Category Archives: sidewalk bed

Something is Stirring

backyard bed, bulbs, fence bed, front bed, gate bed, perennials, sidewalk bed, southwest bed, spring, the Lot

Yesterday I spent a nice chunk of the afternoon cutting back dead plant bits leftover from last growing season. As I worked on garden squats (yeah, the backside is burning today) and happily clipped away, I caught glimpses of plants emerging from the ground. It’s fun because you are busy clearing away hollowed stalks and crackling leaves when your fingers brush again something alive. While the Other Half and I have been cooped up inside bemoaning the fact Spring cannot arrive soon enough, these plants have been stirring. They’ve already begun their move toward the surface of the soil seeking sunlight.

So, I thought it would be fun to make a psuedo-First-Day-of-Spring (it was yesterday) post with photos of the first arriving plants on the Lot. This first grouping is of some Spring bulbs. Winter aconite and snowdrops have been open on the Lot for a few weeks now, but the tulips, daffodils, and remaining bulbs are queuing up in the wings.

Species Tulips Daffodil and Tulip Foilage Emerging Spring Bulb

In the South bed, sedum is already growing, as well as the bearded iris, bee balm, and coneflowers.

Emerging Sedum Emerging Iris Emerging Bee Balm Emerging Coneflower

Along the east bed, lady’s mantle and columbine are fanning out new growth.

Emerging Ladys Mantle Emerging Columbine

In the backyard along the fence bed, the tall garden flox is well on its way. The dwarf iris rhizomes are sprouting leaves and two poppies are racing ahead. Loosestrife is appearing as red spear-like columns.

032016_fdosPhlox 032016_fdosMiniIris 032016_fdosPoppyLoosestrife

Near the rain barrels, the snakeroot and brunnera are just emerging. The snakeroot seems to be pushing up a fiddle-head like shoot to break the soil surface.

Emerging Snakeroot Emerging Brunerra

In the backyard bed, the Himalayan cinquefoil has been well on its way for awhile now. There are little bits of frost bite around the edges of the leaves.

Emerging Cinquefoil

The weather forecast for the upcoming week is a bit more on the chilly side, with chances of frost during the evening. Because of this I left the layer of dead leaves the plants have been growing beneath. So begins my Spring routine of a quick, daily stroll about the Lot to check on the progress of the plants.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – May 2015

bloom day, fellow gardeners, fence bed, house bed, loki bed, sidewalk bed, the Lot

Today is Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, a meme hosted by May Dreams Gardens in which gardeners worldwide share what is blooming in their gardens. May on the Lot is when the garden beds really kick it into gear and the plants take off. Though we’ve had less rains than previous Springs, everything is looking good and growing well.

In a northern backyard bed this Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) is coming back with a vengeance and just starting to bloom. It is beginning to gobble up the poor Coral Bell. The little Labrador Violets are have been blooming for awhile now.
051515_coralbell-sweet-william-violet

In one of the back alley beds Mt Airy Fothergilla is doing its Spring thing. It survived the winter with only a couple of snapped limbs.051515_mtairy

Blooming for its first time on the Lot is this dainty barrenwort (Epimedium grandiflorum ‘Lilafee’) along the Eastern side of the house. The crocus leaves illustrates the small size of the plant.051515_Epimedium-lilafee

Another barrenwort I brought home with me from the 2014 Portland Garden Bloggers’ Fling has reappeared and is right at home as well on the Eastern side. Where the previous plant’s blooms remind me of little sprites, these flowers look like small spiders or crabs.051515_Epimedium-Portland 051515_Epimedium-Portland2

The fuzzy pasque (Anemone patens) flower is in bloom, looking soggy here as I snapped photos between rain showers.051515_pasque-flower

The dwarf irises are blooming…051515_dward-iris

… as are the bluebells which snuck under the fence from the neighbor’s property. The foreground gives a glimpse of some of the Forget-me-nots (or rather “if you plant me once you’ll be rid of me nots”) blooming around the backyard.051515_bluebells

The foamflower (Tiarella) is in bloom.051515_fence-bed

The bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis alba) is as huge and beautiful as ever.051515_gate-bed

