![\"plum](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gardenescapades.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/plum-flowers1-e1425878690128.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNot a great photo, but these are all the flowers this Beauty plum has.<\/p>\n
The bed that this plum and the grafted, espalier Asian pear occupy is completely filled with crab grass, buttercups and bindweed.\u00a0 The bindweed isn\u2019t up yet, so I\u2019ll dig it out as best I can.\u00a0 I did tackle some of the buttercups today and will tackle even more at a later date.\u00a0 I plan to bed out a bunch of the English wallflower seedlings in this bed and then cover the ground with very aggressive groundcovers to keep the weeds down.<\/p>\n
Other sights from the garden, pots and greenhouse:<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure I would plant the two early yellow bloomers together if planning the garden again, but I do find the combination works.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Today was another perfect day\u2013temps in the 60\u2019s and bright sun all day.\u00a0 It is impossible to believe that any real winter weather might befall us after these last few weeks of warm and calm.\u00a0 However, nights are still chilly and we had frost last week here, so that was a useful reminder to not … Continue reading Tempting, but too early<\/span> <\/a>This is the winter hazel (corylopsis) that is blooming next to the forsythia.\u00a0 I love the soft yellow and the grace of the flowers.\u00a0 The branching pattern is very graceful, too, and excellent for flower arrangements.\u00a0 Looking up, you can see the details of the flowers and the graceful zigzag of the stems.<\/p>\n<\/a>The leaves, once they unfurl, will be striking, as well\u2013they resemble hazel leaves, but more graceful and with touches of red.<\/p>\n<\/a>Amazingly, three weeks after the first flowers burst open, the forsythia continues to impress.\u00a0 It appears to be an excellent cultivar.\u00a0 I would normally prune it back right after flowering, but it is so striking and such a graceful, natural shape that I will let it be for one more year.<\/p>\n<\/a>This is the camellia that was here in the yard in 1995 when we moved in.\u00a0 I pruned it once to make it more of a tree and less of a shrub, and I think it could use that treatment again.\u00a0 The flowers are lovely, but we don\u2019t usually get to enjoy many pristine ones, as the rain ruins them.\u00a0 Something is bothering this old shrub, as it has dropped a bunch of leaves for no apparent reason.\u00a0 I\u2019ll keep an eye on it.\u00a0 The flowers\u00a0don\u2019t appear affected,\u00a0and there are plenty of them.<\/p>\n<\/a>There are a few flowers open on the bigroot geraniums (geranium macrorrhizum)already.\u00a0Again, not a great picture.\u00a0 It can be easy to overlook the individual beauty of these flowers, as typically they bloom in clusters all over the garden. When there are just a few of them, they beg closer inspection.\u00a0 This is one of my favorite ground covers\u2013seems to like my clay here.<\/p>\n<\/a>Here is an anemone blanda blooming in a clay pot on the shelves outside the greenhouse.\u00a0 It was lovely in the sun today.\u00a0 I also saw the blue variety (really a lavender blue) in one yard en masse on my run today and they were impressive.\u00a0 I might try them in the ground again, as they obviously can work nicely in this area.<\/p>\n<\/a>This interesting delicate blue hyacinth is impressive in form and fragrance.\u00a0 It came in a mix, so I\u2019ll have to see if I can figure out which cultivar it is\u00a0to order some for next year.\u00a0 Normally, my instinct is to dismiss\u00a0flowers that have been so gaudily hybridized, but the giant flower spikes of hyacinths are an exception for me.\u00a0 They retain grace in the individual petals\/florets, and I just love the scent.<\/p>\n<\/a>I was gifted with three hybrid pitcher plants last year that I\u2019ve kept in a tray in the greenhouse.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure I was meeting their needs, but today I noticed that one of the Sarracenias has a couple of flower spikes coming on.\u00a0 The flowers of these unusual plants are even more impressive to me than the miraculous leaves\u2013it should be fun to watch their progress.<\/p>\n<\/a>One of my favorite seedling clivias, this one is called Starlight of Buddha and features leaves that are variegated in broad bands.\u00a0 This plant is at least six years old and is flowering for the first time this year.\u00a0 It is very compact and gorgeous, and mostly carefree, like all clivias.<\/p>\n<\/a>I forced this tulip mix in the produce drawer of the fridge.\u00a0 Most of the flowers are purple, but this light yellow one caught my eye in the windowsill yesterday, glowing in the sunlight.\u00a0 These smaller species tulips have not been ideal as forced flowers\u2013the show isn\u2019t particularly \u201cshowy\u201d.\u00a0 Yet the individual flowers are exquisite.<\/p>\n<\/a>Here is a current photo of the Veltheimia in the greenhouse.\u00a0 The leaves are lovely, undulating and shiny.\u00a0 The plant to the left in the photo\u00a0 is a giant seedling Chlorophytum krookianum.\u00a0 Closely related to the common spider plant houseplant, I\u2019m hoping to get flowers from this giant in the next year or two.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"