bulbs - Page 3

seeds sprouting thicker than hair on a cats back-am working on convincing myself that they are all things i might want. three roses that everyone should have if they have the space- nevada, hugonis and zephyrine drouhin. to a friends in the foothills-although only a few miles away it is higher and at least a zone colder than my garden. hundred of hybrid roses- mutilated sticks rising out of bare earth-hmmm.

clematis nellie moser is reaching up into weigela florida variegata- the flower colors are exactly the same and have the bluey-green foliage of thalictrum in front and an enormous buddleia alternifolia behind-the flowering times overlap just enough to be wonderful-the anchusa which added to the picture has gone so will replace it with some i did from root cuttings- some years allium purple sensation blooms late enough to add to the picture and then what joy there is. 

two superb days and then snow again this morning. a friend dropped by some strawberry plants. i don't like them but will plant them because my dear old granny said one should never spurn a well intentioned gift. why doesn't anyone ever give me a night blooming cereus? the great garden remake-stonework phase-is finished. i begin to suspect that it has become too victorian looking but the tapestry garden effect is very fine i think, and it gives me at least a years room for a few hundred more plants. two of the new evergreen kniphofias survived and two did not-not great but not bad for plants so tender.

kolkwitzia amabilis  will bloom surrounded by lunaria- the color contrast may grate but right now the arching branches look very good in front of  the white fringed lunaria foliage. chaenomeles kingsii which was planted to bloom at the same time is a month early-ah well it is very good on it's own.

long walk in the snow today-very crisp but not cold. was driven out of the house by reading john ruskin on gardening-what an ass the man was.

ornamental pears, plums, peaches and cherries in bloom-beautiful in the snow. cosmos atrosanguinea from seed for the first time, nice-not so nice, lysimachia ephemerus has once again not survived the winter-i suppose i should give it up as a bad job. eremurus bungei is not happy-when the foliage dies back ishall lift, separate and replant-somewhere.

great morning. the wonderful smell of poplar leaves just as they begin to unfurl. alyssum citrinus blooming with aubrieta audrey-glaringly obvious but nice. self sown muscari growing through alyssum alpinum. wine red lilac blooming in front of the still sparse tendrils of humulus aurea. looking at a planting and thinking that a gold leafed agastache would be nice and finding one sprouting in the gravel. i have decided to leave the fallen ivy covered apple tree as my tribute to the picturesque. my dear grandmamma used to say that fancy words don't make laziness any less lazy. whatever could she have meant? the annual battle to eradicate rosa pimpinellafolia begins today.

the self sown cosmos atrosanguinea are all sprouting next to rocks-did the rock provide enough warmth or moisture or whatever to allow the very tender seed to survive? callirhoe sprouting everywhere, what a fine plant but i suppose i have to take some measure of control or the paths will be impassable this summer.

one clump of lysimachia ephemerum did in fact survive, yay. on the other hand sisyrhinchium striatum has utterly and i fear irreversibly collapsed. oh woe, oh dolor, oh damn. magnolia liliaflora is in full bloom, hundreds of very small flowers this year. glaucium sprouting, malva sprouting, geraniums everywhere, won't weed any out and see if the garden is a cloud of blue-it could happen. aconite ivorine has recovered from what i did to it(attempted total eradication before i realized i wanted it as part of a new planting) searching i found one root that had sprouted and it is slowly coming back. 

just a nice picture

scilla campanulata, muscari, brunnera hadspen cream  with anemone nemorosa literally a carpet under the cornus baileyii. also a new(to me)pulmonaria-silver frosted leaves with each flower cluster containing both blues and pinks. a seedling hellebore with darker red flowers than any i have-so many great plants have been the result of accident rather intention. a very fine dianthus which was given to me as carth usianorum is possibly not, this one grows to 1 meter while carthus is 8 inches, hmmm? vitis purpurea is breaking, such a relief when it is something we really want. verbascums are already monumental clumps. physocarpus copperopolis with berberis aurea-i'm trying not to add anything-always a temptation this time of year-until i see what is actually there. have the varieties of geum exploded there the way they have here? such an excellent plant, rudbeckias alos seemingly in every color-what remarkable and lovely times we live in.

after 4 warm nights the garden has suddenly arrived. i can see that in a week or so it will begin to look like summer. the iris oncocyclus have been infested with ribbon wire grass-alack, alas-when they finish blooming heroic measures will be called for, and they do hate being disturbed. several shrubs that have not thrived will be moved today-they are too fine to be simply chucked. gentian acaulis is budded, veronica gentianoides will bloom tomorrow, iris tectorum covered with buds and rose lawrence johnston looks to be very fine this year. if only it could be 75 everyday but hot days and six months of sun are coming.

thalictrum rochebrunianum flourishing, thundercloud not so good, seedling flavum coming up in the middles of things-threatening the life of a sidalcea party girl but the combination might be fun. lilies have their noses up except the regals which i disturbed at an inopportune moment. lathyrus vernus is blooming in front of lunaria their flowers the exact same shade-lucky me. lysimachia ciliata atro purpurea running around everywhere-what in the name of mercy inspired me to plant it? ciliata fantasy(cream, olive and pink) is entirely too restrained-ah well so it goes.

so beautiful. temp 85 today and tomorrow, cooler and rain by weds. the huge old apple trees across the street in fulll bloom-clouds of everlasting joy. acer ginnala which i thinned drastically last spring is looking very fine-the clematis and rose that grow through it flourishing. the rose was bought as a sport of nevada but i have never seen it offered or described since. arching sprays of single pink flowers which open at the same time as the clematis henryii- they are underplanted with hosta inniswood, brunnera jack frost and a few primula-which reminds me that primula florindae shows signs of desire to live someplace other than Reno nv. this has been the warmest driest winter on record for the US so perhaps it will be summer here until october. the persicaria affine is showing signs of sinister purpose-oh my good lord what have i done?

wonderful quiet sunday. university students sleeping off last nights debauch. grooming the roses along the canal-austrian copper, harrisons yellow, nevada and glauca. glauca such a wonderful shrub-handsome at all times of the year and a perfect background for almost anything. forsythia suspensa from a cutting from filoli tiny but growing. spirea bridal wreath with chrome yellow wallflowers growing through it.

rosa foetidus