Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Monday, February 15, 2010
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
...is a bust. For the visuals, see the previous post.
No flowers here. Even the indoor orchids are still just buds. I think I should go buy another one just to have something blooming.
This may be a record at Tangled Branches - longest period of time with no flowers.
But there are some hopeful signs. The snow is melting, just not very fast. I heard a cardinal singing this morning. While scanning the trees for birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count, I noticed the maple buds seem just a little more plump.
Welp, since there's nothing much to look at here, this might a be good time to have another cup of tea and start scanning the list of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts for flowers elsewhere.
Labels: birds, in bloom, weather
Friday, December 18, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bud Day
Taking advantage of the lull before the storm, I'm here to report that I had no flowers in bloom for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day earlier this week.
But there are buds.
This is one of 3 such buds on a Camellia japonica, newly planted this spring. I cannot believe that I lost the label already. Its neighbors, with no buds, still have intact labels. Why?
I hope those buds survive to make flowers for a future GBBD, but today it sure feels like we're in for a long cold winter. I'm a novice camellia-grower, but I think the japonicas are less hardy than the sasanquas? But that one is still a very tiny plant, probably less than 12 inches tall, and if we get the foot of snow that's predicted it will be totally covered up and well-insulated. (I first typed insulted instead of insulated; hmmm.....)
Labels: camellias, in bloom, weather
Monday, November 16, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
Mid-November and I still have flowers. That's something to talk about! Now these are not robust and happy summer flowers; these are survivors. We had our first frost in mid-October and several since then, but no hard freezes yet, and so....flowers. Some of these survived because they're hardier than others, some because they're in sheltered places, and just a few because this is their season of bloom.
I've been discouraged lately by a surge in deer damage. For 3 years, they've been politely tasting in the garden, but now they've settled in to feast. And coming closer to the house to do it. I was contemplating planting some hostas next to the front porch where these cupheas are. Now I'm not sure.
You'll notice some crudely cropped off stems in those photos - that's the work of the deer.
It's interesting that many of these survivor plants are hummingbird plants, but then again maybe that's just because I plant so many of those. I've not seen a hummingbird since late September, but keep hoping for a visit from a stray western species.
The 'Cramers' Amazon' celosia up in the vegetable garden is long gone, but the plants next to the deck are still hanging on. That's the top of one that inserted itself under the deck railing (about 4 feet off the ground).
The deer showed absolutely no interest in the lantana, by the way, and it's a hummingbird and butterfly favorite. Must remember that next year.
I think this is Krishna holy basil. Or maybe it was Rama. Or maybe it's 'Blue Spice' basil. In any case I couldn't tell the difference between 'Blue Spice' and the one holy basil variety that germinated and grew, so I'm prepared to say they are one and the same. I sowed some other holy basil varieties, but lost many seedlings to damping off and the rest to some type of larvae.
The plant was buzzing with insects in yesterday's unusual warmth.
That warmth also brought out some of my honorary flowers - the butteflies. This one is a Common Checkered Skipper.
Lastly, there are a few flowers whose season of bloom is very late in the fall or very early in the spring. I have rosemary in bloom, but the photos didn't turn out. And I have really high hopes for these - the camellias.
Last year I cautiously planted a few Camellia sasanqua and was very impressed with how well they survived last summer's drought followed by a colder-than-usual winter. So this year, I planted more camellias. More C. sasanqua, some C. japonica and even a C. sinensis - the camellia whose leaves I see every day in the bottom of my tea strainer. They're still tiny plants and most of them have flower buds, but no open flowers. Our next door neighbors have camellias in bloom next to their porch (should have photographed those), so I assume now is when at least some of them should be blooming. Actually one of mine did bloom a few weeks ago - the tea plant (C. sinensis) - and it's setting seed.
As usual, I'm a day late for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but if you haven't been there already then head over to May Dreams Gardens and see what else is blooming on the internet.
Labels: in bloom
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
I forgot.
But the loveliest thing blooming right now is the hardy cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium). If it stops raining long enough, I'll go out and take a picture. Really, though, it looks just like last year and the year before and...
Monday, August 17, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day +2
Late again, but I've been busy.
The weather forecast was wrong every day last week. They kept predicting rain, sometimes a lot of rain, and I worried about the semi-ripe tomatoes cracking after taking up so much water. Turns out I needn't have worried (because it didn't rain), but I picked all the tomatoes that were showing any color at all. The edible plants have been taking up all my gardening time. Not that this is a bad thing, but blogging and other things have faded into the background.
