Bloom Day: January 2012

Well, it's finally here--winter has arrived!  After weeks of an unusually mild winter, Mother Nature has decided it was time to get down to business. On Thursday a few inches of snow fell and the wind began to blow, causing slick roads and numerous drivers to land in the ditch.  The temperature plummeted with wind chills below zero one night.  Just two days before, I was hanging up bedding on the clothesline in the warm breeze and noticing surprising spots of green here and there in the garden.

The ruffled kale and pansies in a container outside the patio door were looking so good for January.  I had intended to run out and take a photo Thursday morning when the first snowflakes began to fall . . .

 . . . Oops!  I guess I waited too long.

While the kale may be in hiding, the snow does add some appeal, helping to create that much-desired winter interest in the garden.  Sedum 'Autumn Joy' always looks good with a little frosting of snow.

'Morning Light' Miscanthus in a sea of white makes me realize I really should add more grasses to my garden.

My favorite, though, is the still the beautyberry, adding some swirling accents in the snow.

There are still berries clinging to its branches.

The only real color outside is not found in my garden, however.  If you look very, very closely, you'll see a spot of red in this photo.  The cats were enjoying their early morning bird-watching through the picture window and were excited to see this cardinal at the bird feeder.  Naturally, the minute I grabbed my camera he decided he would fly off to safer ground.

This year I'm not going to complain about the snow or even the cold . . . at least not for awhile.  This is what winter should be like here in Illinois, and the garden can use the moisture and insulation of the snow cover.  The change in seasons always makes me that much more appreciative of spring.

In the meantime, I'm bringing a little spring indoors--my first attempt at forcing paperwhites. Hopefully, they will bloom about the time I'm finally get tired of winter.

This post is part of the monthly celebration of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted the 15th of each month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  Carol is a colleague of such noted experts as Hortense Hoelove (see previous post) and Dr. Hortfreud.  If you haven't already done so, be sure to visit her for a look at blooms--some without snow!--from all over the world.

December GBBD: Winter Has Arrived!

Blogging has taken a back seat lately to Christmas preparations and activities.  For some reason it seems to have taken me twice as long this year to decorate the house and get the Christmas shopping done.  Instead of reading blogs, time on the computer has been spent searching through photo files for a photo calendar for my parents, updating Christmas addresses, and online shopping including trying to figure out just what  "Paper Jam" and "Zoobles" are (both requests from two of the grandchildren).  But I didn't want to miss out on the monthly celebration of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol who is probably greeting everyone this season with a hearty "hoe, hoe, hoe!"

Blooms are pretty sparse at my house this time of year.  The only indoor plant worth noting is the Christmas poinsettia purchased just this past weekend.  Although the white poinsettias I saw were lovely and quite tempting, I opted for the traditional red one in the end.  But either red or white was preferable to the other choices I saw for sale--glittery gold or orange and even blue!  Somehow a blue poinsettia just doesn't fit my image of Christmas.

This fall I was lulled into thinking our nice weather would last forever and waited too long to bring some plants indoors.  The only plants that actually made it inside before the first hard frost were the impatiens.  This yellow Fusion impatiens is pretty leggy, but at least it is holding on to a few blooms.

Outdoors, of course, is another story--nothing is blooming under the cover of white snow.  However, I did notice something strange a couple of weeks ago--there appeared to be a few pink blooms on one of the crabapple trees.  This photo was actually taken over a week ago when our first snow fell, and it's been too cold the past few days to see if the blooms are still there.  While the pink bloom against white snow may seem like a happy incongruity, I'm afraid it may not be a good sign after all, and may mean this tree is under some stress.

Like many parts of the country, we have had our share of frigid cold and strong winds the past few days.  Fortunately, we did not get as much snow as some areas, but the winds blew what snow we had into whiteout conditions with windchills well below zero.  Needless to say, I'm not venturing out into the garden these days!

For some real blooms across the world, do check out the posts at Carol's .. . and stay warm, everyone!

January GBBD--At Last!

