Heirloom Blooms

I spent my spring break in Michigan, researching my family history. The week before the trip I worked at getting my garden beds cleaned up as they snow melted. I was a bit upset with myself for leaving just as the weather was improving here and I found myself itching to be outside. I had planned to take a break from the library and visit the Matthaei Botanical Gardens at U of M. I never got a break while I was in Ann Arbor. Later in the week I wanted to get to Fernwood Botanical Garden in Niles, MI but spent my time lost on back country roads or tramping cemeteries for hours. You can read more about my trip here and here. Michigan is much like New York and the daffodils were blooming where ever I went.

The main reason that I went to Michigan was to look at a collection of letters written by various family members from about 1860 until about 1950. I wasn't expecting to find letters about gardening! As the family fanned out across the country and new homesteads were established they would write back to Michigan asking for seeds or describing the various plants and crops that they were growing in their new location. They sent peony toes by mail and if they didn't survive they would send more. One letter contained a part of a page torn from a magazine with a picture of plants that my cousin wanted to try and share with those back home. Another cousin wrote of her despair that her neighbors had no interest in flowers and how bleak she found the area without them. My greatgrandparents sent gifts of whippleberries as gifts. I'd love to know what a whippleberry is!

On my last day I visited the old homesite where my mother grew up. The house has been gone for years. Someone has just started construction on a new home. Some of the bulbs that Mom remembers from her youth were flowering while I was there and some daylilies were peeking out of the brush pile. There was no one around to ask if I could dig up anything so I had to content myself with a few pictures instead.





This was a very lacey looking daffodil. I'll be looking for one like it to plant here in my garden.

Surprise Snowdrops

My yard is still buried under snow. But when I was at Mom's this week I happened to look out the back window and thought I saw a snowdrop out at the back corner of the yard. I grabbed the camera and went for a look. Sure enough there were a few scattered in with the myrtle.

Neither Country Girl or I planted them.
There aren't any in the neighbors yard.
I love volunteers!

Her daffodils are just starting to come up too.

Instead of being upset that I won't have and spring blooms for at least two weeks I'm going to look at it as getting to have spring twice!

May Blooms

I actually have a few blooms for this edition of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Still blooming are trillium, a daffodil, spurge and forsythia.

I have no idea what this tiny wild flower is.

Violets

Wild strawberries

This weed takes over local lawns so that right now they are a sea of light blue.

I just bought this azalea so it doesn't know that it's too early to bloom here yet.

Dianthus - this was marked as an annual so I was thrilled when all three plants came back and shocked that they are blooming already.

Grape hyacinths

The tulips are done. Salvia recently planted.

Periwinkle

Yellow

My first daffodil finally bloomed yesterday.

These forsythia shrubs are actually the neighbor's but they hang over the fence nicely. The masses of yellow are beautiful along our country roads.

Holding Pattern

Two of us post here and yet it has been ten days since we've had anything to say. There really hasn't been much to write about. Spring is definitely here but everything is behind. We've both got our clean-up chores caught up and it's too early to plant much - we can have frost until the end of May. Of 15 tulips only 2 have buds! Only one of the daffodils has a bud. I bought a tiny azalea in bloom just to have a bit of color.

The perennials are starting to come up. I was getting worried about some of them. The columbine that Country Girl gave me is coming back nicely, the plant I bought is not showing any signs of life. The pink astilbe that I've had two years is just starting to come up, the two red ones I planted last year are so far MIA. No sign of any milkweed yet but I have some started inside. The moles have tunnels all over but for the most part I don't think they've hurt much.

BJ decided he wanted a fresh start on the very narrow strip in front of his porch so John and I went over and started digging. I got lots of day lilies that I think are yellow, two peonies and three mystery plants. He still has at least one climbing rose that he doesn't want so I will try and get it later this week. There are a few more mystery plants that I'll probably take even with John questioning whether or not I have him digging up weeds. I have dozens of pictures taken at BJ's but none show the plants in bloom!

I'll be planting more bulbs in the fall so that next spring I'll hopefully have more plants to keep me company in April and May.

April Blooms Report

For this edition of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day I finally have have buds! The first three pictures are of the crocuses that I planted in the fall. The last is a snowdrop that I found growing out near the edge of the woods. I didn't plant it so it was a nice surprise. I took these pictures yesterday which was a good thing since the ground is covered with snow again this morning.

Country Girl has crocuses. And the galanthus are still blooming up her way.

Our Mom, in Syracuse, has had daffodil buds for almost three weeks now. They just don't seem willing to open up. I guess they know more bad weather is coming and are patiently waiting it out.







I checked my archives from last year. Since I only started my garden last year there was nothing blooming but we had done all of the yard clean-up both here and at Mom's. The new beds were being started. We had an outdoor Easter Egg hunt and the kids were already playing baseball in the backyard.

It was also about this time last year that John made my composter. Since the contents haven't turned into compost yet I must be doing something wrong. Hopefully next weekend I can finally get to work!

Somebody Loves Me

When I got home from work this morning the first thing I noticed was that John had shoveled off the front bed. He was very careful not to disturb any plants. There were two layers of ice in there that he had to chop through. The front of the house faces north and even with our easy winter last year the snow here had to be shoveled off. All of the snow that he rakes off of the roof lands here so it had really piled up.

This is how it looked on Sat., Mar. 31

Today

Butterfly Garden Today

The snow is mostly gone from the butterfly garden. The tulips that I thought had been eaten just after I planted them are coming up! Now I'm wondering what dug the big hole and why? Another clump of tulips, the daylily patch and crocus' are all showing signs of life. I have daffodils and allium coming up through the snow and ice. The hollyhocks look nice and green and I found one lenten rose in the snow out front.

There is snow in the forecast for later in the week but if they can come up through the ice I expect that they'll survive a little more snow. I don't expect to be able to do any clean up until late next week.

The seedlings are all doing OK. I wish more of the milkweed had germinated, only 4 so far but I'm not giving up yet. I just got some new seeds that I will get started. It looks like I'll have some plants to get me started so I need to get busy and figure out what I want to do with the new bed along the back of the house.