This weather has so many horticultural events happening it feels like I could blog every other hour on something new. Today I first want to talk about a little “Blue Sunshine”.

What do I mean? Well, what I am actually talking about are some so-called minor bulbs with blue flowers. They just make me happy like spring sunshine. Only they’re blue.

Anemone blanda (Grecian windflower) has beautiful daisy shaped blossoms. They come in white, pink (more or less) and of course, blue. These come from strange little corms (bulbs) you plant in the fall. It’s kind of hard to tell which end is up so plant them sideways, like putting a quarter in the slot machine (Oh yeah, I know your dirty little secret). Soak ‘em for a few hours or overnight too. In a location where they are really happy they will self sow. Like most spring blooming bulbs the foliage dies away so you want to plant them with other perennials or a groundcover.

The Iris histrioides, I. reticulata (reticulate iris), and their hybrids are early bloomers also, mostly in shades of blue plus purples. It’s hard to tell the different species or hybrids apart really so they all go by the common name of reticulate iris. I’ll show you some pictures of ‘Harmony’, a lovely hybrid blue cultivar blooming in the Overlook.

The markings on the petals actually guide bees to the pollen and nectar so the plants are more easily pollinated.

And here’s a bee hard at work.

Now for the freak show.

We grow Petasites japonica for its huge leaves which can get over 2 feet across. Okay, we also grow it because the common name is butterbur. Anyway, in ideal soil and light, very moist organic soil and dappled shade, it can get a little aggressive so may need to whack some parts off every year. And there is a lovely yellow variegated selection called of all things, ‘Variegata’. The stems are also eaten as a vegetable (fuki). I have not tried them. But this time of year I love it for the bizarre flowers that appear out of nowhere. They belong in what I call “My Star Trek Collection”. These are blooms that in my opinion are so freaky it would be natural to see them in a pot or vase on the Starship Enterprise or even on one of the worlds they visit. Some Petasites are right along the road in Hosta Curve. Don’t park in the road to view it. You make me crazy when you do that. Park in the main lot or the greenhouse lot and take a walk. There are a million other things for you to see anyway between your car and these plants. Take the time to see them. Plus you have sat around enough this winter. Get some exercise.

Here’s a bud shortly after emerging from underground.

Here it has opened some. See the individual flowers?

Here is one even farther along. Freaky.

Don’t cha wish your plant was a freak like Petasites? Don’t cha?

Crocus seiberi ‘Tricolor’ around Sutphin Fountain.

The three colors in ‘Tricolor’.

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) still make me happy no matter how many years I’ve seen their spring show.

Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) are very happy little bulbs.

Even on a gray day their bright yellow color absolutely glows.

The honey bees love them. Look at all the pollen on the bees leg.

The bees tended to take flight just as I was ready to snap the photograph.

Bee butt.

Now get your butt to the IMA and enjoy this glorious weather.

Snowdrops behind Deer-Zink are blooming.

Some of the Anemone blanda ‘Blue Shades’ in the beds around the Sutphin Fountain are very close to blooming.

Witchhazels are blooming all over the place.

Perennials are pushing new growth.

And I saw winter aconite that will be in bloom tomorrow. Hellebores should be showing color too.

So much happening. More later.

(via indianadisabilityawareness.org)

Last year my blog at this time concentrated on what we do in the gardens to make them accessible to as many people as possible. All of that information is still relevant so check it here.

With 100 Acres – The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park opening June 20 I decided to take a look at it this year. Since it does not have an asphalt road running through it, or concrete walks, it won’t be as easily accessed for those with mobility issues as the rest of our gardens and grounds. But there will still be much to experience and enjoy.