But we do have flowers. Still mostly annuals at Tangled Branches South, and some of these have seen better days, but technically in bloom. The list is the order in which I wrote them down as I was walking around trying to make sure I included everything.
Petunia 'Old Fashioned Vining'
Dianthus 'Rainbow Loveliness'
Verbena bonariensis
Various basils
Celosia 'Cramer's Amazon'
Cuphea sp. (self-sown, lost track of ID)
Cuphea x 'David Verity'
Petunia 'Superbissima'
Cuphea glutinosa
Calibrachoa, red
Cuphea llavea (bat-faced cuphea)
Lantana 'Dallas Red'
Lantana 'Lucky Red'
Angelonia
Cuphea ignea ('Matchless' and the plain species)
Viola 'Bowles' Black' (still hanging on in this cooler-than-usual summer)
Hibiscus sabdariffa (Thai Red Roselle)
Tagetes lucida
Various thymes
Garlic Chives
Achillea 'Summer Berries'
Verbena hastata 'Pink Spires'
Wormwood
Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle)
Petunias (self-sown from last year's 'Balcony' petunias)
Calamintha nepeta
Celosia 'Sylphid'
Lavender 'Munstead' (rebloom)
Bronze amaranth (self-sown)
Origanum vulgare? (white-flowered oregano)
Nepeta transcaucasica 'Blue Infinity'
Helianthus debilis (was supposed to be 'Key Lime Pie', but isn't)
Helianthus 'Claret' (must have more sunflowers next year!)
Scabiosa 'Black Knight' (really does look black with the right lighting)
Zinnia 'Envy'
Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Carmine Rose'
Salvia 'May Night' (rebloom)
Cosmos sulphureus 'Bright Lights'
Cosmos bipinnatus 'Versailles Tetra'
Nasturtium 'Fordhook Favorites'
Dill
Fennel
Next post: the tomato taste-off between Persimmon and Kellogg's Breakfast...
Labels: in bloom
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
I like annuals. They make my Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post much longer. Let's get right to it then. Photos are interspersed with the list, I tried to place the photos so the names of the plants are under them.
Angelonia
Lantana 'Lucky Red'
Bat-faced Cuphea (Cuphea llavea)
Lantana 'Dallas Red'
Cuphea x 'David Verity'
Cuphea ignea 'Matchless'
Cuphea sp.: self-sown
Cuphea miniata: self-sown
Mimulus 'Queen's Prize Mixed'
Viola 'Bowles Black'
Viola 'Historic Pansies Mix'
Calla 'Black Magic' (Zantedeschia hyb.)
Petunia 'Old-Fashioned Vining'
Petunia 'Superbissima'
Maryland Meadow Beauty (Rhexia mariana): moved from the meadow to my garden
Dianthus 'Rainbow Loveliness': from this spring's seedlings
Achillea 'Summer Berries'
Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida): self-sown
Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
Anise Hyssop 'Golden Jubilee' (Agastache foeniculum)
Verbena bonariensis
Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Lavender 'Munstead': a few repeat blooms
Verbena hastata 'Pink Spires'
Stokesia 'Purple Parasols'
Talinium paniculatum 'Limon'
Zinnia 'Envy'
Tigridia pavonia 'Canariensis'
Orienpet Lily 'Red Dutch'
Salvia 'May Night'
Cosmos sulphureus 'Bright Lights'
Portulaca 'Tutti Frutti Mix'
nasturtium 'Fordhook Favorites'
Kniphofia 'Alcazar'
Rudbeckia 'Prairie Sun'
Oregano (Origanum vulgare): pink-flowered, favorite of bees and butterflies
Nepeta transcaucasica 'Blue Infinity'
Calamintha nepeta
And, the thing that's been taking up all my time, lots of veggies.
Unless I'm distracted by butterflies and wildflowers in the meadow.
Labels: in bloom
Monday, June 15, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
Looking out over the garden at Tangled Branches North, I see a great deal of green. Not many other colors. It's been raining a lot here lately and the perennial flowers are much later than previous years, but you should see the fat & happy foliage! I didn't get my pictures taken for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but here are the lists of what's in bloom at Tangled Branches North & South.
Tangled Branches North:
Asiatic Lily 'Grand Cru'
Shasta Daisy
Asclepias tuberosa
Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'
Sedum 'Utah'
Santolina ericoides (last year I called this Santolina virens, but I think that's incorrect)
Lonicera sempervirens (Coral Honeysuckle)
Stokesia 'Purple Parasols' (new this year)
Oenothera missouriensis
No Daylilies yet!
