Tangled Branches: Cultivated

happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Late March Flowers and Mysteries

March is turning out to be a busy month here. I've written blog posts in my head, but as far as I know there's no way to upload those. Speech-to-text maybe? Until I get that figured out, how about some pictures?

It's the beginning of daffodil-and-little-blue-flower season here. I have mystery plants of both kinds - products of long ago planting and ~~sloppy~~ no recordkeeping.

Chionodoxa sardensis. Looks like a huge plant here, but really isn't.

Mystery Chionodoxa. Flowers are one to a stem.

Scilla siberica and Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'.
This was a happy accident.
I forgot all about the Scillas when I planted the Sedum last summer.

The violets seem especially floriferous this year.

Narcissus 'Lemon Glow'.
Still don't know if I like this one.
The flowers are huge and the stems seem way too short for them.

Mystery Narcissus.
One of my favorites.
It came from Costco in a bag of mixed bulbs, many years ago.

Narcissus 'Ice Follies' and associates.
They were all supposed to be Ice Follies.

Mystery seed pod.
Found while working in the vegetable garden a couple weeks ago.
It's large - about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long.

If it rains today, look for a post about basil and tomato soup tomorrow. If no rain, I'll be composing in my head again while in the garden. Which reminds me - does anybody else remember Herman's Head, the TV show? I always liked that show...

Labels: chionodoxa, narcissus, scilla, vinca, violas

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Favorite Perennials

Jodi has posted some of her favorite perennials, and asked others to do likewise. Easy, I thought, whichever one is blooming at the moment.

Well, there aren't too many things blooming on this gray, drizzly morning, and I haven't been out to check on the Cyclamen hederifolium lately, but they were still blooming a week or so ago.
Cyclamen hederifolium

Thinking a little harder, I came up with a few plants that I'd really miss if they were gone. A lot, maybe most, of these are filler-type plants. And you know, in music, I always like harmony more than the melody, so it must just be something strange about me.

I already talked up Calamintha nepetoides (aka C. nepeta), so I won't go on and on about it here, but that's close to the top of the list. Another frothy filler is Galium 'Victor Jones'. I wish I knew which species of Galium this is, but the name I give here is how it was sold to me. It sprawls quite a lot and weaves in and out among its sturdier neighbors. It sometimes blooms again, and I suspect that if it was cut back after blooming, the second bloom would be more reliable.
Galium 'Victor Jones' behind some Echinacea

I'm totally addicted to Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Bath's Pink'. I love the thick semi-evergreen foliage and the flower fragrance is sweet and spicy at the same time.
Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Bath's Pink'

Here's a favorite that isn't a filler - Peony 'Karen Gray'. She's neighbors with Bath's Pink and usually they bloom about the same time.
Peony 'Karen Gray' and Dianthus 'Bath's Pink'

Look at how much pink there is in these photos. I never thought of myself as a pink person, but the garden apparently knows more about me than I do. Let's get away from pink. Another characteristic of my favorite perennials is that many of them are bulbs. I like the Orienpet lilies a lot. 'Orania' in particular - very elegant.
Orienpet Lily 'Orania'

I like daffodils in general because they're early and reliable, but the ones I like best have elegant shapes, and ummm, pink cups.
Narcissus, not sure of the variety

And then there's a whole class of plants that might be my very favorites of all - the little blue spring flowers. Most are bulbs, but not all. I'm just going to link to an earlier post here, because I really can't choose between these. (That post is from the blog I used while Tangled Branches was homeless between web hosting companies, BTW.) OK, just one picture here - couldn't resist.
Chionodoxa sardensis

Labels: bulbs, cyclamen, dianthus, galium, lilies, narcissus, peonies

Monday, April 23, 2007

Narcissus Update

The suspense is over. The narcissus we discovered in the woods looks like this when in bloom:

The small white flowers are about 1.5 inches in diameter with a tiny, tiny yellow cup. Some are two to a stem, but most are only one. There isn't much fragrance.

Any guesses what this might be? It looks similar to some jonquilla hybrids, but the lack of fragrance surprises me. Also, this is on the late end of the narcissus season.

Labels: CeVA, narcissus

Saturday, April 21, 2007

A Tale of Two Narcissus

Throw away your horticultural rulebooks! I did and look what happened.

These are my first cultivated flowers at the country house and I did just about everything "wrong" when I moved them from their suburban location. I dug them up just after they bloomed and before the leaves had withered. I spread them out in the shade and left them for, oh, 6 or 8 weeks. They still seemed OK, so I gathered them up and put them on a tray in the garage. They stayed there all summer....and fall...and winter...and early spring. Then I noticed they were starting to sprout, so I brought them to the country to see if they'd put down roots. Looks like they're gonna be just fine.

Meanwhile, we were working on clearing greenbriar and dead wood at the country house, and my spouse said "There's something here I want you to see - it looks like daffodils." Well, I can't tell you how proud I was of him. They were daffodils - just the foliage - and I had no idea that he could recognize them that way. I didn't see any flower buds, and thought they might not bloom, but by last Tuesday they looked like this.

I can't wait to see what the flowers look like, but I wonder how they got here. Are we living on the remnants of someone's long ago garden? A nice romantic notion. Someday when I have too much time on my hands, I'd like to research the property's history. Until then, I'll just continue to discover what's growing there.

Labels: CeVA, narcissus, NoVA

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Spring or Winter?

Every time I declare spring, it snows. I was just thinking of declaring spring after last weekend in the country, so snow is in the forecast.

Last weekend in Central Virginia, the weather was warm enough to open the windows and air out the house. The sound of spring peepers (or something) drifted in on the breeze (more like a gale, actually). I wandered around the woods looking for wildflowers or fiddleheads, but it was still too early. The maple trees are starting to bud out. The birds were singing noticeably more than the previous weekend. Our well-fed suburban birds have been singing for weeks, but I think the rural birds were still just trying to stay alive. Now the bugs are starting to come out and they can think of other activities. I didn't see any deer, but did find their tracks in the mud, however those were nowhere near the recently planted woodies. So far, so good.

Back to those spring peepers for a moment. According to what I've read on the internet, spring peepers are nocturnal. So then, what was I hearing during the daylight? They started about 10:30 in the morning and went until late afternoon. The sound was coming from the brushy side of the stream. I tried to look for the critters, but could see nothing. I found a site with sounds of a dozen frogs and toads, but none of these sound like what I remember. So the identity of the croaking creatures remains to be discovered.

In Northern Virginia, a few more crocus flowers popped open yesterday. I do mean popped open. Sunday I swear there was nothing there - hardly even any leaves; Monday - flowers. And some of the very early narcissus are open. Pictures soon.

A rare bird stopped by this afternoon - a pine warbler. I guess they really aren't all that rare, but this is only the second time I've seen one in the backyard. Not rare at all, but very welcome, a large flock of robins was rummaging through the leaves in the woods late in the afternoon.

Did I mention there's a snow advisory for tomorrow?

Labels: birds, critters, crocus, narcissus, snow

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