Spring Progresses

Saturday, 20C; today 23C!! Stuff is just jumping out of the ground and/or into bloom. Many hours on the bike this weekend too, despite back and butt problems which are just about conquered (I hope)...

Daphne mezureum shown here has added it's scents to that of the red maple flowers (no photo)







And the bees are out in force, this bumblebee condescended to sit still for a photo. More honey bees this year than the past several too.






And the white form, Daphne mezereum forma alba. A sweeter more clovelike scent than the pinkish type.

Here, a worm's eye view of some snowdrops. Not the best focus, but they are interesting flowers up close. Canopied by Rhododendron fortunei.

Peony noses of all types are up suddenly just about everywhere that I've put them. This is the furthest along as usual, Paeonia mairei. Still in small pots but rooted into the former lawn below; Every spring I swear to get them planted out in fall and every fall manage not to...







Surprisingly, to me, the tree peony Paeonia rockii is also already breaking out of it's buds, rather earlier relative to the rest of the peonies than what I am used to seeing.

Muscari species (a Grape Hyacinth) sort of in bloom, it's sometimes hard to tell when they open. I've lost track of the name of this one, I think it might be something to do with Armenia but not sure anymore. It seeds around like none of the other species that I have tried, a great bonus.

A Thlaspi species, not long-lived but seeding about in the sand bed. These are little alpines which have been with me for over a decade now.

The main crocus show. The Thlaspi is in this bed, far back on the right but I don't think you'll be able to see it in the photo.

An addendum to the previous post on frost damage amongst the Hellebores. This poor ugly blasted shoot may also have been the victim of that frost, but it was fairly well-covered with dry bracken leaves so I hadn't seen it before the cold snap. It is also possible, particularily since this plant was moved into the ground from a pot late last summer, that this was unseasonally last autumn's growth and the frost damage is the more normal result of the entire winter.

Peonies Progress (2) - Tree types

Rock's Peony, Paeonia rockii or Paeonia suffruticosa ssp rockii is well along at this point. No flower buds in sight yet, but this species has not yet flowered for me here (the plants are fairly young).

Paeonia delavayi a few days along in the sprouting of its foliage buds, both from the root and on last year's wood.



Paeonia ludlowii not as far along; most of the buds are merely swelling a bit so far but a few have begun to sprout.



A bit further along is Paeonia x handel-mazzettii, a natural hybrid of the previous two.

Noses, Shoots, and Deploying Leafs (part 4)

This one looks an awful lot like the Fern-leaf Peony (Paeonia tenuifolia) but is in fact Paeonia kartalinika (classified by some as P. tenuifolia ssp biebersteiniana). Botanically, the difference is longer leaf segments on kartalinika; horticulturally the difference is that this is a plant of scrub and open forests, whereas tenuifolia is mainly a plant of the grasslands. I've also noticed that tenuifolia has buds readily visible by the time the shoot reaches this moppy stage, whereas on my kartalinika the bud wasn't apparent until 2 days after this pic. But that's probably not a useful distinction even if it is broadly applicable!

Well-formed shoots of the Caucasus Peony, Paeonia caucasica. Good-sized buds already. There is some variation in the degree and shade of reddish-purpleness tints of the leafs between plants.

Slowly enlarging leaf buds of Rock's Peony, Paeonia rockii or Paeonia suffruticosa ssp rockii, possibly the hardiest of the tree peony species. My other tree peony species aren't yet budding out, but should be close to it.

A few noses of a young plant of the Siberian woodlander Paeonia obovata. Older plants of this species are still keeping their heads down, here. Maybe they know something the rest of us don't...

And everyone's favourite, the Golden Peony Paeonia mlokosewitschii. These went from 0 to 8cm overnight, literally (a bit of a heat wave here the past few days-- great cycling!). More purpley than any other species, especially at this stage.

Frostless Days and Frostless Nights*: Peony noses and shoots (2)

Booming right along without frosts here.

Paeonia mascula shoots from 3 days ago.

And from today, a surprise in a pot-farm, Paeonia mairei which I haven't seen in flower yet (but will this year- note the bud already!); the leaves are distinctively pointed and dark, very attractive. 5 days ago there was nothing here, but in the pot-farms once things start to warm they move along faster than in the ground. Of course the peony in a 1 gallon pot will be somewhat smaller in all respects than one in the ground, even though the root has gone through a hole in the pot into the ground below.


And a Tree Peony, Paeonia rockii. This too has not flowered here yet, but was only planted out into a bed a year and a half ago. I'm just happy they survive.

* with apologies to Freddy Fender, after the (HMCS) Restigouche refit theme song from 1976, "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights". O Yeah, a real highlight year that was... fortunately Frostless doesn't equate to Wasted.