Tangled Branches South:
Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb'
Nepeta transcaucasica 'Blue Infinity'
Lonicera sempervirens 'Leo' (Coral Honeysuckle)
Origanum vulgare (Oregano)
Rue
English Broadleaf Thyme
Germander
Coriander
Horehound
Verbena bonariensis
Stokesia 'Purple Parasols' (new this year)
Campanula persicifolia (new this year)
Eryngium planum 'Blue Glitter' (new this year)
Oenothera missouriensis
Achillea 'Summer Berries'
Lavender 'Munstead'
Lavender 'Ellagance Sky Blue'
Lavender 'Grosso' (new this year)
Various annuals, including: Viola 'Historic Florist Mix', Mimulus 'Queen's Prize Mixed', Bat-faced Cuphea, Lantana 'Lucky Red'
Previous Bloom Day posts:
June 2008, Tangled Branches South
June 2008, Tangled Branches North
June 2007
Labels: in bloom
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Journal Entry: North
There are so many things in bloom now. Too many to let them pass by unremarked, but not enough time to remark on them properly. So I'm returning this blog, at least part of the time, to a journal format. Just notes for myself and friends and family on what's happening in the garden at the moment.
This morning we got a slight break in the weather. It's been raining on and off since Sunday and looks like more headed this way. Not great weather for photography, but this was the last chance I'll get to take pictures at Tangled Branches North until next week.
Currently in bloom:
Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Wild Cherry (Prunus serotina?)
Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum)
(all the above are wild plants - were here before the house was built)
Azaleas: 'Herbert', white Gable hybrid, & screaming coral-fuchsia builder's
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis; fading)
Dicentra sp. (eximia?) 'Aurora'
Epimediums: 'Lilafee' and 'Purple Prince' (fading)
Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica)
Lamiastrum galeobdolon 'Herman's Pride'
Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum)
Soapwort (Saponaria ocymoides)
Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Van Houtte Spirea (Spiraea x vanhouttei)
Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Baths's Pink' and 'Feuerhexe' (Feuerhexe is the picture at the top of this post; more-eyecatching than 'Bath's Pink' but the scent isn't as nice)
Provencal Thyme
Rosemary
Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis; these have multipled into a solid bed on the north side of the house; the scent is almost overwhelming
Columbine 'Lime Frost' (Aquilegia x hybrida)
Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis; this is being eaten by some type of larvae; one plant is completely defoliated)
I finally got all the mulch off the driveway yesterday before it rained again. 
I'm embarrassed that it took almost two months to move this (above picture is from March 9), but we now have all the beds around the house covered and a good solid layer of mulch throughout most of the woods in back (not just paths as I had before).
PS. It's raining again.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
...It isn't raining rain, you know
It's raining violets...
...And where you see clouds upon the hills
You soon will see crowds of daffodils...
Welcome to the April Showers edition of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day here at Tangled Branches North. I took advantage of a break in the rain yesterday to snap a few pictures.
Epimediums are looking especially nice right now, leavening the daffodils with their frothy look. Daffodils are very good this year. The earliest ones have faded, but coming on now are the tazetta and jonquilla hybrids with their beautiful scents. I cut some for a bouquet and the whole kitchen smells of jonquills (and Moroccan chicken soup).
The list of blooms for Tangled Branches North beginning with the photos above, top to bottom:
Old reliable non-spreading violet
Narcissus 'Geranium'
Dicentra spectabile
Mertensia virginica
Epimedium 'Neosulphureum' (presumed, lost label)
Narcissus (another lost label)
and the rest:
Narcissus: 'Salome', 'Yellow Cheerfulness', 'Kedron', and others
Muscari 'Valerie Finnis'
Muscari armeniacum
Anemone nemorosa 'Vestal'
Anemone apennina var. alba
Epimediums: E. pubigerum, and E. 'Milky Way (these are guesses due to lost labels)
Epimedium 'Purple Prince'
Viburnum x burkwoodii
Vinca minor
Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae
Veronica 'Georgia Blue'
Lunaria annua (variegated leaf)
Scilla siberica (fading)
Puschkinia sp. (fading)
Chionodoxa sp.
Cercis canadensis
Acer palmatum 'Glowing Embers'
I think that's it; may have missed a few while dodging raindrops. Blooms are running a bit behind last year's schedule. Previous April Bloom Day posts are below.
2008
2007
2006 pictures (pre-dates Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but here for comparison)
2005 pictures
2004 pictures
my first blog post, 23 April 2003
I imagine there are many, many flowers to be seen as spring unfolds across the Northern Hemisphere. Check out May Dreams Gardens to see what else is in bloom today.
