Monday, March 30, 2009

Mears Garden news- Spring ? Week 2- March 30, 2009

Snow? Snow!
On Saturday we were transported back in time by about a month. We wound up with maybe 2 inches of snow, falling mostly on Saturday. Sunday then followed with a gorgeous cool sunny day, as the snow slowly melted away. The flowers hardly noticed. This was helped by the fact that temperatures did not really fall below about 28.

The garden is magical this time of year. I can just wander around the yard, doing nothing but the mental inventory of discovering what has just come is up each day.
Today I discovered a clump of bloodroot, up about an inch. It should bloom in the front parkway by Tuesday.
Then there was some thalictrum, which looks
sort of like columbine when it first emerges. Then you remember what it is and how wonderful it will be in July and August, soaring 3-4 feet into the air with its little fairy flowers.
I also enjoy learning what new plants look like. I have a Dactylorhiza fuschii, which is new in the garden this spring. With a name like that who would know that this is a “common marsh orchid.” It is coming up. Or at least there is something that I do not recognize coming up next to the label. Check back in a month.

The cooler weather means that the garden spring will slow down. Crocuses will last longer. The wonderful period of discovery will be prolonged.
Did I mention that there are hardly any weeds? And most of what is blooming is still fresh. There are a few spent snowdrops but that is about it. Nothing is really finished yet. New is good.

So how about some pictures? For the four poll pictures I have snow shots. If anything the snow, particularly in the sunshine, enhanced the garden. You could enjoy this as soon as you realized that the temperatures were not going to hurt anything.

First here is this eranthis. This is eranthis cilicica. It comes up almost bronze, in contrast with eranthis hyemalis, featured last week.











Here are hellebore buds, in the snow. Hellebores are going to be a feature in the next month.











The crocuses are just about peaking at the moment. In the snow they are wonderful.











Finally, remember the squill? There is the carpet of blue in places in the yard. Somehow the blue and white combination is good.










The bonus pictures were taken on Friday, before the snow. The blooming hellebore actually set this bud in November. It survived all winter, including some of the coldest temperatures we have had in 20 years.












































I will try for some bloodroot pictures for next week.
Philip