Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Snowdrops!
Well, they're not quite in bloom yet, but getting close.
You shouldn't get the idea that the ground is carpeted with these here. This one particular clump blooms earlier than any others here. Check below for the overall effect as it appears to normal people.
I heard a cardinal singing when I went out to get the newspaper this morning. If I could speak cardinal, I would have told him "Save your breath. You're way too early, pal."
Labels: snowdrops
7 Comments:
lol re: the cardinal. Those snowdrops are very cute, but... seriously, is that huge, gorgeous mound of red an epimedium? Which one?! I just drooled on my keyboard...
Me too! Drooling in keyboard...that's a splendid epimedium. Mine is green and sad looking (we've had a major melt and things are looking very soggy and bedraggled.) And don't even get me started about snowdrops...I adore them but don't expect to see them for a couple of months yet.
Kim & Jodi: I'm soooo embarrassed not to be able to tell you which Epimedium that is. This was one of the very first ones I put in several years ago and the plastic labels are long gone. I think it may possibly be E. pubigerum, but that's a guess based on my hazy memory of what I ordered from Plant Delights. I don't see that one in their online catalog anymore. The foliage looks good now, but we've had a fairly mild winter so far. Later? We'll see, but I always have to trim it away when the new growth starts or it obscures the flowers.
That particular clump of snowdrops has bloomed in January for the last 4 years. I keep thinking I should divide it and spread them around, but I'm afraid to mess with success.
While some years my Snowdrops bloom in December, this year, yours have mine beat. I have buds, but they aren't in blooming position yet. If you wait long enough, those Snowdrops should start seeding about. I've also successfully transplanted them after they've bloomed, but b4 the foliage dies down. I don't think you realize how special that Epimedium is. Mine still has leaves, but they're more bronzy-brown. I'd grow that 1 for Winter foliage alone. It's a stunner.
Mr. McGregor's Daughter: December snowdrops would be fun. Did you happen to read Don's post about fall-blooming snowdrops? I didn't know there was such a thing, and shortly after that I read of them again in Dear Friend and Gardener. Anyhow, this particular clump has been increasing slooooooowly, but I think from offsets, not from seed. I've seen seedpods, but I've not noticed any seedlings. It's about to get swallowed up by a different epimedium - a very deciduous one - so I'm going to have to do something with one or the other pretty soon. 3 or 4 epimediums still have their leaves here, but the reddish one is the most eye-catching.
No hide nor hair of the few snowdrops we planted. Pretty cool to see such a huge clump of epimediums in a wonderful deep red. Mine are all withered and brown.
Ki: Despite this one clump, snowdrops don't really grow well for me. I went out yesterday and examined the Epimedium more closely, and the leaves are slowly going brown. Our warm January weather is expected to end this weekend, so it'll be interesting to see how long that foliage stays red.
Post a Comment
<< Tangled Branches: Cultivated, main page