Spring Ephemerals in the Woodland Gardens

The gardens are alive with spring plants popping up everywhere, splashes of color in every hue jump out at every turn.  The Mertensia, Dicentra, Anenome, Trillium, Pulmonaria and Brunnera are real knock-outs right now!

*Click on the photos to enlarge

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) a North American Native Plant

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabalis)

Snowdrop Anenome (Anenome sylvestris)

Siberion Buglose (Brunnera macrophylla)

Lungwort (Pulmonaria) 

Granted, these may not all technically be 'ephemeral's' but most will completely die back at some point during the summer.  Brunnera may be the only plant I've listed here that may hang on to it's foliage, and therefore is not considered ephemeral. I included it here because it blooms at the same time and is such a great companion plant!  When the temperatures warm and/or they get a lot of sun, Dicentra, Pulmonaria, and Anenome will disappear under ground.  Mertensia and Trillium are true ephemerals. I have some other 'true ephemerals' that I haven't shown here. For the most part, these are short-lived beauties and to-die for!

On that note, I lost Little Sweet Betsy yesterday.  My newest addition, Trillium cuneatum, came face to face with a critter who did her in before she even had the chance to completely open up. I was sad for a few moments but realize those are just part of the ups and downs of the backyard gardener.

Wake Robin (Trillium cuneatum)  'Little Sweet Betsy' - a North American Native Plant

It's almost mid April! How did that happen so fast? There are so many goings-on in my garden that I can hardly keep up with them all! I hope you are having some excitement in your garden, too;-)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ *Have you stopped over to participate in the Gardeners' Sustainable Living Project? It will be 'open' until April 15th so you have plenty of time. I am giving away over 20 garden gifts including a Rain Barrel and a Composter. Be sure to check it out!

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Planting Natives: Hepatica and Mertensia

Popping up in my garden right now is one of my favorite native plants, Hepatica nobilis. I planted this little girl last spring, while she was in her dormant period--so I feel especially excited to see her flowering for the first time here in her new home!

Anemone Hepatica or Hepatica nobilis -- the jury is still out on the 'true' taxonomy and classification. Also known as Liverwort, the pink variety is called 'obtusa'.  Personally, Liverwort doesn't seem very fitting for this dainty charmer, and I certainly can't go with 'obtusa'...so I just like to call her Hepatica.  I've been hoping to catch her with more of her 'babies' opened up, but it's still just a little early. This is how she looked today, all pink and 'girly', and perhaps just a little shy. I would like to add more like her, eventually, so she won't have to be an 'only child' in my garden;-) (On the other hand, purchasing natives can end up costing quite a lot of money, so I've been ordering individually to see how a particular plant does in my garden, with the idea that I'll order more later if things seem to work out. In many cases, it's my hope that they might eventually spread out and I can divide).

(Click on the photos to enlarge. My SLR is in the Nikon repair shop so these are with my Cannon point and shoot. I think it does pretty well and have enjoyed using it more now while the other one is out of commission.)

And then, there is Mertensia virginica. Virginia Bluebells is another favorite native plant and this is one of 4  that I planted about 3 years ago. This little beauty is also known as Virginia Cowslip and Boraginaceae...but I am not crazy about either of those names so I call her Mertensia or Virginia Bluebells. She has only just popped out and is showing off her pretty blue buds which will soon open up to form bell-shaped flowers.

I had wanted to share more information about each plant, but due to a lack of time, I will do that in future posts later on.  Here is a USDA link that gives some interesting facts about Hepatica nobilis as well as a link.

Be sure to join Gail at Clay and Limestone for more natives on Wildflower Wednesday.
  

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Camera-less in April!

I've been going nuts because I left both of my cameras at my mom's house last weekend when we visited for Easter.  What a time to be without a decent camera!

Of course, now that it's springtime and into the second week of April, there are more things blooming than I can keep track of!  Today I decided to pick some blooms and put them in vases, then snap shots of them with the built in camera on my BlackBerry.

Mertensia (Virginia Bluebells), Dicentra (Bleeding Hearts), and Hellebores (Lenton Roses) are going strong, just to name some of the perennials that have shot up practically overnight. And I do mean overnight in the literal sense.  It seems like one day they weren't through the ground, and the next day they're almost done blooming!

Definitely not my clearest photos--but I'm afraid that if I wait too much longer, some of these will be finished blooming and/or dried up and dead!
It has been in the 90's here for the past couple of days and way too hot to enjoy gardening!  Whatever happened to spring? I don't recall putting in an order for July weather just yet!

Next are some shots of Lamium (Spotted Dead-Nettle), Tiarella blooms (Foam Flower) and Pulmonaria (Lungwort).

(I guess there are some Bleeding Hearts in this little arrangement, too).

I will drive back to my mom's this weekend to retrieve the cameras. I have a small one that we just got for Christmas--a Canon S-90--that for some reason I stuck in the camera bag along with my big one, the Nikon D-40x and the zoom and macro lenses that go with it.

Usually I keep the small camera in my purse. What was I thinking? I could be taking some pretty good photos with that little point and shoot. I can't wait to get them back--both of them. How I've come to depend on my trusty cameras!

I planted some herbs during the past couple of days. I put them in pots on my deck. The parsley from last year over-wintered in the severe cold and snow and looks terrific right now.  I have seeds for other herbs and veggies, but I couldn't help myself when I saw a few small plants already started at my local big-box store. I planted basil, rosemary, tomatoes (a 'patio' variety, meant for growing in containers) stevia, and a strawberry plant.  I've never tried growing stevia before and haven't looked in to using it for cooking--but I'm going to experiment.

I want to apologize for not visiting you all lately.  I'm still here, but busy with life!  I do manage to keep up with a lot of you on FaceBook, which I find an easy alternative to always visiting blogs. I know everyone doesn't use FaceBook or Twitter (I don't Tweet!) but they have a real place in the social world now and are actually pretty convenient to use.  You can always follow my blog on Facebook through Networked Blogs, and/or join my Facebook fan page. Both are listed on my sidebar, for those who might be interested. Let me know if you use FaceBook so I can follow you there, as well.

Before I close I want to add a reminder about the Garden Bloggers Sustainable Living project, which will be available to enter through 11:59pm on April 15th.  See the link on my sidebar and/or at the top of my blog for details. You don't need to write an essay--just a paragraph, or even a list of what you are doing or plan to do, will be plenty!  There have been over 40 participants so far, so be sure to have a look at them HERE, and then add your own post! You have until 11:59 pm on April 15th to do so.

Happy spring everyone;-)

--Today I am thankful for the nice breeze that has formed as I've finished this post, and for the cooler temperatures predicted for the weekend (and maybe even some much needed rain to wash away the pollen).

Words and photos ©Thanks For Today, by Jan Huston Doble