This is the time of year when we Northern gardeners read with envy the Bloom Day posts of our neighbors in the South. Perhaps not this year. The extreme weather may have turned some of those beautiful gardens into something that resembles my frozen garden. Why not check out the links at May Dreams Gardens, to see what, if anything, is blooming on this January Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.




Instead of gardening clogs, one must wear tall boots to tromp through the snowdrifts to see if anything picturesque not already shown here is worth photographing. The shade garden provides a few new scenes. Heuchera blooms still wave in the brisk winter winds even if the rest of the plant is submerged.

With its feet frozen in place, "Let's Dance in the Moonlight" can't even manage a two-step.

There is a little color on my patio, however. Not to be outdone by the beautiful poinsettias Donna found growing outdoors on a recent trip to San Diego, these red beauties are undaunted by the cold. Of course, mine are the type that never stop "blooming":)

To find a few real blooms at my home, we have to go indoors. Geraniums, a begonia, and Miss Rosemary are still hanging on in the sunny spare bedroom. Next door, a single pot of tulips I planted on January 3 are beginning to show some signs of life. Maybe they will be ready for the next Bloom Day?

But what has really excited me this past week is this gangly-looking plant. Some of you may remember that last year I attempted growing my first amaryllis bulb. The plant grew and grew with leaves extending at least two feet, but it never put out a blossom. I stuck it outside, pot and all, over the summer, watering it only as an occasional afterthought. After the weather turned cold this fall, I finally remembered to bring it in, not expecting it to survive. Imagine my surprise last week when a stalk emerged with what looked like a bud on it.

I watched it carefully on Monday . . .

. . . and on Tuesday . . .

. . . looking good on Wednesday . . .

Voila! Thursday afternoon--perfect timing for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

Yes! This may just get me through a few more weeks of winter.

To see other blooms from all over the world, visit our charming hostess and the keeper of the secrets to gardening happiness, Carol.

March Bloom Day: Anticipation

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day has arrived once again. I'm a little late in posting, but I'm sure you'll understand: the weather here has been beautiful this weekend, and I've been outside working in the garden as much as possible.


There is nothing actually blooming, but in central Illinois in mid-March that's not surprising. I could have had some snowdrops blooming now----if I'd planted any. And I should have some crocuses blooming---but the 60+ crocuses I planted last fall have failed to appear. What has happened to all those crocus bulbs remains a mystery to me, hardly entertaining enough for a novel, but I sure would like to know where they are. Did I plant them too deep? Did a critter come along and dig them up for winter rations? I guess I'll never know.


But even though there are no early blooms here, there are promises of flowers soon to come. The daffodils have been poking through the soil for several weeks now, and there's even a bud on this one if you look closely enough. Nearby, those tiny shoots of green are the Stella D'Oro lilies which border one side of the front garden.


I was surprised to find a few hyacinths already showing, with their flowers encased in a green cocoon. I hope they stay nice and warm inside for awhile; a few more winter blasts of cold air and even snow are still a possibility through April.

Yesterday I cut back all the perennials in the front garden and raked away a heavy layer of leaves that insulated the garden through the winter. I was surprised to see several perennials already showing signs of new life, including the sedum "Autumn Joy."

As I walked around the different garden areas, the first tulip leaves are beginning to show everywhere. I can't wait to see them in bloom this year, since I planted several new varieties last fall. But bulbs are not the only thing beginning to show--these Siberian iris are looking quite healthy. The question is, will this be the year they finally bloom??

Ed. correction: Tina just pointed out that this foliage looks just like that of the Naked Ladies. Now that I think about it, this is where they grew last year. Ok, so once again I may have misidentified a plant--but now I wonder where the iris went to?

And in the shade garden I was pleased to see the primroses coming to life. I wasn't sure they would return for a second year, but apparently they were hardy enough to survive our winter.

As exciting as it is to see the green leaves of plants popping through the soil, I'm just as excited by what is above. Notice the three little red dots on this branch--yes, the redbud has buds!

In the backyard the pussywillow tree is forming its fluffy catkins.

And a sure sign of spring are these small buds beginning to appear on the lilac bush.

