Go native. Learn the plants that are native to your area and grow them.

Nothoscordum bivalve - False Garlic or Crowpoison

It's time to go native. But what does that mean? Maybe you heard someone at your local nursery mention native plants. It is a niche area when it comes to plants, most are hard or difficult to propagate, while others are better off left in the wild.

A Native plant is a term to describe plants endemic (indigenous) or naturalized to a given area in geologic time. Which can seem a bit ambiguous. Where's the cutoff? Well, in North America a plant is often deemed native if it was present before colonization. There, that's better. So if it was in your area naturally during Colonial times, then there's your native plant.

Cornus florida or Common flowering dogwood

We all know of at least one truly native plant where we live. Whether you are in the US or Canada, Europe or India, there are plants that you see every day, everywhere. Here in Virginia I had always known from childhood that the Cornus florida, or Flowering Dogwood was the Virginia state flower and tree. If you drive through the country on a bright spring day, you can spot all of the dogwoods growing wild in the woods, being comprimised by their bright white flowers, in an otherwise, still bleak landscape.

I just had no idea just how many plants were native until we started going to a small boutique nursery near our house. They have a small section carved out just for native plants. It's quite helpful and at least gets us looking or doing more research about plants in our area.

Stylophorum diphyllum - Wood Poppy, Celandine Poppy. A beautiful, yellow, early spring wildflower

A colleague of mine shared her sometimes out of control Wood Poppy with me a couple of years ago. Shade loving and a prolific spring bloomer, this plant is wonderful in my shade garden near the edge of the woods. Stylophorum diphyllum - Wood Poppy, Celandine Poppy.

One plant that I inherited when we purchased this property had me stumped for a few years. It has a beautiful flower, but it grows in thin leafed clumps and has white bulbs similar to onions or garlic, but has no smell. It has spread pretty well over the years and part of me doesn't mind, but I might have to start keeping it under control. It is Nothoscordum bivalve - False Garlic or Crowpoison.

I'm still researching to find out what this one is

I'm still researching to find out what this one is

 So what's my point? Find what is native to your area, find something you like and plant it. Keep these native going. Some are fast becoming extinct. The way we Americans build housing and businesses, by scraping off the top layer of earth, and cutting every tree in sight, building and then planting horrible trees like the Bradford Pear in droves, it's a wonder that we have any native plants left at all.

If you don't have a nursery like we do near you, at least get with your state forestry service or local co-op or farmers market and inquire about these plants.

Nothoscordum bivalve was formerly classified in the lily family, but has recently been moved to the Amaryllis family. It does not have the oniony-smell of true garlics and onions.

False Garlic

Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in.

Acer Palmatum "Orange Dream"

This last week I was a happy guy. I had some decent weather on my days off, but as luck would have it, the best weather was on the days I was working. Still, I was able to get some things done around the yard, plant some new specimens and even perform the first mowing.

Pear blossoms at sunset

Now this. Freeze warnings for tonight and the next couple of nights. Are you kidding me?! I thought, well, hoped, beyond all hope, that we were past this cold weather. You see, I hate cold weather. With a passion. I don't mind a cooler season necessarily, I just don't like freezing temps. Especially now. All of our Japanese maples are leafed out. Some leaves are still very young and tender. These, I am worried about. The hostas have just emerged. The tulips have been beautiful, but they are about spent. I'm mainly worried about the 16 unique specimen Japanese Maples we have around the yard.

Viburnum

We pride ourselves on finding the best version of each specimen and really look out for unique hybrids or new ones. Yesterday we picked up a real beauty called "Orange Dream". I'm not sure why it is called this as it is more yellow/chartreuse than orange, but its foliage is bright and different and will look nice as a trio of JMs, one red and the other with lacy green leaves.

