For the Record: 2014 New Hostas & Heucheras

Under pagoda dogwood in back:  L to R

Heucheras: Frosted Violet, Lava Lamp, Cinnamon Curls, Bella Notte, Lava Lamp (not shown)

Under Forsythia:  

Heucheras:  Caramel, Marvelous Marble,  Lava Lamp

Under Charlie Brown Hostas: 

  back: Luna Moth (from hosta show)

front: Carnival  (from hosta Show

in "D" garden South, Heucheras:

Left:  Blackberry Ice

Right:  Frosted Violet

"D" garden north:

Astilbe White Sensation

Front walk Hosta garden:

Left:  Sum and Substance

Right Kiwi Full Monty

Also planted a new Hardy Hibiscus near the Willow stump:  Plum Fantasy Rose Mallow.  And two new Shasta Daisies in the pagoda garden:  Silver Princess Leucanthemum superbum.  Late last year planted Red -Leafed Mukdenia (Mukdenia rossi 'Crimson Fans') in the hosta garden under the back birches.  Bill planted three Frosted Violet Hostas in his garden also.  

Summer is Here!

I say this even though the high temperature yesterday was only in the mid sixties.  But it is supposed to get warmer soon.....

Here are some shots of what's going on in the yard right now.  My neighbor and I have both been allowing milkweed plants to grow all over, and she found about 10 monarch caterpillars on some of her plants.  So we each took some in and kept them fed on fresh leaves until they formed their chrysalises.  About 10 days later for each a beautiful monarch butterfly emerged.  They were set free in the yards and we see them all over now.






Watching for more caterpillars, but haven't found any yet.  They say that 90% of those sheltered in this way survive, vs. 90% being eaten if left outside.  We're doing our part.

We were gone for 6 days in late June and that meant we came home to massive overgrowth of shrubs, weeds, etc. that needed tending.  But things are looking much better now.


 
The monarda plants are beautiful now, and the coneflowers and daisies are spectacular.  We spent the last week and a half spreading 8 cubic yards of mulch and are very tired of that.




 

 This year I've been trying to convert places with invasive, difficult to manage plants like wild geraniums into easier to maintain plants like hostas, heucheras and astilbes.  It's getting harder to keep up with all this.

Spring Signs

It really is beginning to look as though Spring will arrive!  The fish in the pond are swimming to the top, and I am amazed that they all seem to have survived.

The bricks you can see are holding down the enormous clump of waterlilies that fill most of the bottom of the pond.  I don't see any growth there yet, but soon I hope.





Today we put up the greenhouse on the deck.  It just seems like the kind year that I want to have it there for protection and transition help.

We also dragged out the patio table and two chairs and it was actually nice enough out there today to sit briefly and listen to the birds sing.

Many tulips are coming up around the yard, and some crocus are popping out though not blooming quite yet.



This has been the worst year ever for evergreens browning.  The dwarf Alberta Spruce took it the hardest.  And the Yucca plant is likely going to have to be cut down to the ground, which will slow and/or reduce the blooming.  They are really just on the border of being hardy here I'd say.  I lose the top parts at least every other year, though the roots do survive and regenerate the plant

 

First Sprout!

The Alliums are always the first to emerge.  And of course it helps that this clump is only about a foot and a half from the south foundation of the house.  But I'll take it.  And on Monday I actually saw three fish swimming in the opening of the pond.  I'm amazed that any lived through this winter.

March 8th 2014, 2013 and 2012

2014  (after 2 or 3 days of melting...)

2013

2012

Winter Just Keeps on Coming!

We can't seem to shake snow and cold this year.  The yard has been snow covered since early December, with no end in sight.  Even though the temps may rise above freezing for a few days this week, lows are projected to go below zero for three days again over the weekend and early next week.

The photo at left is of a plant stand that we left out over the winter.  It is at least a foot from the bottom to the level that is just being met by the snow.  And this is right next to the house where the snow is much less deep than elsewhere, as well as before the 5 or 6 inches we are projected to get today.  












We're working to keep the pond open in one small spot, but the combination of very cold temps and deep snow is making that really difficult.  Had to buy a new heater, and even that is having trouble keeping up.  Add the fact that they say the frost is VERY deep this year, I'm not sure we will have any fish in the spring to feed the Heron.






If you take a look at the snow on top and below the bench in the gazebo you can get an idea of how deep it is everywhere.  I walked around the yard the other day to check on things and it was a major effort just to get out to the creek and back.  At least 2 feet of snow in some places.