms there are, are sweetly fragranced.  I'd like to take cuttings of this and 'Peggy Martin', but I have only limited success with rose cuttings.  Though some seem to think they're the easiest thing ever, I believe I've had the most sporadic luck with roses, of all the things I've tried to propagate by cuttings.

...But it's always worth another try!

Latest Doings

-- Planted some pass-alongs.
Grandpa wanted to clear out some plantings from part of his garden, and some things came here, including a couple of rose bushes (both white-flowered, we think), gloriosa lily (Gloriosa superba) tubers, a couple of types of elephant ears (sharper-pointed green and green-and-black), variegated monkey grass, and more purple heart, purple oxalis, and Mexican petunia.

Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jim also sent along butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)-- which went to the Oval Bed-- and a type of weigela with pretty pink flowers-- now planted in a sunny spot along the north fence.   (Oops, forgot to take a photo of the weigela when I took the camera out last time... Maybe I'll remember to get a photo before it's finished flowering for the year.)


-- Planted some new plants.
Colocasia (elephant ear) 'Tea Cup' (which may or may not be the same thing as 'Coffee Cups') went down to the southwest corner of the fenced yard, in a new bed that's located roughly where our old "burn pile" spot was, a few years back.  (I also planted the pointy green elephant ear from Grandpa down there, as well as a piece of Curcuma elata.)

'Tea Cup' elephant ears (in photos I've spent far too much time ogling) are just plumb cute.  The leaves are different from the typical elephant ear.  They're held more upright and are shaped like (...wait for it...) cups!  When they fill with water, they tip down to the ground, empty themselves, then snap back up again.

When grown under ideal circumstances, they can get to a fairly large size-- up to six feet or more tall.  (I'll believe it when I see it.)  I'll be satisfied if mine grows to, say, 3 feet tall or so.  I just want it to get big enough that I can watch the cups fill with water during a summer shower, so I've tried to place it where we can see it from a window-- from way across the yard.  We'll see if it gets to stay there or needs to move once or twice this season... (Trying to guess and meet the sunlight/shade needs of plants is one of my very most favorite parts of gardening, surpassed only by such pleasures as dealing with ugly-buglies, hauling heavy loads of mulch/soil, and doing battle with torpedo grass.)

If it's happy, it might spread by runners (above the ground, in fall, from what I've read), and if that happens, then I will be happy, too, because I'll be able to take a piece or two and try it in some other, riskier spots closer to the house.  (Riskier because the soil is naturally drier and there may be more sun than it likes.)

{Colocasia 'Tea Cup'}

{Colocasia 'Tea Cup'}

Colocasia 'Black Ripple' is in the semi-shade garden, in the same spot where Curcuma elata ('Giant Plume' ginger) had been planted.  I was surprised by how dark 'Black Ripple' really is-- stunning!  I hope I can keep it alive and that it won't fade to a less impressive shade of dark green because it has too little sun.  (Maybe too little light won't affect the color but will "just" keep it small... or make it leggy.)  I can never decide how much sun is just right for plants like this.  There's conflicting information from different sources.  One says fun sun; another suggests that in the lower South dappled light is better.

In its most flattering photos, this variety of elephant ear is absolutely stunning, but even if it doesn't "ripple" quite as much as that, the intense color of the leaves is striking.

{Colocasia 'Black Ripple'}

{Colocasia 'Black Ripple'}

Regarding the displaced 'Giant Plume' ginger, I figured it would benefit from a move, anyway, so this was a good time to do it, as it had just started to emerge.  Transplanting now may mean no flowers this year, but that's alright-- especially since I grow it for the leaves more than the blooms.  The ginger came up in several clumps, so I planted most of it just a few feet over to the east, then tried the rest in a few other places around the garden.  Since I think it's best (in this climate) with some shade, options were limited!

Some new cannas found homes here and there, in sunny locations.  My goal was to add some interestingly-colored foliage, so I selected 'Wyoming', 'Russian Red', 'Pretoria' (a.k.a. 'Bengal Tiger'), and 'Intrigue'.

Most of them came as tubers, so I've nothing to show for them, yet.  'Intrigue' was sold with leaves, though they're looking a little sad at the moment.  I'm using an old beach umbrella to protect it from the sun for part of the day.  The plan is to gradually decrease the amount of protection so that it won't burn or be "shocked" too much.

{Canna 'Intrigue'}

A crinodonna lily (X Amarcrinum memoria-corsii) has made its home on the other side of the main entrance/exit to the covered patio, to balance the one I planted last year.


-- Moved indoor plants outside.
I'm betting that we're done with cool weather for a while, so a couple of houseplants have moved out.  (I wish they could be permanent outdoor plants, but they're just too tender.)


-- Planting daylilies.
I'm in the process of planting out the potted daylilies started from seed last year.  Some of them are tiny little things, but I think they stand a better chance in the ground, at this point.  I usually plant just a few pots at a time, toward the end of each gardening session.


-- Repotting daylilies.
This is also an on-going process.  As I empty the 2.5-quart (...I think?) pots currently "housing" last year's seedlings, I'm taking this year's seedlings out of their yogurt cups (and assorted other small pots) and into the roomier, recently-vacated pots.  Eventually, the goal is to move the "potted on" this-year seedlings somewhere with morning sun and afternoon shade, so these new daylilies can harden off.


-- Taking cuttings.
I've taken a few cuttings of Mexican bush sage and one of Salvia 'Pizzazz Purple'.  The parent plant of 'Pizzazz Purple' didn't come back, this spring, but one I grew from a cutting last year did, so I'm trying to get a back-up or two of that going.  The surviving plant is still small, though, so I didn't want to take more than one stem, for the time being.


-- Putting up a bird house.
Donald built a bluebird house for our garden, and he's in the process of making more.  The first one went up in this river birch along the western edge of the yard.  Maybe next spring we'll get lucky and have a pair nesting here.  We've seen a bluebird or two in our trees, this spring, so we know they're in the area.  (Plus Mom said they have some at their house, this year, just a short walk away.)

{bluebird house}

Donald's also been cleaning the garage with the pressure washer, and he's started on the covered patio, too.

It's the busy time of year for gardening and outdoor chores.  There's always more to do than there's time to do it in-- or energy to do it with, whichever gives out first!