Both cranesbill plants are brightening up the pathway back to the compost bin.051515_cranesbill

The Sweet Tea Coral Bell is beginning to bloom. Hmm, I didn’t notice until this photo I forgot to clean up those old leaves at the base.051515_house-bed

The brunnera is blooming. I much prefer this well-behaved version of Forget-me-not.051515_brunnera

Huzzah! I did not kill the Jack-in-the-Pulpit I brought back from the 2014 Nursery Crawl. At the beginning of the season it received too much hot, afternoon sun. It seems happier here. 051515_jack-in-the-pulpit

By the way, this is Jack. He’s a pretty dapper fellow.051515_jack

This is a Geum triflorum ‘Prairie Smoke,’ the prize find of the 2014 Nursery Crawl. I picked it up when it was already done blooming, only able to enjoy the seed heads (which admittedly is why I purchased the plant). This season I am able to enjoy the blooms as well.051515_geum-prairie-smokeLoki’s bed is looking great with the lenten rose (Hellebores) and solomon’s seal (Polygonatum odoratum Variegatum) blooming.051515_lokis-bed

Here is a brand new bloom for this season. Our west-side neighbors have a beautiful strawberry patch growing against the fence. I’m wondering what these stowaways will get up to on the Lot.051515_strawberry-bloomAnother shot of the Eastern side of the house shows the rock foil (Saxifraga) and the dwarf  bugleweed (Ajuga x ‘Chocolate Chip’) in bloom.051515_rock-garden 051515_dragons-blood-bugleweedAnd for the very first season in bloom is our lilac. This shrub was given to us by Miss A after she received it from the Arbor Day Foundation. We placed it in the ground as a mere twig. It was mowed over not once but twice by the neighbors (oh the challenges of urban gardening)! It smells heavenly.051515_lilac

The last of the tulips are fading, and the Sweet William is full of buds in the South bed. The carpet flox is still full of color in the Southwest bed. That is all for the Lot this May! What is blooming in your garden?

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – September 2014

backyard bed, fence bed, front bed, loki bed, sidewalk bed, southwest bed

Today is Bloom Day where gardeners worldwide share photos of what is blooming in their gardens. The cooler summer is beginning to transition into the beginning of this Fall. That hasn’t stopped the blooms on our Zone 6a Lot.

Sedum

The sedum in the south bed has begun blooming. This is the first of the sedum cultivars that blooms on the Lot. This could be due to the full sun the plant receives the majority of the day.

Cosmos

Here are some cosmos which found their way over to the Lot from the neighbor’s to the west side of us. Last season I had planted some annuals in her front flowerbed to welcome her to the neighborhood. Then Nature returned the favor this season. I had almost lost hope with this plant, believing I was mistaken and it was instead a weed, when it finally bloomed.

Potentilla

Also in the south bed, the Bush Cinquefoil – Happy Face® (Potentilla fruticosa) is still blooming. We planted this little shrub last season and it has adapted well. Potentilla is winter hardy, tolerates poor soil, and displays butterfly-friendly flowers from spring through early autumn.

Toad Lily

Fall means toad lilies on the Lot. This plant is situated in the east bed beside the foundation and is sending forth a lot of blooms. The flowers are small, but stunning nonetheless.

Sweet Autumn Clematis

This sweet autumn clematis is blooming for the first time since it was planted on the Lot. I had debated this past spring whether or not to add it. This month I found out I had already done so in a previous season. And that is why I should keep up more on this journal and new plant introductions to the Lot! Though considered an invasive in states south of here, this plant has not been placed on the invasive list for Michigan.

Mum

Though the black-eyed susans are fading in the backyard bed, the mum still blooming.

Fence-Bed

The phlox, coreopsis, wandflower, and black-eyed susans are blooming in the fence bed.

Pumpkin

And even though it is not in bloom form, I wanted to include this lovely pumpkin the pollinators and the volunteer pumpkin plant have provided us.

Other September Blooms include the coral bells in Loki’s bed, the plumbago in the backyard bed, and all forms of coreopsis, the blanket flower, coneflowers, and black-eyed susans in the south bed.

Visit May Dreams Gardens to view many more blooms for September.