How amazing these delicate beauties. In spite of their fragile appearance, columbines are very tough. They often grow from cracks in the rocks in their native environment.

I have no memory of ever planting this pink columbine so it may be a hybrid cross between the Alpine blues and some other variety growing in my garden. Columbines hybridize easily and reseed well.



Alpine blue can also be white or have white petals. Mine are all the solid blue and don't show up very well against the green background.




Two more tough plants that thrive on neglect, allium and tall bearded iris. Both tolerate drought, have few pests, and multiply rapidly.




I'm getting really impatient to get my annuals planted but I'm afraid it will frost again, so I wait. It was much warmer here in March than in either April or May. We actually had several days of 80-degree heat in late March. This month the daytime highs are hovering in the 40's and 50's.

We finally got caught up on our rain. After getting almost none in April, we have had over five inches in the last two days.

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.
~Terri Guillemets

Saturday was Klehm Arboretum’s annual fund raising plant sale. Déjà vous, exactly like the 2009 sale day—damp, cold and windy.

Last year I remember walking across the parking lot, the wind cutting through my light weight jacket, making me shiver. This year I'm more prepared in a heavy winter coat. The sale begins at 9:00 but the volunteers aren’t ready so we must stand in the lobby for a half hour.

While we wait we chat a little about plants and previous sales. I tell them about two new favorites found here last year. It’s exciting, not like visiting a garden center (although that can be exciting too). Here you will find some unusual plants. Many gardeners specialize in native wild flowers that can’t be found in box stores or even greenhouses.

Last year I found rudbeckia triloba by accident. I had been talking with a volunteer who brought a box of plants to the sale. I followed her to a table in the corner where she pointed at a group of tiny plants and told me these were very nice. She didn’t know the name and just called them black eyed Susan’s. The little leaves didn’t look familiar, certainly not one of the more common rudbeckias. For a buck and a quarter, why not try one? (It was late July before these little leaves suddenly grew into a 28 inch clump and burst into a spectacular yellow display. The flowers lasted throughout the autumn season.

(Rudbeckia triloba native to the eastern US)

This year I picked up several more r. triloba.

Another great plant from last year’s sale was Fireworks, a hybrid goldenrod.

(Solidago Fireworks another native plant.)

Found another Fireworks at this sale. Also picked up a huge clump of chives, a white woodland phlox, a few miniature bearded iris, a jack in the pulpit, and a bloodroot.

(A few early gardeners check our the display tables)

(Crows in front of Klehm's visitors center.)

Oh, spring came to my garden And caught it unaware Wearing just a few old leaves And a dejected air. ~ Velma Bates

I always buy annuals early, favorites and the more unusual varieties are gone by mid April. Since I’ve had terrible luck starting cosmos from seed, my only alternative is to buy a flat or two. Didier greenhouse grows a very limited number, so I grab them the minute they become available. I was never able to find any yellow or orange cosmos but love these pink.

Plum Crazy is my favorite petunia color. It sells out pretty quickly too so I pick mine up early. Our last frost date is May 15^th so plants, in their tiny cell packs, must be babied along until they can safely go into the garden.

I spent more than half an hour hovering around the flats of annuals and hoping this red admiral butterfly would land on one of the blooms and let me get his photo against a pretty background.

He was determined not to cooperate. He spent his time sunning on the ugly brown leaf mulch, on the concrete driveway, and on a torn dogwood leaf. He never went near the flowers.

Last year was so wet we saw almost no butterflies until August. This year is the opposite, very dry so butterflies are out early.

In addition to the lilacs and flowering fruit trees, viburnum x Burkwoodii is in bloom. This is the first viburnum to flower here. It isn’t the showiest but it has a strong, sweet fragrance.

While I work outside, Toby patrols, keeping me safe from marauding mice and gophers.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing ~ Shakespeare

Shakespeare's quote seemed apt, our weekend was full of sound and fury as thunderstorms passed over us pushed on by 50 mph winds. Unfortunately we received almost no rain.

This morning the television news is full of stories about the torrential rains and flooding in Tennessee. My heart goes out to all the families caught up in this disaster. This morning I'm hoping our Tennessee blogging friends are online to let us know they are OK.

A few weeks ago I enjoyed seeing photos of cherry trees blooming south of here. So far, I have never been lucky enough to visit DC at cherry blossom time.

For the last three weeks northern Illinois has been blessed with a stunning display of crabapple blooms.

Driving around town, running errands, I snapped a few photos I hope you will enjoy.

I may be prejudiced, but to me, our crab apples look every bit as beautiful as the cherries. They bloom in every shade from pure white to almost red.

This year has been a great year for the crab apples. They like cool, sunny weather and we have had an abundance in April.

I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I work in the garden.
~John Erskine

At 6:30 Wednesday morning I picked an armful of lilacs to bring to work. My fingers were stinging from the frosty air as I cut the woody stems and stuffed them into a pail of water. It was a beautiful morning and even though a fine film of frost lay over everything, the clear sunshine and vivid colors couldn’t help but lift the spirits.

