Dirt Therapy

We received over 3 inches of rain this week. Despite the fact that I was off work for spring break, I'm not going to complain. Most of the rain actually occurred at night so I was able to get some much needed weeding accomplished. The garden is looking good although I still have lots to do. The gardening catalogs have been steadily arriving in the mail since January. I don't get as many as I use to because I don't order as much but it is fun to see what new plants are available. Since our gardening real estate has diminished and more shade also limits what we can grow, I try to refrain from going nuts. Good on the pocketbook if not the spirit! One plant on my wish list this year is this miniature buddleia called "Blue Chip" - I know this is a sun plant but I can find a spot for it somewhere! It is advertised as growing 24"- 36" tall and would probably do well in containers. I think this plant was on the market last year so if any of my readers are growin...

It has been a beautiful week so far! I'm off for spring break this week and have been busy in the garden. Rain is forecast for tomorrow and unfortunately for the remainder of the week. It had better not rain the rest of the week or I will not be a happy camper! Here are some of the plants that are blooming now: Wild Columbine ( Aquilegia canadensis ) I've had this for a long time and it always come back faithfully every year. I should really plant more. Mohawk Viburnum ( Viburnum x burkwoodii 'Mohawk' ) - a stunning shrub and so fragrant. Lunaria (Money Plant) Virginia Bluebells ( Mertensia virginica ) Weeping Higan Cherry Tree ( (Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula') - a very fleeting tree but truly lovely. This grows next to our patio. You have to look up from a distance to see it to best advantage. Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata) Contorted Filbert (aka Harry Lauder's Walking Stick) (Corylus avellana) always has something of...

This is one of my favorite trees and I look forward to it blooming every year. When I took the top photo on Saturday, there were hundreds (thousands?) of bees humming above my head. It sounded like I was at an airport. I have recommended this tree to a lot of people and when asked to describe it, I usually tell them that it looks like cotton candy. I later learned that the yoshino is a short-lived tree which is very sad but I'm hoping ours will last the rest of my lifetime.

Our state flower used to be the goldenrod. I remember learning this in grade school in the late 1960s but it turns out that the state flower was changed to the camellia in 1959. I guess school textbooks were not updated that often back then. Why the change? Well, some garden society ladies thought that the goldenrod was undeserving as the state flower and many considered it a weed (it was initially chosen by school kids in 1927 as their favorite flower). So, the state flower was changed to the camellia in 1959, and since there are different varieties of camellias, Camellia Japonica was specifically selected as the state flower in 1999. I don't know why it took forty years to do this. I don't resent this decision and I have nothing against goldenrod (in fact, I grow it in the garden) but I'm absolutely gaga over camellias. I got the camellia fever a few years ago and planted a lot of them. Most are still very small. I think camellias are the perfect flower and I marvel at...

The Hardy Orange ( Poncirus Trifoliata ) is blooming and it is quite a lovely sight in the garden.  Shooting up into the sky about 12 feet, it continues to make me a little uneasy. I mean really, would you want to get into a wrestling match with this guy? Last week, I cut a huge limb off of this plant and mind you, I took my time and was very careful. I kept having visions of falling into it and impaling myself in its vicious thorns. Hardy Orange is somewhat of a novelty plant - the pretty white blossoms appear in early March and in the fall you get the beautiful fruit that looks like small oranges. After the leaves fall, the thorny structure makes an interesting focal point in the winter garden. I think it would be a wonderful specimen for a Japanese garden but oddly, I don't think I've ever seen one. This is a fairly carefree plant with one irritant - seedlings pop up all under it, often in thick clumps. I just take a shovel and scoop them up and I try to pick the ora...

So, if you wake up to a few inches of snow on March 1, does that mean it came in like a lion or a lamb? I'm going to guess lamb because it is so quiet outside. That is the main thing I love about snow - it is so peaceful and normally we have the constant sound of traffic coming from the nearby bridge and ambulances going to the hospital that is about one mile from our house.