Labels: in bloom
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Bloom Day: The Pictures
The sun reappeared yesterday! And now it's gone again. Should be back by tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some of the flowers blooming at Tangled Branches North this morning.
My favorite bulb this week is Chionodoxa sardensis. Such a bright clear blue. The flowers are small, as are so many good things.
Haven't made up my mind whether I like the intense yellow Narcissus obvallaris next to the coral bark Japanese maple.
A Pine Knot hellebore. Invisible from a distance, but look how pretty close up. Same flower, different angle.
As long as the Ruby Giant crocuses are blooming, I'll keep posting pictures.
I meant to show you how nice the Scilla siberica looks next to Sedum rupestre 'Angelina', but Angelina insisted it was all about her.
The flower parade is just beginning.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
...has been rained out.
The sky has been lightly but steadily precipitating on us in central Virginia since Thursday night. So, no Bloom Day pictures, but a couple of lists from memory instead.
At Tangled Branches South:
- Narcissus 'Tete-a-Tete'
- Narcissus 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation'
- Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant'
- Chionodoxa sardensis
- maybe, possibly, a self-sown Viola (too muddy to go look for it)
- Galanthus nivalis (still!)
- Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant'
- Crocus chrysanthus 'Cream Beauty' (past its prime)
- Chionodoxa sardensis
- Scilla siberica
- Eranthis hyemalis (or cilicica)
- My early Violet of unknown identity
- Narcissus 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation'
- Narcissus obvallaris
Labels: in bloom
Monday, February 16, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day+1: North
Well, I was expecting to have more crocuses to show you and they're very close to opening, and may open as soon as this afternoon, BUT they weren't open when I went outside with the camera. So how about an Iris and a Winter Aconite?
Isn't this pretty? Iris reticulata 'Gordon' is new to the garden this year. I've had trouble keeping dwarf Irises going, but I have high hopes for this one. It's a two-fer, in my view - the penetrating periwinkle blue shows up very well against the leaf litter, even from a distance, and when you get close, you can appreciate the intricacy of the multicolor lower petals. In fact, I'm so smitten with this flower, I'm going to go right out after I post this and snip it off to bring indoors.
Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold.
Winter Aconite is more yellow than gold, but is an old friend. This little clump has been faithfully chasing away winter for many years.
I always thought this was Eranthis hyemalis, but now wonder if it isn't Eranthis cilicica. And look, here's a picture of Eranthis cilicica blooming next to what appears to be Iris reticulata. If there are any experts reading this who can tell me how to distinguish E. hyemalis from E. cilicica, I'd be very grateful.
The crocus and snowdrops I showed you earlier this month are still blooming, as is the indoor Phalaenopsis orchid. Galanthus nivalis (the other snowdrop) is just starting to open, but my camera battery died while I was transferring the photos to the computer. I'll post another picture in a few days when the flowers have opened up more. Hellebores are finally raising their heads, but we're expecting cold weather this week, so probably no flowers for several more days.
That's it for Tangled Branches North on this Bloom Day plus one.
Labels: in bloom
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: South
Short but sweet is the list for the second anniversary of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.
From small to large (in terms of plant size), we have five plants in bloom at Tangled Branches South.
Smallest: snowdrops. I'm not sure which species because I dug these up from Tangled Branches North, where they were unlabeled, and moved them to Tangled Branches South, where they are still unlabeled. 
Next smallest: a weed. Hoary Bittercress is a perfect name for the first blooming weed of the season, I think. Its botanical name is Cardamine hirsuta. If you look closely, you can see developing seed pods on it already. 
In the middle, the biggest and brightest flower of the lot, 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation' daffodil.
The second-largest plant is my latest infatuation, Hamamelis (Witch Hazel) 'Jelena'. Imagine a whole tree covered in these multi-colored pompoms. You'll have to imagine because right now this tree is in its infancy. I hope to have it for a long time, watching it become more beautiful every year.
And lastly, way up in the sky, the red maples are blooming. I thought I was just taking pictures of flower buds, but when I transferred them to the computer, I noticed the flowers have started to open.
Stop by Carol's to see the other Bloom Day posts and wish her a happy second Bloom Day anniversary.
My previous February Bloom Day posts:
2007
2008
I should note that both of those posts are for Tangled Branches North, and today's post is for Tangled Branches South. I'll post the list for Tangled Branches North tomorrow, when I hope to have some more crocus flowers to show.
PS. You must see the flower arrangement we saw yesterday at lunch. Can Can Brasserie in Richmond, VA had at least two of these huge vases filled with bright red amaryllis stems. Crummy cell phone photo, but you get the idea.
Labels: in bloom
