A little town West of here is amidst a very large festival celebrating the tulip. People drive 3-4 hours to walk around and large variety of tulips. There is food. There is music. There are dances in wooden shoes.
Thought I would take the opportunity to log the little crop of tulips blooming right now on the South and Southwest beds of the Lot. The classic reds and yellows were here when we moved in. All others were planted in the Fall of 2013.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Though the black-eyed susans are fading in the backyard bed, the mum still blooming.
The phlox, coreopsis, wandflower, and black-eyed susans are blooming in the fence bed.
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.
Today at exactly 12:57 ET the center of the sun passed over the Equator and the first day of Spring arrived. We usually have slightly warmer weather within the Lot’s micro-climate than the remaining Zone 6a outside of the city. The temperature reached a whopping 37 F today, which is an improvement to the very chilly winter we’ve experienced this season.
Here are some photos of the Lot from two days ago. A lot of snow has melted away from the edges of walkways, along paths, and from the house foundation. It seems the yew (yes, those are holiday lights that still need to be taken down) and newly freed rose in the South bed did not receive damage from the ice storms and heavier snow.
The monster rose (aka my Other Half’s nemesis) seems to have made it through as well.
The East bed is quite a soggy mess along the pathway to the gate. Several new perennials (foxglove, toad lilly, barrenwort, and coreopsis) were just added during the past growing season.
Here is the main garden area of the Lot. Many of the perennials are still insulated under a layer of snow. This did not stop me from pruning the spirea to the right of the garage door. Usually I would not prune a spring-blooming shrub at the end of winter for fear of trimming off all the flower buds. However, this one has been falling apart over the last few years and I plan to cut it all the way to the ground after it is done blooming this spring so it can restart new, healthier growth.
We often set our Christmas tree outside by the bird feeder after the holidays. It gives the birds another place to tuck themselves away from the winter weather while they eat.
The middle shrub in front of the main garage wall is a burning bush. This species of shrub is too large for the space in which it was planted. When the snow retreats and the weather warms a bit more, I am going to attempt to thin out the branches a bit and bring the whole shrub back a bit in size.
Once the snow melts more, I will be cleaning up and pruning back a lot of perennials left up for winter interest. That includes the maiden hair grass and bits of false indigo seen in the foreground peeking up from under the snow.
I looked back at pictures of the first day of spring from the past several growing seasons. In 2009 all the snow was gone and crocus and snowdrops were blooming. The same was true in 2010 with the daffodils swelling and many perennials stirring from winter. In 2011, there were still traces of snow in the areas of the back yard that were in the shade for the longer periods of the day. 2012 brought a very early spring with many trees already blooming which led to a horrible destruction of fruit crops for the state when a late freeze hit. Last year spring seemed back on track with the crocus and snowdrops appearing again and small areas of snow scattered here and there in the garden.
Deep down I know we will more than likely see snow again over the next month. In fact, it is in the forecast for later this week. However, there are chickadees moving through the backyard as they return from winter homes and the first snowdrops are emerging from the beds revealed by the withdrawing snow base.
#springiscoming