It's good to be able show something outside for this Bloom Day. In fact, I'm not going to bore you with my indoor non-blooms once again. The amaryllis I showed in January and February is so tall its leaves are bending over, but it is not blooming. Neither are the daffodils and tulips shown on the previous Bloom Day posts--my first attempt at forcing bulbs. However, I do want to thank everyone for the advice they gave me about forcing indoor bulbs. A few of you mentioned that amaryllis sometimes don't bloom the first year--I think mine spent all its energy on producing leaves:) I'm going to plant this outside when it's warm and then dig it up again to bring in, in the fall. As for the other bulbs, I was told I probably started them too late. A couple of you suggested I put any extra bulbs in the fall in a pot of soil and chill it, then bring it into the warmth by December. More garden lessons learned through trial and error and advice from some wise garden bloggers.

I'll leave you today with a few bright indoor blooms, though--my monthly bouquet from my charity donation.

A Happy Bloom Day to everyone--and best of all, this Friday is the first day of Spring!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is brought to you on the 15th of each month by our tireless leader, Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Be sure to visit her to see more blooms from all over the world.

GBBD November 2008

It's that time again--the 15th of the month when garden bloggers post what is blooming in their gardens right now. But it's also November, which means the "pickins' are pretty slim" here at the "Prairie." Ten days ago we were in the middle of Indian summer, and I was outside in short sleeves planting bulbs under a bright, sunny sky. The maple tree hit its peak of color and lit up the front yard.


Then . . .the cold set in and the rains came. The wind blew the leaves from the trees, one by one, until now the maple stands with only the hem remaining of her autumn ball gown.

The garden is in much the same state. It took some hunting to find any blooms at all yesterday.
And I apologize ahead of time for the quality of some of these photos. By the time I downloaded them and realized they were blurry, it was raining again and too late to re-take them.

Even the faithful autumn bloomer, the chrysanthemum seemed to shiver in the cold rain yesterday, refusing to pose for me.

A few stray petunia blooms in the porch planter valiantly hang on, but their days are numbered.

The verbena "Homestead Purple" that I showed in a recent post is still blooming, though, one reason it received such high marks from me this summer.

One plant that has had a second wind and is blooming once again, though, is the yarrow. I guess that it's appropriate that it should be on what is probably the last post of the season of real blooms, since it was the only plant on my first Bloom Day post last March.

Some of the salvia "Victoria Blue" have already shed their purple petals and turned silver for the winter, but a few hardy ones still refuse to give up the fight.

Also hanging on are a few galliardia blooms. These first year "Oranges and Lemons" impressed me all summer with their abundant blooms. Along with a few salvia, they are the last flowers standing in the roadside flowerbed.

Finally, a rather ordinary bloom I've never highlighted before--the sweet alyssum. I plant it as a border every year on the edge of my main flowerbed. This year it was the only annual there, and I didn't even have to plant all of it--some of last year's crop actually reseeded itself this year.

Do you spy a theme here in my November garden? That's right--the one thing that is really blooming right now is . . .

Leaves!

By tonight these may be the only blooms left in the garden. As I sit here typing this late Friday night, I am watching the forecast for Saturday carefully. "High's in the 30's with freezing rain or snow showers likely." Besides thinking that this may be the last day for the garden, I have another dilemma. It's the last home football game of the season for Illinois against tough rival Ohio State, a game my family has looked forward to for weeks. Should I be a true blue (and orange) fan and go to the game, walking a mile each way from our parking spot to sit in the stands, huddled in my parka and layers of clothes, cheering the team on while the cold wind and rain/snow whips through the stadium? Or should I be a fair-weather fan and stay home to watch the game on high-definition TV with instant replays and announcers who explain what just happened in the last play? Sigh. At least the garden doesn't expect me to go out in the cold.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is brought to you each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens; be sure to visit her to find other Bloom Day posts from around the world.

