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Sprummer

It's like time-lapse photography, the way all the spring bloom is compressed into the last 10 days.  Here are some emerging Peony sprouts that soon will become gorgeous red Paeonia lactiflora 'Scarlet O'Hara.'  Which I got on clearance at Home Depot in 2006. 

It's a knockout!!  It will look like this in .. well, who knows?  Usually it's May.

And, not to be outdone, the Redbud is going for broke.

Now.. I hope all these plants finish their bloom before the inevitable terrible storm, which we usually get on Memorial Day, or thereabouts, but this year Claytonia says should happen about April 15th, judging by our weird season.

So - enjoy!  These plants remind us to carpe diem, or at least carpe camera and preserve the loveliness.

Harbinger of spring

Well, no kidding.  I'm not sure we even are having winter this year.  The witch hazel knows something, however, unfurling her flowers on days that the winter landscape considers "warm."  They curl up otherwise.  This is Hamamelis 'Jelena' and it's not fragrant like the species.  The payoff is the larger, more colorful flowers.  It's planted under Austrian Pines, gets part sun only, and is doing just fine with minimal water.  This is a great shrub/small tree for our mid-western landscapes, requiring almost no care, although she does appreciate a late - winter visit so her flowers can be admired.  Oh, and the rest of the year she's  a beauty too - interesting leaves and excellent fall color, similar to the flowers you see here.

How to kill your evergreens this winter

salt damage on yews

It's simple!  Just be sure to use LOTS of salt to de-ice the walkways near them.  Come spring, you will have something unique: striped evergreens!  Actually, excessive use will also damage trees, perennials, and lawns, with newly planted things at highest risk.

salt damage on boxwoods

Better to use as little of the salt product as possible, and only after removing as much as you can of the ice and snow by other means.  Definitely don't pile salty snow on top of plantings. You can also mix salt with sand or kitty litter (the cheap unscented kind); 50 pounds of sand mixed with 1 pound of salt will work to improve traction.  A dilute mixture such as this won't do much to melt snow and ice.

When spring returns, flush the area heavily to help wash remaining salts out of the root zone.  There are plenty of trees, shrubs, and perennials that are salt tolerant.  Here's a link to a great article on winter salt injury as well as a comprehensive list of salt-tolerant landscape plants:

Winter Salt Injury and Salt-Tolerant Landscape Plants

Speechless at the Morton Arboretum

 I'm just going to recommend that you visit the Morton Arboretum at dusk sometime.  And bring a real camera, not your phone.

Beech

"Beeches have Beautiful Buds"

Praying Mantis

We found a visitor on the water jug - way too creepy for me to hold.  Apparently it's strong and it sure looked like it meant business.  This is the second praying mantis we've encountered this year.

Fall Surprise

It's good to plant fall - blooming bulbs because most of the time I forget to expect them, so I get a welcome surprise in September. 

 And they go with everything.

Here's a vignette from my front garden:

The pink flower is Colchicum cilicicum, planted with Euphorbia myrsinites (bluish donkey-tail looking plant), chartreuse Aquilegia 'Woodside', and no-name Columbine. You can see a bit of blue-flowered Ceratostigma plumbaginoides in the background and Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' to the right (little yellow flowers).  Also, I hate to admit, there is a huge happy plantain in there pretending to be a hosta. (Right rear)

Colchicum

Colchicums are corms, and they will bloom even if you don't get them in the ground soon enough.  Which of course, is not recommended practice, but, ahem, it does happen.  They are great for low-maintenance gardeners, because they don't actually appreciate a lot of water when they are dormant in the summer. 

They'll put up fat leaves in the spring,

 then die down until the leafless September show. 

They come in white,

 light and dark pink, lavender, and a cultivar called 'Waterlily' 

which has a lot of petals but fails to impress in my garden, anyway.  See how in this (not from my garden) photo the flowers flop?  That's characteristic of the bloom.  Sadly, there always seems to be a rainstorm about the time my white ones bloom and they get muddy.

Plant yourself a surprise this fall.  You can find Colchicum corms at better nurseries and online.