First you have to get there. One of the main access points will be the 38th street loop just west of the IMA’s 38th Street entrance. The parking area there will put you right at the Park. However, once there, you do have to cross a one lane road. On the other side an ADA compliant ramp will lead visitors down into the Park. Other access points will be crossing over the Pony Truss Bridge from the main IMA campus and, of course, the Canal Path that runs along the edge of the Park. Once inside, many areas in the 100 Acres will be accessible by way of crushed stone paths. Not as ideal as concrete, but much better than mulch or turf. These will lead you to the visitors’ center and some of the inaugural art pieces. Several mulch paths will give people even more opportunities to interact with nature and art. Those paths will quite simply require a different level of mobility.

I really want to emphasize the nature side of the Art and Nature Park. At this point we cannot get everybody to all areas of 100 Acres. However, you will be immersed in nature no matter where you go. Native trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and perennials will abound. We began replacing the exotic invasives two years ago with a major tree planting. This year over 70 species and cultivars will be planted in and around Alfredo Jaar’s Park of the Laments.

Animals like beaver, squirrels, and turtles are common sights. Occasionally you might even glimpse a red fox or mink. Above all, it will be a great place to experience the joy of birdwatching. Waterfowl such as ducks and herons can be found on the lake, the canal, and the White River. Great Blue Herons show up regularly in the shallows of the lake. Birds of prey soar in the skies. Songbirds can be found throughout.

I have been crazy-mad about pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) from childhood as they were frequent inhabitants of the creek-bottom woods where I grew up. We have at least a pair of these brightly colored crow-sized birds in the 100 Acres.

It’s not all about seeing the birds, listen for their fascinating calls as well.

Our newly revamped website will also give folks multiple ways of getting information about the site, the nature, and the art. You can begin accessing information before you leave home! Heck, you can get information right now, over three months before the official opening day. Check out the 100 Acres page to learn about the geology of the site (work done with the US Geological Survey), the first eight commissions, or details of the opening week-end. Access is about more than physical attributes.

The visitors’ center will be fully accessible with ramps leading to a surrounding deck. Drinking fountains and bathroom facilities are located in this building. Educational materials to be housed here are still being developed. The Visitor’s Center will also give shelter from the elements – like our sudden Midwest thunderstorms.

Be sure and mark June 20 on your calendars. Free Your Mind and see you there.

I am not a big fan of winter as those of you who are regular readers know. But I do appreciate it. I like snow for instance, when it is not on the roads. I wouldn’t mind it on the roads if there were fewer other drivers sharing those roads. And this winter hasn’t really been all that bad. Colder than normal but not bitter. Plenty of snow but not the 50 inches my friend Avonell got in one week in Maryland. Gray days but enough sunny ones in between that you don’t forget what that heat-making yellow orb in the sky is. Not bad.

The heavy wet snow of a couple weeks back did create some problems with our junipers in front of the Lilly House. The narrow Juniperus virginiana ‘Hillspire’ just couldn’t handle that much weight on them. Two of them went pretty much flat.

What do you do? Get the snow load off, push them back up, and tie them in place. Will they recover? Hopefully. But the root ball raised up pretty high on one.

They are near the end of their landscape lifetime having grown to the point they are near the eaves of the house. The plants are getting out of scale. We need a couple years ideally for their replacements growing in the nursery to reach their proper size. If the replacements are too short they look just as ridiculous as the originals being too tall.

Switch grass ( Panicum virgatum)is one of our best native grasses for the landscape. Most years they stay upright all winter even with snow, rain, and wind. Not so much this year. Here’s some of the ‘Dallas Blues’ along 38th street.

Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ ( feather reed grass) is one of the best landscape grasses period. I like its narrow upright form demonstrated by only a few of the plants in this bed inside the 38th street entrance.

But something interesting that happened in that same snow involved the hydrangeas, in particular H. paniculata and arborescens. I thought the dried flower heads would collect so much snow they would break off. Not true. Here is H. paniculata ‘Tardiva’ followed by H. arborescens ssp. radiata ‘Samantha’, both still holding their heads high.

Hardscapes look good in snow as a rule. Here the beautiful stonework of the Overlook is accented with a layer of soft white.

