What's happening in your garden?

[Lily left the valley]

Guess whose schedule for garden chores this week just got completely upended? This gal!

Last year when we were a bit lazy in maintenance, I thought we had a rather larger than usual addition of canes starting near the black raspberries Rubus occidentalis. Today, I finally got a good look at some of them, and they are actually a volunteer we do not want--Himalayan blackberries, Rubus armeniacus. Between them and all the new Japanese barberry, Berberis thunbergii, shoots I've been spotting in various spots this spring, it's going to be a very thorny year.

(Photo below shows both, the square shaped cane is one of the Himalayans, and the barberry is the smaller round leaved plant that has rooted just above center in the image and extends towards the right corner.)


Later edit: I did some poking around on our local native plant ID site, and there is actually one variant that might...just MIGHT...be what we have and not R. armeniacus. So I'm going to focus on the barberry first, and see what the blooms look like when they open.

[Manalto]

White four o'clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) are up!

[Lily left the valley]

White four o'clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) are up!

I see you share the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, and I wonder if yours was a gift from a botanical gardener as well?

[Manalto]

I wonder if yours was a gift from a botanical gardener as well?

Nice article, thank you. I wonder if their loss of popularity was because, through most of the day, you don't see any flowers. They more than make up for it in the evening with that clean scent. Jefferson is mentioned also in reference to Mirabilis longiflora, native to southwest US and Mexico and with (reportedly) a stronger fragrance. These jalapas were not a gift, but an eBay purchase. It was the only place I was able to find all white. (I tend to shy away from color mixes, when possible.) A good deal nevertheless.

I have some longiflora on order from Select Seeds right here in Connecticut (Union, up in the "quiet corner") who advised me of a Covid delay in shipping. After a couple of weeks they were sent, but for several days now they have been doing a pin-ball around Connecticut. According to the tracking, they got delivered to the wrong town, "Returned to Sender - Addressee Unknown." It would have been worth the effort to just drive to Union - that is, if the good folks at Select Seeds know what to do when the doorbell rings.

ETA: In fairness to Select Seeds, the incompetence was not theirs. They had the right mailing address; it just didn't get here. They were great on the phone, are going to hand pick the order and promised to send it to me in the mail today.

[phil]

I got my 75 bucks worth of clover seeds.

was going to get dirt but realized the frame in my trailer is so rusty it just isnt' safe. Im a bit sad to let it go because it was a pickup when I was a kid, I learned to drive on it and we had all sorts of fun with that truck and after it wore out, it lived on as a trailer the past 30 years or so.
so I bought 17 , 25liter bags of dirt and ran my electric mower with the thatcher on it and the blade at the same time which resulted in hitting a lot of rocks with the blade but at least I pulled most of them out.

I dont know if the existing roots will survive but I expect most will still push back up. I wet it down real good , spread my seed and now Im just hosing it down every day and hoping it all sprouts. I'm a bit late according to the directions. I threw some wildflowers in with the rest, not sure how well I distributed it but anyway.. Ill see what happens now. It did have a lot of vines and grass in there, morning glory. and I did my best to yank what didnt belong and flipped some of the grass sods hoping I can root clover on he other side of the sod.

I have a lot of this little flowers with purple bulb like flowers. that stuff is becoming an issue as it spreads all over my lot and I dont want it everywhere. Ive tried pulling the bulbs and it still propagates because there are just so many and some always survive. I tried watering the heck out of some of it as an experiment, hoping that maybe too much water will kill it but i probably just helped it along. I tried covering a lot of it with stuff trying to block the light but it pokes out and thrives anyway. maybe garden net will stop it.

[Gothichome]

Our tulips have survived the dreaded spring heavy snowfall. Got 10cm last night heavy wet snow, most of it gone now so hopefully that’s winters last kick. I understand those on the American side of Eerie got hit hard, I hope their tulips faired well.

[Lily left the valley]

Two weeks later than promised (because apparently everything that can be shipped is shipping late now), the witch-hazel arrived at our local Agway. It was -not- American witch-hazel, Hamamelis virginiana, which is native here, but instead it was Ozark witch-hazel, Hamamelis vernalis which is at least native to North America. I only bought one because I really wanted the former, but was tired of not being able to buy any.

One difference is the American is more clay and moisture tolerant than its Ozark relative. The other difference between the two is our local is a fall bloomer (primarily yellow sometimes with red or orange tinge), while this is late winter/early spring (yellow with red inner calyx).

[The store had a notice outside they are looking for counter help. I picked up an application. We'll see how that goes--it would be really nice to have work again, and Sean's hopeful for an employee discount. ]

[Manalto]

One difference is the American is more clay and moisture tolerant than its Ozark relative. The other difference between the two is our local is a fall bloomer (primarily yellow sometimes with red or orange tinge), while this is late winter/early spring (yellow with red inner calyx).

One more difference: the vernalis is powerfully fragrant to attract that rare pollinator buzzing about in the early spring. I don't detect much of a fragrance from the virginiana.

Side note: Dickinson's Witch Hazel has been made here in Connecticut (East Hampton) for over 150 years. I love the stuff.

[Lily left the valley]

One more difference: the vernalis is powerfully fragrant to attract that rare pollinator buzzing about in the early spring. I don't detect much of a fragrance from the virginiana.

Side note: Dickinson's Witch Hazel has been made here in Connecticut (East Hampton) for over 150 years. I love the stuff.

Yes. I did know that, and the earlier flower set honestly was one of the things I've been looking into as far as helping pollinators, so this will help with that.

Also apparently a larval host for the Spring Azure butterfly Celastrina ladon: https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/natur ... ly/(id)/29

[Ha! Just realized I don't see it listed as a host on the page I linked, but it is a host none the less as listed elsewhere.]

[Manalto]

As I prepare this house for sale, I've taken down all the shades and curtains, which gives me a new perspective on how claustrophobic living here has been. Yesterday was sunny, warm and breezy so all the windows were opened. For the first time in years, I have an awareness of the outdoors surrounding me.

This drizzly morning I had a visitor:



I'm not going to win any awards for the fuzzy photo; it was taken by phone through a window and blown up a lot - but it's my pileated woodpecker!

A few years ago, I had a few hemlocks that were infested with wooly adelgid. Rather than treat them every year, I cut them down, leaving about 15' of trunk, with the intention of mounting an owl box and growing vines, which never got done. Nevertheless, wildlife has found them a source of nesting and forage.