We're (finally) in the full swing of spring--everything is greening up and showing its colors. Having a long, dreary winter makes spring all the more welcome and joyous. I wander around the garden every decent weather day, looking for who's (anthropomorphizing) the latest to sprout a leaf or bud. It truly excites me. This is when I miss my mom--she had the heart of a gardener and a passion for nature. I regret that I never got to share my house and garden with her. I think she would have loved this Geranium Bill Wallis.
Things I took for granted in California: Very little dies back over winter and spring comes early. Some bulbs even push through in January, and when they do, they push up through green. Here in Oregon, a lot dies back (especially with my lack of evergreens), so when the bulbs finally push through, sometimes they're the only color around--and in this case, not much. Life is full of trade-offs.
I think I've planted all the trees I'll need. They give the bones to the garden--starting with my big focus and a selling-point for the property--my magnificent big-leaf maple. A table sits on the bluebells at the base of the tree because we just seeded the meadow with a clover mix.
My first spring here, I discovered I have huge ornamental cherry--a pleasant surprise. It's a short bloom, and when it's done, there's a snow storm of petals.
Dogwoods may be my favorite tree. I've planted over a dozen white ones, but this, on the side of the cottage, is my only dusty pink.
I planted a small orchard that barely survived the deer last year. But with screening, I'm hoping to actually taste a fruit this year. I have apples, cherries and pears. This is an Asian Pear.
My big push this year is to get the ground covers planted for maximum coverage. They're doing nicely, but it's a challenge to my patience.
I love this variegated Bishop's Weed. It will get white flowers, but I'm mostly here for the foliage. Already blooming is Sweet Woodruff, actually an herb.
My favorite is Bunchberry--in the dogwood (cornus) family with miniature dogwood-like blooms. The Ajuga (below) is very happy. The trouble is, most of these will die back completely or look very soggy and sad during the winter.
I'm slowly discovering which plants can take the wet, cold and freeze that we have every winter. Some don't make it, but most die back, store up energy and spring forth. And a few like my Azaleas and Daphne suffered complete leaf drop, but somehow bloomed with vigor.
My Woodland area is one I look most forward to. It's completely bare all winter, but everything comes back with a big reward. Trilliums, Hostas, Brunnera
This is called Shiny Geranium, it's wild and very invasive. But I love the little pink flowers in spring and the reds and oranges it turns in the hot dry sun. My gardener threw some iris we'd pulled out (that he couldn't bear to throw away) into the nook. I'm letting it all flourish.
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