Our calendar declares March the month of promise - spring will come.
Here are Six promises from my garden.
1. Big black planter.
Over winter, the small shrub planter flooded, causing worry for everything living there. This week, I've got a better picture of the damage.
At top left, the very healthy loropetalum. Moving right, only one epimedium survived, & several (but not all) of the fritillaria are pressing on. In the middle, hosta Big Daddy unfurls from the stick of his 2019 self. Near the dead leaf at the far end, those bits of straw are the gillenia who is hopefully only sulking.
2. Tulips.
They're all right on the edge of colour.
I expect we'll be seeing a lot of SoS tulips in the coming weeks.
3. Moss.
A few weeks ago, someone explained moss propagation. Unfortunately, I don't remember whom to credit.
However, when the garden wall grew hair, I was so excited to know why. So whomever you are, a big thanks for adding to my garden knowledge. (Louis Bonne on the right, still full of promise.)
4. Empress.
Last year, pots got shuffled in our move & identities lost. I asked SoSers to ID the plant below which at the time, was only a clutch of leaves. No one knew, but I eventually remembered . . .
. . . it's an Empress tree seedling cum sapling. Ten were germinated from a seed pod collected in a public park a few years back when I didn't know they were invasive.
Four survived the Beast from the East, all of which are in dramatic reveals now. They've never bloomed, but perhaps this will be the year.
5. Hops.
This vine only came to live with us last year, so I didn't know what to expect in its spring awakening.
They look like languishing asparagus. This didn't bloom last year either, but I am ever so hopeful.
6. My promise.
This poor owl got battered by one of the storms. I've promised to secure him more firmly but've only managed to set him upright as I walk by. Inevitably, he falls down again.
He looks to be inspecting the akebia which is now opening, so perhaps he isn't too unhappy.
That's all the promises I've got for the week. May this find everyone healthy & safe.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.
The owl looks very engrossed with the plant! I gave our hops (a golden one) away as it was a bit too big for the limited space available. It was pretty though. I noticed a seedling of it last year and meant to dig it up and put in a pot but forgot. I wonder if it's still there? I'll have to look later. I'm glad some of the plants in the flooded planter have pulled through. Healthy and safe at present, though working from home, which I thought I'd like more than I actually do. Snacking is proving the biggest issue.
ReplyDeleteMy hops is supposedly a more manageable sized one. I'm hoping this is true, since it died back completely & has to start all over. As to self isolation, my health issues keep me pretty close to home anyway. The startling thing is there are now other folk in the house & they TALK TO ME. Most inconvenient.
DeleteThis owl is upset by the health situation but it will keep the head up when everything gets better! ( fingers crossed)
ReplyDeleteBetter way of looking at it, indeed! My shed is still in Stuff Everything Inside For Winter mode, so need to root out the wire & cutters to set him right, poor fella.
DeleteIs your hop a golden one or green? Things are moving apace, so nice to see! Perhaps the owl likes his new position. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteGolden, allegedly of the I Won't Swamp Your Garden variety. We shall see, as is early years yet.
DeleteI love how I get to learn something new from these posts each week. I didn't know the name Empress Tree, but now I've looked it up I know which one it is. Fingers crossed for some of those lovely flowers. Beautiful tulips - I like it when you just get that little hint of colour - another promise of what's to come.
ReplyDeleteI learned its name by image searching when I first met the mother tree. Not sure if there's a more common name here in the UK. Jim says below, I might have wait before any flowers.
DeleteThank goodness we have our gardens to keep us all busy - though after a winter of being inside because of all the wind and rain I was soooo looking forward to going out and even having a holiday or two this year! Best laid plans and all that... Your akebia looks lovely, is it the dark chocolate one? I rather fancy the cream version, though I actually prefer to eat dark chocolate 😁
ReplyDeleteThe akebia flowers are dark when closed, then open a lavender shade. Tho pretty, they're so small that its foliage is a better feature for me.
DeleteI don't think Empress Tree (I had to look that up too) are good at flowering when small; a flower on one in the nursery was a rare occurrence as I recall. They make great foliage plants if you cut them almost to the ground each year though. HUGE leaves.
ReplyDeleteThey're supposed to be one of the fastest growing trees, but mine are in pots, so guess I can kiss any flowers goodbye. When I first saw the mother tree in the park, I thought it was a catalpa based on the leaves. Both the blooms & seed pods are lovely.
DeleteLots of lovely buds and plenty of promise there. I haven't seen Empress before...interesting.
ReplyDeleteI've only seen it in that one park & it makes for a lovely tree. The pods were used for packing a coupla hundred years ago, latterly to be dumped near the docks. They germinated like crazy & so are considered invasive. Supposedly in the park where the council mows regularly, any seedlings would be cut down, tho.
DeleteI have a Golden Hop that's been in the garden for a long number of years. Husband thought it was a weed one early spring and dug it up. As it had taken me ages to find one and it wasn't cheap I was soooo angry. But it came back, he must have left some root.
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful, and if it looks as if it's getting too big as the season goes on, I just cut it back a bit - it doesn't seem to mind.
However, last year every leaf was covered in tiny little holes, I didn't see it coming and couldn't find what caused it. I'll be on guard this year though.
A quick on line search tells me lots of things like to munch hops leaves. It hadn't any trouble last year, but we'll see what happens this year. I suspected they were tough enough to stand pruning, so haven't been too worried. We can give that time, too.
DeleteHope all is well Lora. I have to admit there does seem to be a lot of promise in the garden having had time to study it more. I have never heard of Empress Tree either. Hope all is well down there.
ReplyDeleteWe've had our first lawn mow, followed by a sunny day, which makes it really seem like the growing season is here.
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