Whew. Stump digging is tough. Happy to be done. Mostly done.
You may notice something:
I'd love to leave the seedling oak, but there simply isn't enough room there for a full grown--or even partially grown oak. Sadly, out it must go.
We've gotten several sunny (if not warm) days and the garden is starting to pop.
Didelta flower bud:
Agave 'Ray of Light' handled winter just fine:
TB Iris flower stems--more and more of them:
Clivia miniata:
Parthenocissus tricuspidata starting to leaf out:
The three Acer palmatums are each in a different state of awakening.
'Emperor I', buds swelling:
'Oshio Bene', leaves appearing:
'Ryusen'--wow! I guess it likes that spot:
Lagerstroemias waking up, too: Self-seeding Cerinthe's first flowers:
The first Leucanthemums:
Hellebore 'Pacific Frost', slow to wake but looking good:
Other Hellebores much further along:
The hybrid Hippeastrums are just waking up, but first Hippeastrum papilio flowers have opened:
Sweet pea plants look fantastic, but still only a flower or two:
Got out to a nursery this morning and picked up a few seedling plants: big-flowered Marigolds and Verbena 'Imagination'. Much, much less digging involved planting these than there was getting out the stump. Canada Geese went by today, honking. It's spring for them, too:Spring for you yet? If not yet, soon!
Wow, your 'Ryusen' is incredible and I like the way it cascades over the wall. I bought one last year and wasn't really sure how to place it. I do have it on top of a retaining wall although it is very upright.
ReplyDeleteThe vertical part of mine is just 2', so all it can do really is cascade. I got it for 70% off at a local big-box store that was shutting down, so it wasn't a quality plant--but it's thrived! Plants they'll surprise us.
DeleteBeautiful photos, HB. Your Japanese maples are well ahead of mine. Ryusen' is magnificent. My own 'Pacific Frost' hellebore seems to have entirely lost its variegation but I finally have a few hellebore buds and blooms.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't been down in the gully for a few days--seeing Ryusen leafed out so quickly was a big surprise. Nothing I did--all credit to the Acer.
DeleteI read the "frosting" on 'Pacific Frost' fades as the leaves age--could that be the issue? The "frosty" ones in the picture are the new growth.
Glad to hear your Hellebores have come through for you! It seems to take them a couple or three years to really establish and get going in my garden.
So many excitements in your garden. The Agave 'Ray of Light' is a star, and cerinthe, I love your cerinthe.
ReplyDeleteSpring! Ain't it awesome? :) The seedlings Cerinthes that appear vary--some are really pretty and others--not so much. I pull the meh ones and leave the pretties.
DeleteTHAT is a monster of a stump, well done! The Agave Ray of Light is perfection. Everything looks so fresh.
ReplyDeleteYes the stump is very heavy. It will have to sit and dry out for quite a while before I can move it.
Delete'Ray of Light' has been a good one. They appear to increase in variegation as they grow, not decrease.
The photo of your 'Ryusen' is jaw dropping. Is my memory failing or did it explode in size since last year? Mine is still bare. Of course.
ReplyDeleteHellebore 'Pacific Frost' is so pretty. Did it bloom already? The variety I grow is called 'Snow fever', and I couldn't tell it apart from yours to save my life...
Chavli
It's bigger but not hugely bigger. It seems to have more foliage, though.
DeleteNo 'Pacific Frost' has not flowered yet. It just started waking up a couple of weeks ago. I moved it because it was covered up by a Fuchsia. It's in a better spot now. Not familiar with 'Snow Fever', will have to look that one up.
Hooray! the stump is out. Looks like it was a tremendous amount of work. So many beautiful things happening in your garden at the moment. Ryusen is spectacular. Had a chuckle over your Canada Geese. A large number did not migrate this year and descend on a back pasture by the dozens every day to sit in the sun. They head back to the river as the sun sets. We've nicknamed them the commuters.
ReplyDeleteIt was painful, but now it's done. I think the geese were flying over because the reservoir up the canyon is full from all the rain--waterbirds spending time there. It's been dried up for several years, but one very rainy winter and the geese are back.
DeleteCongrats! I need to get out there and dig out my cotinus stump before it starts to leaf out (I cut it back last fall) and I have second thoughts. I want the space it takes up for other things. Love that Ray of Light and I am praying we get spring sometime soon. I don't know how much more cold and wet I can stand.
ReplyDeleteDigging a stump prompts many second thoughts. One must be Fearless. ;^) That book has had an affect on me! See what you did?
DeleteSpring soon. Very soon.
Lovely photos of lovely plants. The first photo has what looks like a Texas Blue Bonnet, but how did it find its way to California?
ReplyDeleteThank you! Texas Bluebonnet is Lupinus texensis, our local native annual Lupinus is Lupinus succulentus. So, similar, but not the same.
DeleteYou're easily a month ahead of us. We had nice weather last week, but yesterday we dropped down to 32°F (!!!) and today it's raining. Again. I think we'll skip spring this year and leap straight into summer.
ReplyDelete32°F!!!. Yikes! I hope your plants are holding up to that. Cold+wet is tough on a lot of xeric plants.
DeleteHeres a weird thing: I was worried about Aloe dhufariensis getting 22"+ of rain, but it's been just fine.
I lost a bunch of agaves, including a large variegated ovatifolia. That one hurt. My dhufariensis rotted as well :-(.
DeleteA variegated ovatifolia??? OMG! So sorry. 🤢 dhufariensis--too cold for it?
DeleteLoree lost many Agaves, too. Cold winter. A couple of my Aloe dorotheae rotted, but that's about it--so far.
That 'Pacific Frost' Hellebore is a beauty. Lately I have been searching for Hellebores based on foliage rather than flowers as that is what one sees for most of the time. I'm extremely impressed with your work on getting that stump out and have to admit that I've had help that last time I tried to do a job like that.
ReplyDeleteYes you would think that some hybridizer is out there crossing for interesting Hellebore foliage not just the flowers.
DeleteThe 'Penny's Pink' (i think) has white veining in the leaves. Really pretty. I like the leaves so much I don't care if it blooms or not--but it does that, too. The 'Pacific Frost' "frost" effect fades as the summer progresses. It is at its most intense when the foliage is new.
Working on the stump myself--it's educational to see what is underground after looking at what is above ground for years. On the other hand, it's hard work and very tiring and not for everyone.
Hah! Such different expectations for spring. Definitely is spring here. Rainy, windy, sunny, cloudy, snowy, cold, warm... and our little bullies, the Rufous hummingbirds, are back. Weeds are also starting to germinate and I see the first sprouts of horsetail just beginning to emerge in the yard. Preparing for the weed invasion in 3, 2, 1...
ReplyDeleteYour Didelta looks like expensive, folded fabric. Great form. And, your post reminds me I need to keep an eye out for the hellebores with more interesting foliage. Does Pacific Frost retain the coloration or does it turn more green as the season progresses?
So far we've had a milder version some of that Spring--cold(ish)/warm/sunny/cloudy, if not the rain and snow--it's even drizzly this morning. All hummingbirds seem to be very competitive, the males fight each other, and also chase off the juveniles and females, who are able to feed discreetly mostly while the males are fighting each other.
DeleteHorsetail---I shudder to think of that stuff. Yikes. :( Weeds--some here, but there have been intervals of dry between rains to keep up on them. Pulled more yesterday.
'Pacific Frost' mostly greens up as the season progresses. 'Penny's Pink' (some of them--the white highlights vary??) retain their white veining just about to the very end.