Well, last weekend I had a lot I should have planted (attendees to PPA symposia, especially their tours, tend to pick up a couple of things here and there). I DID plant Lindera glauca var. salicifolia (Lindera salicifolia? Lindera glauca var. somethingelsia? taxonomists appear to be fence sitting on that one), Lobelia 'Fried Green Tomatoes' (seen here, in front of the 'Sutherland Gold' elderberry),

a couple Andropogon gerardii, Teucrium hircanicum (planted, I kid you not, somewhat sideways as it is  normally kinda lax),

Phlomis russelliana, Kniphofia uvaria 'Echo Mango',

Geum 'Totally Tangerine' and I put bits of a Carex siderosticha 'Banana Boat' (detecting a fruit theme?) in several locations.

That leaves me needing to plant Caryopteris divaricata 'Snow Fairy', Heuchera 'Pistache', Deinanthe caerulea 'Blue Wonder', Arisaema 'Starburst' and Salix repens var. argentea ('Argentea', some would say). Well, maybe not that last one. It seems to have greatly resented being left in the driveway for a couple of days.  I would give the willow (sun plant!) crap about how the Deinanthe (shade plant!) looks remarkably better, but the latter may have benefitted from even the light shade offered by the seemingly sacrificial Salix. And, to be fair, maybe the willow needed more water than the false hydrangea.

I also should repot a couple of tiny (but, they were only $1!) succulents (Stapelia or Huernia [did you know Asclepiadaceae have been lumped into Apocynaceae- ]? and Echeveria or Aeonium?)

More sometime soon on how well the willow recovers. If at all.

A Cercis sampler.

Cercis canadensis (eastern redbud)

Profuse cauliflory on redbud.

Closeup of one cluster of flowers.

In some years the fruit set (flat pea-like pods) can be very heavy. I find them attractive. The subsequent seedlings can, in a garden setting, be annoyingly numerous.

Seed pods on Cercis 'Oklahoma'

This one looks pretty much like your average C. canadensis. But when the leaves emerge:

C. 'Forest Pansy' has purple foliage at emergence and for a little while after that. Mileage varies... Some newer cultivars are better at retaining their color through summer.

C. 'Silver Cloud', an early variegated selection

Also 'Silver Cloud'; again, mileage varies.

Brr! But here's a good look at the form of C. 'Covey' (commonly marketed as Lavender Twist). Aside from the weeping habit, the leaves and flowers are much like plain old redbud. One can now get this form with either variegated or purple foliage ('Whitewater' and 'Ruby Falls', respectively).

A redder redbud: C. canadensis 'Appalachian Red', fenced against deer rub.

C. canadensis 'Alba', the white redbud (whitebud???).

C. chinensis 'Don Egolf' is compact and floriferous.

Late, but here.

Warm April day. Gotta be outside. Things still to cut back (little bluestem, your days are numbered), Weeds already need pulling (fewer dandelions will be blooming around here this year). I love getting out in the garden. But, I really look forward to working in the garden on the early warm days.

I love fragrant plants (have I mentioned this yet?). Sometimes a thing does not need to be visually enticing to be appreciated (consider bacon).

Hyacinth gives us olfactory and visual stimulation, though. I could weed and cut back stuff and, and,... maybe lounge in the hammock all day by the hyacinths. Mmm, hammock. Doze off a couple yards downwind (some find the fragrance overwhelming when close by). Take a little nap. Awaken to the gentle hum of honeybees making their way from one bloom to the next.

-sigh-

Hyacinthus orientalis 'Woodstock' with honeybee. H. o. 'Peter Stuyvesant' in background

Warm thoughts

 

I know it's going to get warmer here. Soon, though possibly not soon enough. For a chilly and dreary day, here are some reminders that we were once warm and will be warm again.

Here's Calotropis procera, or roostertree, as I found it when visiting (back in 2005) the island of St. John.

Calotropis procera (roostertree)

As a member of the milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae), it reminds me of the many Asclepias species (which are in the same family) one will see along roadsides and in fields across much of North America in the summer time.

Asclepias syriaca, or common milkweed, with sweet pea.

Asclepias syriaca with Japanese beetle.

Asclepias tuberosa, with Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort) 'Aurea' running around underneath.

Let's keep warm thoughts!

If a plant flowers in the woods...

Being something of a plant pig, the word "showy" suggests to me that people who see a plant so described will immediately suffer a loss of interest in all other things going on around them. Potted specimens in garden centers will cause parents to ignore the child who is shoulder deep in yonder aquatic plants display. Neighbors driving past your garden will run into parked cars while craning to get a better look at it. The last properly marked division on the donated plants table at the charity sale may incite violence in otherwise intelligent, pleasant people.

Scutellaria serrata isn't that kind of showy. While this perennial may, when it's blooming, be the showiest thing going in its natural habitat, it possesses a much subtler beauty in the garden. I've been growing it in a couple different exposures in my garden for over a decade. Over that time, the plants that have been in morning shade/afternoon sun have performed as follows: New foliage emerges a light, bright green, the margins delicately edged in purple. Growth tops out at close to a foot in height. It blooms, for me, in mid-to-late May.

A single mature flower is approximately 1" tall. Mid-May blooms, 2007. 

Somehow I've not taken a picture of the whole plant when in bloom. Perhaps this upcoming May... The seed pods that develop after that offer some interest, but are small and might be easily overlooked. For me, the real post-bloom attraction is the development of color in the foliage as summer progresses. The bronzy purple tint at the leaf margins intensifies and spreads with age. I suspect the extent of that will vary with exposure to sunlight, so folks who grow this in more shade will probably get different results.

Scutellaria serrata holding a few seed pods, leaf margin color harmonizing with Berberis 'Concorde'. July 2006

The same showy(?) skullcap with a tuberous pink Allium and more Salvia lyrata ex 'Purple  Knockout'. July 2009

Over time, a single plant will slowly increase to a clump of about one foot across. I've divided such clumps maybe twice. Pests that trouble other nearby plants seem to pass by this skullcap, and the droughts of late seem only to intensify the leaf bronzing. This is one of those plants that may not be conventionally showy, but which still deserves to be recommended due to their rock-solid reliability.