But what is a gardener supposed to do? I guess I could go to the store, purchase massive amounts of plastic on rolls, wrap each tree and hope that that works. But then I have just created landfill waste that will last a millennia. I guess I'll just let ol' MN handle it. It is she, that is throwing us these curve balls by the way. The brutal winter we had, this late, late cold snap, and yes, I did find those damned Canker Worms on some of the trees last evening.

You've got to be kidding me.

Slumber is over. Spring awakens. Quickly!

Weeping Cherry blossoms are a sight for two of the senses

Ahhh. Spring has sprung. And with the work I was able to complete over the last few days, so has every muscle in my body. It is late in the season this year that I am completing this annual task, cleaning the beds from all of the winter detritus, raking out leaves blown in from yards afar, pulling early cool weather weeds and errant grasses.

While my body is protesting today, I am quite happy and satisfied. The days were warm and dry, allowing me two entire days of bending, picking, raking and hauling. I even broke a sweat a couple of times. Evenings have also been fruitful.

Snowbells soaking up the sun

This weather, being so pleasant, allowed me to also assess the damage done by ol' Ma Nature. It is not pretty. Upon further review, the Jasmine and two of the Gardenia have taken a huge hit, possibly even being visited by the Grim Reaper. I trimmed up the Jasmine, and the usual profuse "bleeding" of the white milky sap was not present. Sigh.

One of the early bloomers. Tulip.

But signs of life were evident elsewhere throughout the yard. Peonies are popping out of the ground, the tulips are starting to bud and a couple even managed to bloom. There are buds on all of the Japanese maples, which makes me very happy. The dappled willow was in full bud and this year, the squirrels have been snipping off the last 1-2 feet of each branch, leaving a disgusting pile at the base of the bush. My wife believes they are using them to build their nests, but I have seen them snip off these branches, only to nibble the very last couple of buds. Such a waste. We sprayed the bush with a fine mist of animal repellant, so we'll have to wait and see if that will work. They have never done this before and neither have I.

Peach blossoms

Over the years we have changed the ratio of grass to beds, and by doing this, have increased the need for mulch. Mulch is great stuff. I really does retain moisture in the ground under it. It biodegrades back into the soil, leaving nutrients over time. It does keep weeds at a minimum, and those that do manage to sprout, are easier to pull out. With that being said, I think that natural hardwood, cypress, pine bark or needles is the best. Stay away from the dyed variety. Chemically dyed mulch will only leech those chemicals back into your yard or garden. I've seen ads for ground up rubber mulch. Again, rubber from tires is extremely caustic over time and leeches horrible chemicals into the ground and will not look nice over the long haul.

Japanese Maple 'Shishigashira', or "Lions Mane" with new leaves.

Mulch can be expensive. It is cheaper by the yard when purchased in bulk, but it can be a large outlay all at once. The first year I was able to cover all my beds with just 20 bags of mulch. Two years ago we got a load of mulch delivered by dump truck, 9 cubic yards of it! And I was still shy, and since then we have added new planting beds in the back. This year I will be hitting the beds with small amounts of bagged mulch, here and there where needed. Make sure you get online and see when your local big box store is having a sale. Try to get them when they are 5 bags (2 cf each) for $10. The best deal all year. The Japanese Maples will be getting their dressings first.

The above images are the culmination of only 5 days of warm weather. It is amazing the resilience these plants have and the drive to reproduce and do it all over again after such a hard winter. We could all learn a lot from them.

Thoughts from March 20, 2014

March 20, 2014. Spring is almost here. Well, as of today, it is here, but someone didn’t tell the weather service. We have had winter storms, one right after another. And they are calling for one more that should hit us next Tuesday. Sigh. The ground is saturated. The plants are confused and frankly, so am I. Confused, not saturated.