Something that always strikes me on cold mornings when the temperature is below freezing is that even lilacs have no fragrance. An hour after being placed in the warm offices the lilac scent is heavy throughout the building. For me, the fragrance is the best thing about lilacs. They are lovely to look at but noting compares to walking into the garden on a spring afternoon and smelling that teasing scent on every stray breeze.

Perhaps one of the most appealing things about gardening is that simple chores free the gardener's conscious to float out over a strange array of subjects. Outside in the fresh air, the mind is swept clean and tends to wander down seldom used thought paths.

I have some happy news. My father finally came home from the therapy center Tuesday. I can’t tell you how much the family worried about this event. We weren’t sure he was up to living without skilled help and supervision. At Cor Mariae, Dad seemed so helpless and frail, but home on his own turf, he has made a miraculous change. He was in and out his back door a dozen times just sitting in the sunshine and walking slowly along the edge of his woodland garden while one of us told him what was blooming and tried to make word pictures he could ‘see’ in his mind.

Thank you everyone for your good wishes and kind comments about Dad while he was so sick.

I will be resuming twice weekly publishing starting today. I will try to maintain a Monday and Thursday schedule of posts.

I want to thank everyone who stops by even when plants in the garden are scarce. I can't tell you how much your comments and advice are enjoyed and appreciated. You have become very good friends over the seasons and I treasurer the time we spend sharing stories and photos.

Really looking forward to this season in the garden. Hoping for good weather and plenty of rain.

******

Tulip season is winding down. First the little species tulips bloomed with the daffodils. Next came the parrots and now the late doubles.

Late doubles are first.

Allegretto is a fire storm of color. This is one of those 55 mph tulips, as Brent and Becky's call them, a real standout. It was the last tulip to bloom so it may have a week or more before it's finished.

Toning down a few shades is Foxtrot a multi hued pink double.

And last, everyone's favorite late blooming double, the lovely Angelique. Angelique has been extremely long lived here. Every year I breath a sigh of relief when I see her foliage emerge and know she has come back once again.

Now the flamboyant parrot tulips. Below is Libretto, very similar to Madonna (Madonna can be seen on my header and in the previous post) but with a much less dramatic green flame. Libertto blooms about two weeks later than Madonna in my garden.

Opening wide during the day to allow the pollinators access and closing back in the evening.

This is Carmine, outrageously beautiful.

Now for a few blooms from the shade and woodland gardens.

I'm smitten with lamium Pink Pearl. The pearly silver and green leaves almost glow in a shady spot. It's a quick spreader so I'll be dividing and moving this clump around very soon.

These are Virginia blue bells and I can see a couple leaves of garlic mustard among them. How embarrassing, we all have weeds but we don't usually show them off! Garlic mustard is the bane of my existence. Hope you never get this evil weed in or around your property.

Saving the best for last. Isn't this just the loveliest and most romantic of plants. My father has two varieties, one like this and a more or less ever blooming cultivar. The ever bloomer does not have quite the perfectly defined heart shape and the color is pale but the foliage is ferny and very attractive.

The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it. ~Patrick Young

Last weekend's sun rises behind promising clouds but the promise never materializes. The clouds burn off later in the day and we still have no rain. The ground is very dry and the wind is constant. My woodland garden is quietly suffering.

Still hopeful that some rain my drift our way by week's end.

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.
~Author Unknown



The celandine poppies are beginning to bloom. To think, once not long ago, I did not like these plants.

Confederate violets are more persistent than the common lawn violets. To have one today is to have several hundred in a few years.

Couldn't resist these fringe tulips when I stopped at Didier's. Don't look too closely or the fringe begins to look like sharp white teeth.



Virginia blue bells blooming in a little pool of anemone.

Anemone is another plant I never cared much for until recently. It seemed so bland. Now I can't grow enough of it. My ideas about flowers and gardens have changed drastically over the years.


A large spot of whimsy I pass on the way to visit my father at the therapy center. This 15-foot tall tree has been completely uprooted and 'planted' upside down with the roots making a large nest at the top. It is decorated with bright spring colors.



The Resident Rodent Remover is on the job. Wearing his fearsome expression, doesn't he remind you of Clint Eastwood? No need to worry about moles, voles or gophers in his gardens.

An interesting bit of trivia. Last month was the warmest March in history, globally.

Spring bulb photos

Our temperatures are still way above average. Eighties today and tomorrow before a cold front comes through and brings rain and cooler weather.

I took photos of my spring bulbs last night. These eighty degree days may spell an end to the bulb season. Fingers crossed that the cooler weather on Friday will rescue some of them.

My favorite Parrot Tulip came back--second year in a row. The color combination is fantastic.

These very short yellow and red tulips are Kaufmanniana Guiseppe Verdi. Very short with some red striping in the foliage.

Another very short tulip is Greigii Orange Toronto only about 10 inches tall with very nice red striped foliage.

Unknown daffodil, little faces turned toward the sun. Love the bright colors.

This daffodil reminds me of eggs, the center looks like yellow yolks;) Very small blooms but ruffled and pretty.

Another of my Parrot Tulips.

Do any of you dig your tulip bulbs after the foliage dies back? I've heard some people have success doing this to keep the bulbs going from year to year. A little extra trouble, but I would do it for favorite varieties.