joene's garden » narcissi

A Connecticut Garden, May 2013 Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

joenesgarden — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:19:25 +0000

A Connecticut Garden, May 2013 Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Spring 2013 continues to take a slow journey toward summer. Chilly temperatures hold on – it dropped to 38 degrees early this morning – but weather forecasts promise warmer temperatures are moving into Connecticut. For this Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, sponsored by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, my gardens are dotted with typically early spring blooms and filled with promising buds.

Daffodils/narcissi have had a long run in our chilly temperatures. The last are standing sentry over the garden beds.

Soon their foliage will be completely masked by the very aggressive hay fern.

Nearby, Lily-of-the-Valley share a sweet fragrance.

An early nepeta adds colorful contrast to white blooming flowers and food for early pollinators.

Common lilac bushes are filled with color and scent.

And white lilac blossoms have opened and are larger than I've witnessed in years past. I wonder if last year's lack of flowering, likely due to the combination of early warmth followed by a later bud-destroying freeze, enticed the white lilac to shove out such large blooms.

Pansy pots happily brighten the front porch.

Jack-in-the-pulpit is popping up here and there in the woods.

And my pink dogwood has finally decided to send out more than one or two showy bracts.

Still, much of the garden is in a state of anticipation.

Chives are in bud.

Allium hints at things to come.

Iris stand ready to put on a show next to the ever patient Irving.

There's even anticipation spewing from the robin's nest in the rhododendron

where two robin parents take turns keeping their three eggs warm and sheltered until they hatch.

You just have to love May!

Now visit May Dreams Gardens to see May gardens in bloom all over the world. And, if you are kind enough to leave a comment here I will reply in a few days … taking some time to visit family.

Garden thoughtfully …

Categories: Bloom Day.
Tags: allium, chives, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, gardening in Connecticut, iris, Jack-in-the-pulpit, lilac, Lily-of-the-Valley, narcissi, nepeta, pansy, pink dogwood.

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Just a month till Spring–Wordless Wednesday

joenesgarden — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Just a month till Spring–Wordless Wednesday

Categories: Wordless Wednesday.
Tags: narcissi, Wordless Wednesday.

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Mother Nature is messing with Connecticut gardens

joenesgarden — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:55:42 +0000

Mother Nature is messing with Connecticut gardens

I know, it's hard not to panic when reading:

Freeze Warning

Valid: April 27 at 3:30PM EDT - April 28 at 8:00AM EDT

* LOCATIONS...PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT...THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY AND NORTHEASTERN NEW JERSEY.
* HAZARDS...HARD FREEZE.
* TEMPERATURES...25 TO 30.
* TIMING...EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.
* IMPACTS...ANY OUTDOOR...SENSITIVE VEGETATION MAY SUFFER DAMAGE IF NOT PROTECTED DUE TO TEMPERATURES DROPPING BELOW FREEZING FOR A PERIOD LATE TONIGHT.

But it is not unusual to have a frost or a freeze in April or into May. We live in Connecticut. Yes, our weather has been warm but, unless Connecticut moved to another region while I was otherwise occupied, it's still a New England state. And April is a fickle month. Some years it's warm, others it's cold. This year Mother Nature cannot make up her mind just what she wants April to be.

It's easy to get caught up in gardening mode when the weather is warm. I have two hibiscus

and a fig I overwintered indoors.

All are just itching to soak up the warmth of the sun on my covered south-facing front porch, but their new, tender leaves are not ready to brave the cool nighttime temperatures we are having, and I'm not willing to move such large plants out during the day and in at night.

It's easy to become intoxicated with the early Spring warmth that has caused many plants and shrubs to blossom nearly three weeks earlier than normal. For the most part April has felt and looked like May. In 2011, my purple lilacs were not in full bloom until May 14. This year they were fully open on April 23.

But April warmth does not mean that tender plants such as tomatoes, peppers, most greenhouse-grown bedding annuals and most houseplants should be outside yet, unless tended by a very experienced gardener with enough time to cover them or move them in and out according to each day's temperatures.

If you have already placed tender plants in the ground cover them with upside down apple baskets, overturned pots, or sheets. If you must, do this before you go to bed. The real cold won't hit until the early morning hours. Just make sure the covering is not touching any leaves. Coverings will transfer cold to the leaves, causing damage. And, by all means, move any potted tender plants or houseplants back inside until nighttime temperatures moderate a bit.

Any freeze that materializes is likely to shorten the life of blooms already open and may alter the quality of blooms still in bud. But, in situations like this we need to accept that we are not in charge.

So cover any newly planted annuals or blooming perennials you simply cannot live without, grab a camera to preserve some digital reminders of your blooms, then pick as many as possible and fill every available horizontal space with fresh cut flowers.

When you have no room for another indoor bouquet, sit back, enjoy, and remember ... it's April.

Garden thoughtfully.

Categories: Focus on Flowers, Gardening, Seasons.
Tags: freeze protection, gardening in Connecticut, lilacs, narcissi.

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