And these three containers on the Overlook patio make me think of store-bought cupcakes with a heavy layer of frosting or a collection of pies with a thick layer of fluffy meringue (everything goes back to food it seems).

This bright spot in the Northeast Border Garden is my favorite twig dogwood, Cornus sanguiniea ‘Midwinter Fire. I’m not bothered by winter at all when viewing something this beautiful.

So enjoy these winter days as best you can. They don’t actually last forever. We horticulturists and gardeners know spring will return and once again we will be flat out busy with our plants from dawn to dusk.

Saw several feathered and furred creatures on the river – a great blue heron (twice), mallard and bufflehead ducks, and three beavers. One beaver was quite unperturbed by my presence as I hung back to try to get some better shots. I started taking pictures when it was far out in the river.

It kept coming closer.

And closer.

And finally ended up back on the tree we scared it from originally.

And there was one muskrat swimming in some open water in the mostly frozen lake. Like it was lookin’ for something. It’s close enough to spring, do you think…

Folks started getting out in the gardens this week to do some work. Always good to get back outside even if it is still a bit nippy. I had hoped for more sun on Tuesday to cut the chill. So I went back inside to jump-start the blog when it felt like it was still below freezing. But before I came in I did a little Horticulture Recon. Noticed the Hamamelis (witchhazel) buds were showing color with bits of red, orange, and yellow peeking through. They make me think of carrot curls made from the cultivar Purple Dragon.

The Cornus mas (cornelian cherry dogwood) buds always make me think spring will be here any day when I know damn good and well it won’t.

The super hardy and tough Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose) are pushing their buds up through last year’s mulch and leaves. Even the light colored ones have lots of purple pigment in the stems and buds.

Then I found these blooms, actual blooms, on the yellow primroses. Talk about spring-like.

I probably mention all these plants every year. And I probably will still do so when I am 107 (that’s pronounced “a hundred and seven” not “one hundred seven”). Every year it’s such a thrill to go out in the gardens and find new growth or new flower buds. It doesn’t matter how many Februaries before I’ve gone out and found the same plants doing the same things. Each year I get all giddy and excited again. Not that there aren’t dark moments in the time before that happens. Indeed, there are some very dark times. Some excerpts follow.

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December 22. 2009

Plant orders in. Now the wait to see if suppliers can fulfill my dreams. Holidays coming. Taking extra time off. Cold and gray but hopefully no snow for traveling.

December 25, 2009

Cooking for family Christmas dinner – three pork loins, two baking chickens, five pounds green beans, ten pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, lemon bars, lemon pound cake, two kinds of gravy, macaroni and cheese. With help of siblings fed 46. Weather was nice.

December 27, 2009

Cold. But hey, it’s still the holiday period.

December 31, 2009

Happy New Year! Made Pioneer Woman’s Holiday Bacon Appetizers – both kinds. Cold but no precip.

January 04, 2010

First day back to work after Holidays. Low of 1 last night. High of 18 today. Normal is 35 and 19. Welcome back! Winter will never end.

Janyary 07, 2010

Nearly 4 inches of snow. More cold. Began sticking pins in Chad voodoo doll. It’s only right because he is in Panama not suffering from Indiana winter.

January 08, 2010

Colder. Low of 9 last night. Shoved pins deeper into Chad voodoo doll. Looked at new seed and plant catalogues to get some relief from cold and gray.

January 11, 2010

First day of furlough. Very cold. Low of 5. Began baking – Lemon Bars, then Brownies. Must build up thicker fat layer.

January 13, 2010

Low temps barely make it out of single digits. Highs barely make it above freezing. Put Chad voodoo doll in oven. Turned oven up to broil.

January 15, 2010

Woke up this morning on the kitchen floor. Three empty butter boxes strewn across the floor and butter wrappers stuck in my hair. Don’t remember anything. Later found an empty half and half carton next to computer. Last log-in was to Land-O-Lakes site. Towards evening an odd text message from someone called “The Milkman”.

