Springtime Mailbox Planting

This picture was taken yesterday:

Muscari and the First Daffodil

Behind the mailbox are the irises I planted a year or two ago. I hope they will flower this year :)

Flowers in April

So far, the muscari by the mailbox has come up and is looking beautiful. The daffodils are getting ready to open. I should probably plant a different variety since the ones that are currently there seem to have week stems which don't support the flowers very well. I don't have pictures now, but hopefully I can take some pictures tomorrow.

Bleeding Hearts and Jacob's Ladder

Sweet Woodruff, Hyacinth and Primrose

Jacob's Ladder

It seems that the Jacob's Ladder that is planted in an area with part shade is doing a lot better than the one planted in full shade. Unfortunately, I'm planning to move it so that I can plant 3 Sweet Box (Sarcococca humilis Fragrant Valley) in that bed. Then again, maybe I'll just plant it near the wall, since it is supposed to do well in dry shady areas where it is difficult to grow many plants. Unfortunately, it seems to be a slow grower. Decisions, decisions! 

My shipment from Park Seed came yesterday. In the box were:

• Hydrangea All Summer Beauty (1)
• Sarcococca humilis Fragrant Valley (3)
• Gaultheria procumbens Creeping Wintergreen (1)

I'm hoping to get them in the ground this weekend. 

Another sweet surprise came from Uncle L and Aunt J who surprised us with a tall Persian Lilac shrub on Easter. I've been keeping it watered and trying to figure out the best place to put it. 

Roadside Flowerbed

Today was a good day to cut back the overgrown and overwintered grasses. Some of the cut grasses were used as mulch, to be covered next week (hopefully) by some store brought brown mulch. The lilies I brought last year have made it through the winter, and I'm hoping that there will be some flowers this year.

I also planted the Foxtail lilies (Eremurus) that I brought from the NJ Flower Show. It seems to be the perfect spot for this plant. Since we are on a hill, the site should have great drainage and the area receives a heavy amount of sun during the summer. However, when I planted them, the tops were left exposed and I learned later that they should have been covered by 2-3 inches of soil. I'll need to remember to run outside and cover them up tomorrow! From what I've read, they won't bloom this year, but should definitely bloom by the third year. By the fifth year, they should really take off.

It's not much now, but hopefully it will look good in the summer. 

A few days ago, I also brought a gardenia which I'm thinking of keeping in the back of the house. There are a bunch of buds on it already. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will do well this summer. 

Just Arrived! Echinacea "Prairie Splendor"

I received my shipment of 3 echinacea "Prairie Splendor" plants today. I was never a big fan of echinacea's large cones, but I had a change of heart once I saw them in Gardens Illustrated magazine. I love their cute button shaped centers and their drought-tolerance. They arrived from Jung's without pots, so I put them in plastic pots with some potting soil and gave them a good watering. Hopefully they will perk up again soon. I wonder where I should put them....

Also, most of the seeds have sprouted by now. In the future, I'm definitely not going to use the plastic covers to keep in the humidity. This year, they have done so much better without the cover and there was less damping off than in previous years, if any.

Early Risers

It has only been a week, but Lupine "Sunrise," Acroclinium Paper Daisy, and Salvia farinacea "Fairy Queen" are the first to arrive to the spring party:

Lupine "Sunrise" and Paper Daisy

Salvia farinacea "Fair Queen"

Amaryllis Red Lion's stem has now been cut down and leaves are appearing and Amaryllis "Apple Blossom" is hanging in a bit longer. I'm still trying to control the aphid problem on the Hellebore. I can't wait to get this one outside. Hopefully the aphid problem with then go away... but then again, it may not...

6 Weeks to Go!

It is approximately 6 weeks before the last frost date, so I put aside my sewing projects in order to get some of the seeds started:

Lupine Sunrise, Penstemon Strictus (Rocky Mountain Penstemon), Acroclinium Best Mixed (Paper Daisy), Petunia Double Cascade, Evening Primrose, Salvia Farinacea (Fairy Queen), Shasta Daisy (Crazy Daisy), Shasta Daisy (White Knight) and Foxglove (Excelsior Hybrid Mix).

Also finally managed to pot the Hawaiian plumeria:

Stephanotis jasmine is managing to stay alive...

Amaryllis is still going strong...

Breaking the Winter Blues

Visited the New Jersey Flower & Garden Show in Edison, NJ on Friday. Although it is not as large in scope and scale as the Philadelphia Flower Show, I like that it is not overcrowded. There were a few landscaping companies competing for best in show and various vendors, some of them plant and flower related, others not. This is my second time visiting the show and some of the vendors that were there the first time I visited, were missing for my second visit. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to call it the New Jersey Home and Garden show since there was an equal number, if not more vendors who sold products related to the home, than flowers and plants. Even still, I managed to come away with some interesting plants:

dendrobium anosmum

Stephanotis floribunda

Sempervivum Raspberry Ice?

Hawaiian Plumeria (White)

Eremurus hybrids, Foxtail Lily

On Saturday, C and I visited RareFind Nursery in Jackson, NJ for their Hamamelis and Winter-Blooming Plants Festive talk. We were a bit late due to the snow and sleet, but fortunately did not miss it and people were still enjoying the refreshments. It was a worthwhile trip and I learned about some interesting plants that I've never heard of before, some of them fragrant. Now, I'm thinking of trying a witch hazel this year. Daphnes, Camelias and White Forsythia (Abeliophyllum). We didn't buy anything this time around since the ground is still frozen out, but hope to make our way back in the early spring, perhaps in May. Saw some Skimmia japonica, which looked pretty good and was thinking it might look nice by the back of the house.