Spring color

Last year I called my lawncare guy and told him, "I miss my clover" (said no one ever). We eliminated weed control from the program, and I now spot treat the random dandelion, mulberry, and nutsedge that crops up. A little clover is coming back with no help from me.

I would also like to see drifts of snow drops and other early bloomers in the lawn, which led me to this posting by the Laidback Gardener. In brief, he recommends very early bulbs that will be done by the first mow. I can probably fudge that limitation, since I mow high, at least 4".

• Bulbocodium (Bulbocodium vernum) (While listed as a spring bloomer, it actually blooms in summer; also, poisonous.)
• Crocus* (Crocus spp.) (I would limit these to early crocus like Crocus tommassinianus)
• Glory of the snow (Chionodoxa spp.)
• Narcissi (early varieties) (Narcissus spp.) (Too tall and not early enough around here, me thinks)
• Puschkinia (Puschkinia scilloides) (a.k.a. striped squill)
• Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)
• Spring snowflake (Leucojum vernum) (tolerates boggy sites and pond edges)
• Squill (Scilla spp.)
• Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)

For me, I think tommies, glory of the snow, puschkinia, snowdrop, spring snowflake, squill, and winter aconite will do nicely in the lawn.

About the only spring bulbs I have left in my yard post-native install are crocus, daffodil, and grape hyacinth (plus one lonely purple hyacinth of unknown origin and a tulip that must be 30+ years old). When I walk the dog through a nearby neighborhood, though, I see beds full of pink hyacinth, which look delightful. My daughter has lots of what I think of as Narcissus in her beds, more delicate than my daffs. Even though none of these bloomers are considered native, I still love seeing all that early color. We'll see if my excitement carries over to fall planting.

Meanwhile, the serviceberry shrubs in the backyard have popped, while their tree-form cousins in the front yard are lagging behind. Today I saw a pair of cowbirds a-courtin' in a redbud which is also starting to bloom, a bit early.

While listening to something on NPR the other day, a glacier expert commented that "climate change" should be renamed "climate weirdness". That pretty much sums it up, as we had more hail this past week, followed by an 80-degree day yesterday. Today it is just windy, too windy to enjoy the yard. Even the dog wants to stay inside.

Year of the violet

I can't believe how many violets I've seen this spring. I have quite a few in my front flower beds, but they are everywhere, especially in untreated lawns where they contrast nicely with the dandelions.

Last summer the lawn across the street sported a lot of clover. This year I called the lawn guy and told him, I miss my clover. His response was, No one has ever said that to me. So while I agreed to them applying a pre-emergent, I am going to spot treat the weeds myself, in the hopes that my yard will include wild strawberry, clover, and violets in the future. Next year we will probably skip the pre-emergent as well.

The redbuds have peaked weeks earlier than usual, much to the delight of a variety of bees that are usually stuck with creeping Charlie and dandelions this time of year. Flowering crab is everywhere, including in my backyard. A feast for the eyes.

One city park I like to visit in the spring is Foster Park. The flower beds are a riot of tulips. I don't consider myself a tulip person, but now I want to plant them in my yard.

My one bone to pick with the city parks department is they don't label plants, not even trees. I'm not very good at tree identification, especially before they leaf out, and would really like to know what this one is.

This pic is to remind me that I like blues and purples together, sort of like the violets and grape hyacinth in my own yard. I've grown forget-me-nots before, but they don't last. I'm surprised they are considered invasive in the Midwest.

I don't just sit around looking at pretty plants in the spring. There has been some spring cleaning - today was spent in the garage - and some clearing out of the old, to make room for the new. These old bones are not used to so much movement, though. I need some aspirin.

Pop! goes the serviceberry

The serviceberry shrubs in the backyard popped this weekend. They should produce a lot of fruit for the robins come June (which is why another common name for this plant is Juneberry).

Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'

According to The Spruce website, there are nine different types of serviceberry. The ones in my backyard, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance', are also known as Apple Serviceberry. The ones in the front yard are Allegheny Serviceberry, specifically Amelanchier laevis 'Cumulus'. They bloom a bit later, and the fruit forms later as well. They are more tree-like; one site says they will get to be 10 feet tall, another says 20-25 feet tall. I'm hoping for taller.

When a tulip blooms in my yard, I have to take a picture before a rabbit eats it. Despite the upheaval from the landscape renewal, there are still grape hyacinth and violets growing here and there, and it looks like the daffodils were scattered about. Every year I promise myself to dig up the daffodil clumps that are not blooming well, but maybe I won't have to.