January 18

Chad back from vacation (he can’t figure out what the ring of ash-like stuff is around his chair). Temperatures moderate. Soil frozen solid. Search for sun continues. More catalogues arrive to distract from gray skies.

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But now the days are so much longer and we had sun a few times this week. Makes you almost forget the bad times. Of course there are several weeks of winter left. Butter was on sale…

At least with experience I am able to spot some of the n’er-do-well types before they break my heart – “Oh. You again. Go throw your piddly-assed blooms in somebody else’s flower bed. Just seeing something like you again makes me want to go right out and buy a 50 gallon barrel of RoundUp.” That can be especially true when I can see it’s just the straight species that somebody has tarted up with a cultivar name or a trademark like a bunch of cheap make-up from the Village Pantry. C’mon! Who the hell you people think you’re dealing with here?

But all that said, I still get all excited when the catalogues come out or somebody introduces a plant at PPA’s New Plant Forum. My cynical side is forever at war with my everything-is-roses-and-clover side. A battle of epic proportions. “This plant really could be different!” I really do believe it, at least until I fully process the info. Wouldn’t you rather think it was new and improved and impossible to live without? Ah, infatuation. Maybe it will develop into truly perennial love?

In my last post I mentioned the arrival of the new plant and seed catalogues. This was referring mostly to retail businesses. We have had some of the 2010 wholesale catalogues since last summer. The very nature of wholesale (not to mention the budget) makes it difficult to order all the plants that tempt me. I might be able to try 5 of some new must-have plant but if I am forced to order 25 or 32 or 96, well, it just ain’t gonna happen. I will have to wait until more wholesalers carry it and some of them will sell it in smaller quantities. Or, goddess forbid, I’ll have to pay (deep breath here) retail. It hurts to even say it. Once you go wholesale there’s no going back.

So which perennial pimps are bringing out my horticulturally slutty side? Some of the usual suspects. Terra Nova once again is introducing a huge number of plants in 2010. And they aren’t all heucheras! I’ve mentioned before I have a real weakness for the red/orange/yellow Echinaceas. I want all Dan Heims has (the plants, the plants people). If I must narrow it down to….. let’s say three. Then I pick ‘Tangerine Dream’, Hot Lava’ and ‘Coral Reef’.

'Tangerine Dream' (terra nova)

'Hot Lava' (terra nova)

'Coral Reef' (terra nova)

I admit it. I want to pull all the ray flowers off that last one. Or alternatively, pull them off half the flowers and reattach them to the half still with ray petals.

Sticking with coneflowers for another moment, Plants Nouveau has added ‘Marmalade’ that has “blooms the color of tart orange marmalade”. Want it bad. Real bad.

'Marmalade' (plants nouveau)

Plus there is ‘Pineapple Sundae’, ‘Strawberry Shortcake’, and Raspberry Truffle”. All part of the Cone-fections series. Food and plants. What a concept? Actually, sweets and plants. Now that’s a concept. Maybe they will name one ‘Butter and Brown Sugar’. I would buy a truckload. Oh! How about ‘Buttered Brown Sugar Bacon’? I would buy the whole world’s supply.

If you are seeing winter hardiness problems with these new hot-colored Echinaceas it may be you need to do a little research. I did. Remember they are not pure E. purpurea but rather most are this species crossed with E. paradoxa. They are both Echinacea true, but quite different in their requirements. The resulting progeny require slightly different care than many of us are used to giving coneflowers. Read the blog by Angela Treadwell Palmer on the subject here. Read an article from Dan Heims here. Some sound advice for all.

Walters Gardens has some new Hibiscus moscheutos (hardy hibiscus). Don’t know if I am wild about the dwarf sizes because the normal types are better at competing with my real tropicals in the garden. ‘Sultry Kiss’ looks sexy as all get out. And who on Earth would not want some sultry kisses in the garden? Only a fool. It says magenta-red flowers (hot damn) and foliage that emerges bronze and goes dark green.