March 17 Snowfall

I had commented on the state of some of my plants last time. Well, now some are not looking good at all. Evergreen plants tend to hide their stress and death throes long after they have had the crap kicked out of them. Now the Gardenias and the Jasmine are looking worse than I thought. We'll have to wait and see.

cropped Tulips thanks to the Deer

My yard and garden has not only had to cope with the weather, but four footed creatures. We came home the other night from having dinner out at a nice restaurant only to have burst in on an orgy in my garden. We were all in a good mood from good food and conversation when the headlights illuminated 4 large deer in my front yard.
I laid on the horn, pulled the car up in front of the house, came to an abrupt stop, put it in park, jumped out and proceeded to run through the yard, yelling and clapping my hands like a man possessed. I wanted to scare the crap out of them so maybe next time, they would think twice about indulging their vegan tendencies on my plants.

The next day, in the light, I was heart broken to find that they had sheared dozens of tulips down to the ground. Some of the bulbs had been pulled right out of the ground in their attempt to mock me and get their fix on. It was just the leaves, mind you, as it is still too early for the stalks and buds to have been formed, but disappointing just the same. I don’t know if they will have enough energy to grown new leaves in time to produce some blooms.

Assessing the winter damage and making plans

Hamamelis 'Japonica' now starting to bloom

I was reading a post from fellow garden blogger from Tennessee who was hit hard by this brutal winter. His damage seemed more severe than mine, so I went outside to investigate my own gardens between rain showers. One thing that gardening has taught me is that we all have something to share, and we always have something to learn.

I will go into detail about the plants in my yard and then give some tips to those of you with winter damage also, on what to do next.

"Freezer burn" on the Jasmine

One of the first to take a hit nearly every year is our Jasmine. We have it planted in three different places around the yard. One is next to the house and is the largest as it seems to have the protection of our house. The others are further out and have taken longer to get established, but after the very mild winter we had last year, they really took off this past summer.

In the past, we have lost some leaves and some minor branches, but it seems as if since the Jasmine is pretty thick with growth, the outer leaves protect the inner parts, so all we loose is last years growth or some new buds for this year. T. jasminoides. Trachelospermum jasminoides Star or Confederate Jasmine. Overall prognosis: V. Good.

Gardenia with winter leaf damage

We have three Gardenia bushes in the yard and have moved them around over the years to what we think are the best spots for them to live comfortably. They too, have seen some winter damage from the bitter cold but not as bad as I had thought, with only a few leaves burned and sacrificed. How this will affect the new buds will have to be seen. Overall prognosis: V. Good.

Viburnum buds seem healthy

We have two Viburnum in the back, but I'm not sure what species. They have been in the ground for a couple of years now and while they don't have burned leaves, they are still kind of droopy. I think they will perk back up with the warmer weather of spring as will we all. Overall prognosis: V. Good

Damage to Camellia leaves

Our Camellia are taking their time getting established. We planted them a couple of years ago and while they produce blossoms, they never open up. I guess it just takes time for these plants to really get going. As for the damage this year, a few burned leaves, no blooms, but not too bad. Overall prognosis: Good.

Even the evergreens in the yard changed color a little more than usual. Some of the evergreens will get tinged on the outer leaves from a purplish green to amber. All are doing quite well and really love getting real cold. Make sure you have a good mix in your yard not only for winter interest, but also for varying textures and greens. Overall prognosis: Excellent.

Dwarf Hemlock shows some coloration on the outer needles

Great color changes on some evergreens

As seen last week, these are not looking good.

The worst hit of all the plants in the yard are my huge Rosemary plants. We had planted them all over the yard not only for the obvious reason, free herbs, but they are are great winter plants, adding color and texture to the winter landscape. They also deter deer, so we have been planting them around the yard for these reasons and enjoying them. They flower and attract several different type of bees. We will have to wait and see. Overall prognosis: Not good.

So what should you do if your plants have been hit by this cold and are looking kind of bad. Well, don't panic. We all have to wait and see what will happen when the warmer weather starts and life begins again. New growth will start where it can. I wait until the new growth of leaves, buds or flowers start. Where the branches are truly dead, no growth will happen and I will cut these away to allow nutrients and sunlight to get to the places that need it. I have had plants come back from the dead, literally.  But I've also watched them die a slow death. But I will give them every chance.