GBBD: Windblown September Blooms

It's time once again for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day sponsored the 15th of each month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. This Bloom Day post almost didn't happen--at least for me. The weather this weekend made it difficult to get very many pictures, and I've spent the last two days in bed or on the couch nursing a bad cold and sinusitus. On top of that, this afternoon my computer mysteriously stopped working. So I apologize to all of you whose blogs I regularly visit--I will try to catch up on reading posts over the next few days.

But these are minor irritations that will soon be forgotten. After watching news reports the last few days of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike along the Gulf Coast, I am so thankful to be alive, safe and dry. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have lost their homes as a result of this latest awful storm.

It has been raining most of this past weekend, as you can see in the Stella daylilies above and in the Knockout rose, both of which have rebloomed this past week. According to my rain gauge, we've had about 4 inches of rain this weekend. This morning a heavy rain was accompanied by a strong wind, which knocked down two trees in town, knocking down powerlines as a result.

Good thing I took this photo of the clematis bloom on Friday, because I imagine the petals were blown off in the wind today. This is my weird, "two-fer" clematis. If you remember, it produced many blooms in May and early June that looked like a Nelly Moser. Since July it has produced an occasional lavendar bloom, with several appearing this past week. I've decided that those of you who suggested two plants were accidentally potted together were probably right. Now if I can only figure out the proper pruning next spring!

There are some coneflower blooms still hanging on, but most have dried up. In the past I would often cut these down to make the garden look neater, but this year I am going to leave them for awhile--the goldfinches love the seeds. While the coneflowers may be drying up, many other plants are still blooming--the nepeta, the salvias, baby's breath, Russian sage, galliardia, and most of my annuals.

I would show you more pictures, but I don't have access to most of my photos right now. Our power was out for nearly four hours today, and I was worried about the basement with no sump pump running, but thankfully it was dry. However, when the power was restored, my computer wouldn't re-start properly, so I had to resort to using my daughter's computer. It's slower, and there isn't a good photo editing program on it, so I wasn't able to crop these.

I do have a few new plants just putting on a show for the fall. Asters--unnamed, of course--are full of blooms and attracting lots of butterflies.

The sedum "Autumn Joy" has turned a lovely rosy hue; I think this is the best it's ever looked. When I took these last two pictures the garden was alive with butterflies--there were actually four of the painted ladies on this plant and another tiny guy you'll see in left center. Ironically, I had tried to photograph this small butterfly for a few days with no luck. I didn't even realize he was in the photo here until I downloaded it.

I think it's appropriate to end today with the butterflies, a universal symbol of hope and new life. The forecast here is for sunny days this week, and I hope that is true in the rest of the country. I hope that the hurricane victims are safe and can return to their homes soon. Let's hope the hurricane season is over!

Garden Bloom Day: August

Is it Bloom Day already? Where has the last month gone? When I was teaching, August was the shortest month of the year. I would try to pack as many activities as possible in the last few weeks of summer vacation, but time would always run out. Now I don't fret so much about the end of the summer, but August still seems to fly by. Since this Bloom Day has snuck up on me, come with me for a quick stroll around the garden to see what is blooming. Please ignore any weeds you might see--I've been a very lazy gardener the last few weeks.

Many of the flowers I showed in July are still blooming, including the purple coneflowers. A few are beginning to fade, but most are still putting on a show. Other plants still blooming are the nepeta, "Walker's Low"; the salvias, "May Night" and "East Friesland"; baby's breath; Russian sage; "Moonbeam" coreopsis; and a few re-blooming Stella D'oros--but I know you don't want to see those again:) Also, the red Knock-out roses are sending out new growth and mustering a few new blooms now that the worst of the Japanese beetle onslaught is over.

We won't walk all the way down the lane to the roadside garden; if you didn't see the zinnias blooming there on Wednesday, stroll (scroll) down there when you leave. Instead, let me just show you this photo I took earlier this week of the Victoria Blue salvia beginning to bloom amidst the coneflowers. They are planted in front of the coneflowers, but are struggling for attention this year because the coneflowers have really spread and the lilies in front have grown so much as well. I may have to do some cutting back once those flowers begin to fade, because the salvia will bloom till frost and will provide the only color in that area this fall.