'Sultry Kiss' (Walters Gardens)

It sounds really good though I am still a big fan of the Fleming Brother’s ‘Fireball’, which I have grown.

Coreopsis that is NOT yellow and is HARDY?! I’m not counting those pinkish things. The one catching my eye is a sport of ‘Crème Brulee’ that was found by Sunny Border Nurseries. It’s called ‘Sienna Sunset’.

'Sienna Sunset' (Walters Gardens)

I love the peachy color. It would look great with coppers and blues.

Why plants from these particular vendors? In part because they introduce a lot of plants. In part because their catalogues were on my desk. Some even have a link on their site for the general public (it’s the one included here if available). You see, you don’t have to be a professional plant slut to visit these sites. Any ole plant slut can go to them and ogle to their heart’s content. So don’t fret. I’m taking care of you.

You’re welcome.

“Both escape and embrace winter?”, you ask. My, you are a nosy one. I’ll be nice and not tell you to mind your own damn business. For me searching through the catalogues this time of year really is an escape and an embrace of winter.

The escape part might be the easier to understand. I can run away to spring and summer when I will be able to plant the plants and sow the seed. I can imagine how beautiful that Colocasia ‘Diamond Head’ will look with Salvia ‘Black and Blue’.

I can see how pretty those orange bell peppers will look sautéing in dab of butter and olive oil with some green zucchini and purple eggplant. All very summery daydreams warming my world on a day below freezing with the ground covered in snow.

Now, the embracing of winter part might be less obvious. But think about it for a moment. Until sometime in December the garden is usually keeping me pretty darn busy. In October and November I’m so busy cutting back annuals, digging cannas and dahlias to be stored in the basement, and potting up salvia and hibiscus and alocasia to be overwintered near a window that final clean-up occurs late often. Then the holidays hit. Poof. Another two weeks gone. It is really sometime in January before I can shift out of go-go-go gardening mode and shift into dream gardening mode. So yes, I embrace winter for giving me time to dream garden. And that is what looking at all the wonders in all the catalogues is for me – dreaming of how great that new plant will look with the Dahlia ‘Not Hot Chocolate’ sleeping in the basement, dreaming of how perfect some Okra ‘Burgundy’ will look with pepper ‘Tequila Sunrise’ next to Swiss chard ‘Oriole Orange’ next to Lantana ‘Landmark Citrus’ (hopefully surviving in a plastic bag in the basement) and rising above it all Amaranthus ‘Dreadlocks’ that self-sows around the garden.

So who is getting me to open their pages and disappear for a spell? There are so many options. It’s hard to beat Baker Creek for heirloom vegetables. But they also have rare things from all over the world plus some flowers. Tony Avent of Plants Delight is always a good read (even if you can’t always embrace the whole idea on the cover). The man can find the plants! I have a lot of stuff from there. Select Seeds is another with lots of heirlooms but it’s all about flowers and foliage (seeds, bulbs, and plants).  Brent and Becky’s Bulbs is another favorite. I can sit at my kitchen counter and just while away the hours, especially on a cold sunny day with two windows facing south. Maybe I’ll have a batch of cookies in the oven.

And on-line? Mercy sakes alive! It is a fabulous world out there. When I have not received a catalogue yet, or don’t expect to, it’s off to the iMac to see if they have their 2010 catalogue on their website (some places don’t even do a print catalogue). There’s Seed Savers Exchange, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (p-lease, it’s southern y’all), Ronniger Potato Farm (always think I’m gonna plant potatoes), Seedhunt, Bountiful Gardens, Grow Italian, Bustani Plant Farm (are they ever tempting me this year!), Totally Tomatoes (they have peppers too). Then there are all the old stand-bys like Gurney, Jung, and Park for sure. And of course Sandhill Preservation Center (is this the year I finally order sweet potatoes?). Sandhill is one of my favorites. Not only do they have heirloom vegetables and flowers but they have heirloom and rare poultry. Lots of chickens. I love chickens. I’d love to have a chicken ranch. Not like the one in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. One with real chickens. But that isn’t part of life’s current situation. The problem with on-line? My dining room, where my computer resides, doesn’t have a southern window. Oh, but I added that opening in the wall – next to the doorway between the dining room and kitchen! Lots more light into the dining room. It’s looking like a good time to dream garden.

