Well, we thought spring had arrived, but after a week of nights in the mid’s 20’s, those plants that peeked out too early have been reminded to wait a while longer. For us, this is the most agonizing time of year….cover, uncover, cover, uncover…and as they said in the 70’s, the beat goes on. We actually have nearly 100 hosta varieties, growing in containers outdoors that are already well sprouted, so you can imagine what we do when the forecasts dip below freezing.
Garden clean-up is well underway, and things are already looking good for spring open house season. The Narcissus bulbocodiums are in full flower, as are the Ranuculus ficaria cultivars, the hellebores, and the spectacular Edgeworthia chrysantha. Magnolias and witchhazels look great this year…perhaps the best ever.
Many of the early trilliums are already in full flower, T. cuneatum, T. maculatum, T. underwoodii, and T. foetidissimum. Other gems for early March include Helionopsis orientalis, which is loaded with bright pink flowers, and many of the asarums with their outer-space flowers. Arisaema ringens has already poked it head out, as has Dracunculus vulgaris. It won’t be long now before the rest of the garden bursts forth in a blaze of glory…just in time for April open house.
Top 20 List as of 3/8/01
1 Athyrium f.f. ‘Frizellilae’
2 Veronica ‘Royal Candles’
3 Lobelia ‘Cotton Candy’
4 Gaura ‘Pink Cloud’
5 Salvia leucantha ‘Santa Barbara’
6 Muhlenbergia capillaris
7 Lysimachia clethroides ‘Geisha’
8 Tanacetum vulgare ‘Isla Gold’
9 Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’
10 Lamium Anne Greenway’
11 Dryopteris celsa
12 Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’
13 Colocasia ‘Black Magic’
14 Lilium formosanum
15 Syneilesis aconitifolia
16 Hippeastrum x johnsonii
17 Musella lasiocarpa
18 Salvia chamaedryoides
19 Agave parryi subsp. huachensis
20 Veronica prostrata ‘Buttercup’
21 Vinca minor ‘Illumination’
22 Athyrium ‘Ghost’
23 Ajuga ‘Valfredda’
24 Acanthus ‘Summer Beauty’
25 Agave parryi subsp. Parryi
-tony