Here's another planting of the Victoria blues near the house. You can see how intense the violet-blue color of this flower is. I think it's much prettier than the perennials, don't you?

Let's walk over to the shade garden for a few minutes. Most of the hosta blooms are fading away, but you can see that this large hosta--unnamed, of course--is just sending up some buds. There's another one to the right; I think these could be some stunning blooms.

What is this? Oh my goodness, the primroses I planted this spring are starting to bloom again. I thought they only bloomed in the spring??

When did this caldium pop up? This is the second of six bulbs I planted more than two months ago that has suddenly appeared. At this rate, the last of them may appear just in time for me to dig them up this fall!

Finally--the last foxglove is blooming. This is the first photo of the foxgloves that turned out well. I was beginning to believe the fairies were putting a hex on my camera for disturbing their hiding places.

We'll take a look at my container plantings another time, but do stop to look at this basket of double impatiens. I love these flowers--don't you think they look like miniature roses?

You can see there are a few plants getting ready for their autumn debut. The sedum "Autumn Joy" has developed its flowers that will slowly turn to pink and then burgundy as the weather cools.

And this mystery plant I have been watching since spring is beginning to blossom so that I can finally identify it--an aster! I have no idea what variety it is, since I don't even remember planting it last year! But I won't complain; I'm glad to welcome any fall entries in the garden.

Have I shown you this before? I planted a small memorial spot for my late dog, Roco, which I will tell you about at a later time. For now, though, I just want to brag about this Shasta daisy, "Becky," which has been blooming non-stop since June and shows no signs of stopping for awhile. I've never had much luck with daisies before, but "Becky" was the Perennial of the Year a few years ago, I believe, and definitely has lived up to expectations.

Let's pop over to the vegetable garden for a moment; lots of weeds blooming here, but I wanted to show you the blooms on the tomato plants. They certainly look promising, don't they? But now take a look at the rest of the plant...

Unfortunately, nearly all my tomato plants are beginning to wilt, with the leaves steadily turning brown. I bought disease-resistant varieties, so this was totally unexpected. After doing some research, I think the problem was caused by all the rain we had earlier this summer. Tomatoes need "consistent watering," according to all the articles, not flooding one week and no rain the next. There are lots of fruits on the vines right now, but I doubt I'm going to get the bumper crop for putting up juice and sauce that I was planning on. Do you know if there is anything I can do to salvage these plants?

Oh well, let's move on to happier topics. We're now in the "back forty," as I like to call this area. It's a circular area between the house and the outbuildings; there's no garden here, but as you can see, I stick some plants here until I decide where to put them permanently. You can see the false sunflower tucked into this corner has finally taken hold and is blooming nicely. Oh yes, I know they can be invasive--Beckie, who has worked hard for years to eradicate this flower from her garden, gave me the start. But I have a lot of room here, and if the sunflower spreads, it may choke out some weeds and give my husband less lawn to mow. Besides, I'm thinking of turning this area into sort of "wild" garden anyway.

Of course, this is where the original hollyhocks were planted as well. Judging by this bud, they're not done blooming yet. I planted the passalong hollyhocks from my mother here, too, and they've been a little later in blooming. You'll notice the pink ones, the white, the red, the dark purple/burgundy, and . . .

. . . what is this? Could this be the elusive yellow hollyhock Jodi has been pining for? Look closely; that's not white or pale pink--it definitely is yellow!

Well, that was a pleasant surprise. I think that's all that is new in the garden right now, except . . . .just a minute--what is that bloom over there?

Oh my goodness, a "Naked Lady"! I have seen these on Lisa's and other blogs lately and commented how I wished I had some. Wherever did it come from?? I know I didn't plant it. Could this have been here all this time, and I just never took the time to come out here and notice it blooming before? We always called these "Surprise Lilies"--this one has certainly surprised me!

I know it's time to go and there are other blog gardens to visit. I'm so glad you took the time to stroll around the garden with me; I might never have noticed some of my own blooms otherwise!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is sponsored the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Be sure to visit her for many other Bloom Day posts.