The AC was serviced today, just in time for warm temps. Despite the high pollen count, I have doors and windows open, to air out the house. I'm ready for spring.

April is busting out all over

This has been a great spring for early blooming shrubs and trees (with a few exceptions like forsythia and magnolias). I confess the redbuds are my favorite anyway. So pink!

And it is not just in my yard but it's everywhere, even along the edges of woodlands. Which brings up a question I have: ornamental pears have proven to be invasive, which is bad of course, but no one complains about volunteer redbuds, perhaps because they are native?

My fruit trees are not that old, but are making a great effort this year. Top photo is apple blossoms, bottom is cherry.

The serviceberry is already past its prime, but the sand cherry out front surprised me this morning. I hope the neighbor across the street comments on it so I can remind him that there used to be two in his yard. I missed them, so I planted my own.

My experiment of tulips in containers has not been very successful, or at least not what I envisioned. The bulbs were free, and maybe the species is not the best for container growing. Or maybe it was the weather or something about my technique. The colors are gorgeous, but the stems are short. It looks like many will not bloom at all. I can't even blame this failure on rabbits.

I have to admit I am not taken with the fact these particular tulips will not bloom again. For all the effort involved with fall bulbs, I would rather plant something that comes back year after year. I wonder how perennial tulips would perform in containers?

Wait! Wait!

This is the first time I have tried planting tulips in containers. I kept them in the garage, watered them sporadically, and all seemed well. BUT with the mild weather we have had UNTIL NOW, the tulips made an unreasonably early appearance. So I dragged the pots outside, in hopes that the wildly fluctuating temps would cool the tulips' enthusiasm. And I think it's working.

New growth seems to have halted... for now.

Now that my interest in big pots has been stoked, I'm contemplating removing the boxwood in front of the picture window and placing one of the pots there in its stead. Once the tulips start to fade, I can replace them with some summery annuals and let the creeping phlox have its way with that area. The mugu pine that is crowded behind the boxwood would probably appreciate more room, too.

I think one of the hardest gardening lessons for me to learn has been that it's okay to remove something that no longer works, no matter its size or health. The first thing to go were the silver maples in the backyard. I was sad to lose the shade but relieved to be rid of red buds and whirlybirds in the air conditioner, leaves in the gutters, and branches scraping the roof of the Florida room (which is also gone). Change is good, or can be. If I wanted a static yard, I would just grow grass.

Is this Indian summer?

The weather continues to confound. We still have not had a killing frost, or any frost for that matter. I think of Indian summer as the time after a killing frost but before temps stay frosty in preparation for winter. I think of Indian summer as days that are sunny but crisp, breezy enough to bring down the leaves, a delight. Today was pretty delightful but not quite what I would call Indian summer because everything is still so *green*.

My SO and I continue to work on the fence, stapling hardware cloth around the bottom. Hopefully, this will keep most critters out (still need to figure out something for the gates) and maybe even keep my indoor/outdoor cat from wandering. I have yet to witness him scaling the wall, but if he is getting out, he is also getting back in.

I have been covering the hardware cloth with some mulch. I am not a fan of the mulch available around here, all of it dyed. How weird. This is "rustic" pine bark, purchased by the bag at Lowes.

On a separate topic, I received 101 free tulip bulbs from Colorblends, a sponsor of the Garden Bloggers Fling. I'm not much for tulips because of my awful clay soil and equally awful critters that chomp the blossoms, so I almost did not send for mine. But through the magic of the Internet, I have learned they can be grown in containers. I decided to give that a try, relying on instructions found here. If this experiment works out, I may invest in more attractive containers.

My son and I helped plant trees at a nearby city park yesterday. As a reward, we were offered a Blue Spruce seedling. I was tempted to to take one (FREE TREE!) but where would I put it? Also, there are plenty of Blue Spruce in my neighborhood, even next door. I think I will save my yard for something less common but native.

Tulips!

I don't grow tulips because the rabbits eat them. This must be a particularly good year for tulips, though; I see gorgeous displays of them wherever I go. Maybe I should rethink my anti-tulip stance and create a bunny-proof bed for them.

These pix were taken at Foster Park. Not only were there tulips, there were entire beds of forget-me-nots. I love forget-me-nots, but never considered growing them en masse. Another new idea for the yard.

How does one choose from all the wonderful garden design ideas out there?