I know I've talked mostly about shrubs, but what if this happens to your ground hugging plants? Well, if there are dead leaves around the central area, just leave them for now. If there is a chance that the plant will survive, it will need those dead leaves to act as insulation until warmer weather arrives. Gently peel back those dead leaves. If there is any green left, then let it be for now. You can gently get rid of the dead leaves once the warmer weather sets in, allowing light and nutrients into the new area.

Hamamelis 'Jelena'...looks like confetti!

Basically, don't panic. This is where we take stock of the past season and act accordingly. Sometimes we can make some adjustments as stated above and then move on. Sometimes we need to rethink everything. If you lost a lot of plants this year, it might be time to reassess your plants and study up on plants that have no problem with even severe cold.

But who would have seen this coming?

Stirrings in the garden...life goes on

Hamamelis 'Jelena' blooming now

The brutality of this winter for us is evident in many ways. Tempers are short, a wake of dead plants liter the property, depression dips its ugly head when day after day, all we see is grey skies and no signs of life.

Yesterday was still a grey and cold day, after a string of many, but I trudged around the yard after feeding the birds, to see what was happening. There are stirrings. The Hamamelis, or Witch Hazel are in bloom. A sign that all of this should be coming to an end in a few weeks. The dark orange 'Diane' and the lighter orange 'Jelena' are in full bloom. The yellow 'Arnold Promise' was the one that bloomed in the fall and we were thinking that it had reverted back to its origin, Hamamelis virginianus, which is supposed to bloom in the fall, instead of the others blooming in the late winter/early spring. But there are buds on the 'Arnold Promise', so we'll see.

Hamamelis 'Diane' in bloom now

The tulips had been trying to get out back in December, I think, and they are still stubborn and trying to come out, despite the frigid temperatures. Yesterday I observed deer prints in the garden and the tops of some of the tulips have been unceremoniously beheaded. Hopefully they will still bloom, while looking like they had a too-short haircut.

Tulips emerging

We have several large, old Rosemary plants throughout the yard, supplying us with ready herbs, evergreen ground cover and year round interest. These, I am afraid, have been hit hard, along with the Jasmine. The Rosemary is usually dark green and keeps the garden looking alive, but these abnormally frigid temperatures have turned them all bronze, and a close up will look like the thin leaves are blistered from the extreme cold,

We'll have to wait and see of what becomes of them, but while taking a photo for this blog post, I noticed a hint of life on the Rosemary. So maybe all is not lost.

cold damage on the Rosemary

But wait! Is that new growth!?

This is one brutal winter

January 16th snowfall

This has been one brutal winter for us here in central Virginia. Our winters usually are cold during February, and we get some snow here and there in February and sometimes in early March. So far this season, we have been hit with several snows, not large amounts, but snow none the less. We have also been hit with severely cold weather for these parts. Temperatures in the single digits and wind chills in the negative numbers.

January 29th snowfall

 We usually get heavy wet snow, which in turn, melts in the next couple of days. These snows have been very crystalline and with the temps being so cold, it is very crunchy underfoot and lasts for many days.

But, for as cold as it has been, there is still growth and life. And while we might loose a few plants, or at least parts of the plants due to the cold temps, life goes on.

The evergreens in the yard are loving life, of course. They need these very cold temperatures as part of their life cycle. If anything, they are harder hit during our dry hot summer months, than they are with the cold.

Oriental paperbush in blossom

bright colors from the Nandina that I discarded years ago in the back

The Witch Hazel is budding now, Tulips and Snowbells are emerging, albeit too early in my opinion on the later. I just hope they can survive this brutal winter to enthrall us with their beauty as in other years. The Oriental paperbush are budding, and will open and expel their fragrance late this month.

Snowbells emerging

Hydrangea buds ready for spring