Signs of Spring, Report from Zone Five

{rough draft}

We are finally in the long thaw.  Like the long freeze before it, this transition is subject to sudden reversals and unexpected quirks... but it is definitely approaching spring around here.

I've had some early crocus up for about a week now, it's been too rainy/cloudy for them to open, but they are holding steady, waiting for that opportunity to arrive.

I went out after writing the above, and lo and behold - shone the sun and opened those tender flowers.  Lovely.

We have such lousy snow cover in this region that I usually leave my 'fall' cleanup for spring.  This weekend or next I will be out there with the pruners and the grass shears, giving the ornamental grasses and siberian iris their annual haircuts.   

The hellebores before their spring 'haircut.'

  {picture after tidy}

I'm hoping for blooms on my hellebores.  These were purchased three years ago, from White Flower Farm, and I have been very patient... but the anticipation is killing me.  Last year I got all excited when I saw new growth, only to have it be the season's foliage coming up.

I bought from White Flower because their picture looked so lovely, and I liked the color mix.  I only bought three plants, I am anxious to see what colors the lottery has delivered.  Hoping for three different ones, that would be very nice.  I'd much rather buy my plants locally and in bloom, as I tend to be fussy about details like color, but haven't found any yet. Their season is long before the regionally traditional Mother's Day start of the garden season for the local nurseries and box stores... and when I do find them, I'm sure it will be a tight money week and I will have to pass them by, isn't that how it goes?

This is the time of year that I get the late fallen leaves out of the borders, so that the bulbs can see the light and shine!  One year I had tulips that had pushed their way up through the heavy popular leaves only to bear these up as they grew.  When I tried to pull the dead leaves off, I broke the brittle tulip foliage.  Sigh.  I don't have good luck with tulips. Ask my mother, who let me help weed her garden at age five.  She very carefully pointed out the leaves to stay, and I didn't touch a single daffodil.   Poor mom.  No tulips for you, either. 

I managed to miss the window for pruning trees this winter.  Mark wanted to skip this year, as we did a heavy prune on the red apple last year, but I still intended to do my shaping cuts on the front maples and check the interferences between the back oak and the green apple.  Oh well.  I may yet do some pruning, but it can wait.   It can wait.

Spring.  Hurry up!

Comments

[Judith]

The snow melted & I found my Hellebores have been trampled by my dogs--I had purchased them from White Flower Farm years ago & moved them to my new house...not much luck w/them here--they were great in my city garden. I will be curious as to what colors you ended up with. Lots of work out there! Yes, Spring, hurry up! (zone 6a)

[Kathy]

We live in South Lyon and have had very good luck with hellebores from Arrowhead Alpines in Fowlerville (http://www.arrowhead-alpines.com/). They are both mailorder and retail but their retail opens up after the mail orders are shipped. It is a great day trip in the late spring and they have several display gardens - Enjoy!

[Jenn]

Ooo... Yeah. A visit to Arrowhead has been on my wishlist for some time now. Maybe this will be the year I get out there.

[Zoey]

Isn't it irritating when those spammers leave their come-on comments?
It looks like you are well underway with your 2006 garden season.
I agree that buying locally is the way to go. I, too, like to see the full plant before I buy. Those catalog pictures just never seem to look like the blooms I get! (if I ever get any blooms)

[Jenn]

Zoey, spring is coming. I don't think you are too far behind me in the seasons, although I do think your summer is about a month shorter than mine.

At least this spammer was vaguely topic related! The p*orn ones are always a mystery - why they think gardeners are going to be clicking over to them.... we're already busy with much more basic biology, thank you very little!

[Sandy]

Hopefully your hellebores will bloom this year. I was excited to find that one of my seedling finally bloomed. It is four years old. You can understand why they are so expensive!

[Ames Tiedeman]

Do you own a Rion Greenhouses?

[jenn]

Nope, I don't own a greenhouse.

Were I to come into some money, tho, the kind I would be would be more like the Grand Hideaway.

In the cold winter clime I'm in, a long and narrow greenhouse is a heating disaster - I'd be going for more air volume in a shorter run - hopefully heated with radient water pipes under tile.

Ah, yes. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it. Sheer bliss.

[jenn]

Hm. Is that Rion made of polycarbonate? Is it recycled? Recylable?

I'd like to stick to something that as earth-friendly as possible.

[Ames Tiedeman]

Yes, a greenhouse will improve your vegtables. They will be bigger and taste better.

[Ames Tiedeman]

Do you own a greenhouse?

[Ames Tiedeman]

Check our Rion Greenhouses!

[Jenn]

What I can afford - is a few strawbales with a bit of floating row cover.

Until we get out current house REPLACED (as it is a dump and falling down) we won't have scads of money for luxuries like a nice greenhouse.

Is all that plastic on the Rion from recycled sources?

[ames Tiedeman]

Jenn:

Rion is made of crecyled platic!
Check our Rion.com

[jenn]

In response to this:

A new comment from “thebench” was received on the post “Signs of Spring, Report from Zone Five” of the weblog “Garden Djinn”.

Comment:
If you like Hellebores especially those with Green flowers - You have to see the Heronswood Nursery collection which includes Helleborus x hybridus 'Phoenix'. Masses of olive green flowers with a burgundy margin bloom in early March.

* Commenter name: thebench
* Commenter email: bpaul38@yahoo.com
* Commenter URL: http://www.heronswood.com
* IP address: 204.143.88.131
* Authentication: None

Well, "thebench", that'd be great if I was still in zone five. If you'd read a little more, you'd see that I am now in the desert.

Oh, wait, you are a spam bot. Nice. Nice what Burbee's doing to Heronswood.

Pity.