Sorry folks, I done runned out of time to add links to all these places in this post. But I assure you, all or nearly all, are on-line.
And another thing. I don’t need a hundred acres for that chicken ranch. You know, a lil’ ole bitty pissant country place would be just fine.

Icy roads. Short days. Bitter winds. Freezing temperatures. The bloody freaking temperatures absolutely scream winter. It’s especially a slap in the face after the extremely long beautiful autumn. But that was then and this is now and winter will be what it wants to be.

On December 2nd this is what some Echinacea ‘Sundown’ and a Campanula ‘Viking’ looked like.

On December 7th this is what my ‘Rocket Lemon’ snapdragons looked like. A lot can change in 5 days.

Now ideally you want some snow cover for the plants when it gets down in the low teens and below. Most plants are fine though. But what of my slightly more tender stuff where I’m pushing the zone envelope? Makes me a bit antsy to say the least. I should have got mulch around the other set of Colocasia ‘Tea Cups’ in my backyard. At least I got one group mulched. Maybe it’s a good experiment. See who makes it. Or doesn’t. The perennials and small shrubs that went in the ground late are a concern. I would have liked them to have a month or so of “normal” winter temperatures before the deep-freeze hit. Here again may be a good experiment.
Of course the cold weather does tend to make the Christmas decorations around the Lilly House just a little brighter. Whether it’s the trees indoors or the ones outdoors.

And it makes the 750 or so luminaria we put out for the Open House and Winter Solstice all the more beautiful. If you missed Open House you can redeem yourself by being sure to attend the Solstice events on the evening of the 17th. Just the thought of all of you coming warms my frozen candle lighting fingers right back up to blood flowing temperatures. The luminaria are truly magical.

With the snow that fell Monday morning came a reminder of why I do like winter at the same time I hate it. Hard to beat snow with evergreen foliage.

And if you can add some holly berries, well, all the better.

These shots may clue some folks in on why we don’t cut every dormant plant to the ground in late fall. All those seed heads make the best little presentation platters for the snow. They’re just beautiful.

Astilbe.

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’.

Clematis tangutica ‘Aureola’.

Echinacea ‘Milkshake’. The seeds in there will feed the birds too.

So Winter, bring it on. Just like with people, I can’t make you do what is best so I’ll survive your spastic attentions as best I can and wait for Spring – which of course will come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. Whatever.

I am still digging tropicals and other non-hardies at home. If the weather had not been so great I would be in deep double-dug doo-doo. As it is, I’m sort of leisurely going along – but admittedly starting to look over my shoulder for “real” November weather. Whether it was the cooler summer or the steady rains I don’t know but many plants did extra good this year. The Amorphophallus konjac got huge.

The Xanthosoma violaceum produced “pups”. A first for me.

Even a stroll around the IMA reveals horticulture rarities. One of the bananas Jim planted by the Rain Garden bloomed this year. Since that stalk will die anyway he just left it in the ground. The leaves look real sad but that bloom, that bloom thinks it can still make fruit. The middle of November and it is barely touched by cold.

These little yellow flowers would each develop into a banana in the perfect (tropical) climate.

Behind Deer Zink the containers still have variegated shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata’) looking great. On November 13!

On the Sutphin Mall Geranium ‘Rozanne’ demonstrates why I still am willing to plant it. Plenty of flowers on a plant that started blooming in May.

The woody plants continue to put on a show as well. Near the Formal Garden, European beeches glow in the afternoon sun. All that yellow holding back the gray of winter.

In the Overlook an oak and some viburnums seem to have color coordinated themselves.

So even though it is mid-November there is still plenty to enjoy and delight in the gardens. Why don’t you come and visit a spell?