Around the Garden… May 13, 2020

After a late, light frost last week, it appears that Spring is here to stay and ornamentals and vegetables are pushing onward and upward. Hostas have reached their maximum size; summer perennials are itching to bloom; and early Spring flowers are almost gone. Trees are leafed out; bushes and vines are sprouting, creeping, and blooming. Pollen is in the air mixed with aromas of jasmine and honeysuckle. Do I breathe deeply and risk a pollenated reaction or just enjoy the lingering perfumes that are attracting butterflies, migrating birds, and native pollinators?

Gardening projects are piling one on top of another. The shade garden is taking shape and looking good and work is resumed from last Fall on the hillside terraces. An infirmary of sorts has been added for seven misplanted azaleas that a “landscaper” stuck in the clay in full sun and I somehow inherited for better or for worse. Hopefully, a little shade, water, and care will help revive most of them, and then, I have to figure out what to do with them!

So, come and take a stroll with me and let’s see what is new, what is bold, and what is promising to make the late Spring and summer one to remember.

Many neighbors are commenting on my “early Elephant Ears”! But it is a Hosta – the largest ever! The diameter is a good 4 1/2 feet with leaves approaching 18 inches. It needs to stop growing!!! I see 4 or five divisions in its future for Christmas gifts!!!

To give you some idea of its size … compare it with the large Hosta that make up my Hosta garden. The smaller Hosta are actually very large but they are dwarfed by the “Sum and Substance” Hosta to the upper left!

Another perspective from the street shows the Hosta garden with a Ginkgo tree in the foreground. I can see why some thought the large Hosta was a Elephant Ear!!! My “ears” are actually just emerging and are hidden beneath the Hosta canopy. That will switch in June.

On the subject of Hosta, I never tire!

Hosta in the shade garden are starting to bloom! I have been collecting native rocks and most are iron variations such as the one in the upper left. They complement the Hosta variations nicely.

A tiny “Fairy Family” has moved into one of my shade garden “camping spaces”. The emerging plants on the right are Chinese lilies of some sort.

The terrace gardens in the backyard are showing signs of life as perennials return. The center plants are Purple Coneflowers with daylilies above them. Blooms on both will be here shortly!

Sweet potato vines dressed in yellow-green and very dark purple at the top have promised to send their trailing stems and leaves cascading down the walls as summer approaches.

The east end of the terraces is coming close to completion as the upper terrace wall starts to move inward. The clay hill is like concrete in some areas and to excavate one foothold may take thirty minutes. As you can see, I fill in behind the wall with a good composted soil.

One of the first sunny perennials to bloom is the Tickseed also known as Indian Blanket or Gloriosa Daisy. Perhaps it should be called the “Glorious Tick Blanket”!

Also blooming is the tiny White Vinca.

A few Verbena bloom among the terraces.

My favorite so far is the returning St. John’s Wort whose leaves are a vibrant green with very bright yellow frilly blossoms.

Ox Eye Daisies add their touch of Spring brightness!

Hundreds of Orange Day Lilies will erupt in the next week!

Garden Phlox add a touch of pinkish lavender to the front yard scape.

Flora, my hybrid sometimes white-sometimes pink rose loves the northwest exposure. Creeping Jenny does its thing along the base.

I see them! The “Ears” starting their dominant display at the bottom right. They will eventually shade the azaleas and Hosta from late afternoon summer sun and leaves will reach two feet or more across. This is their third year so a lot is expected. Carolina Jasmine is starting to bloom with the clematis on the electrical meter hiding trellis.

Last visit today is with these happy faces! Do you know what they are? Not petunias!!

Thank you for visiting and I look forward to your return next week!