Happy couple of days before your birthday, Savona! Isn't May a good month for a birthday? :)

I love the planter, Peggy!

My Platycodon grandiflorus (Balloon Flower) decided to pop up yesterday!

Plus discovered a few more mysteries too... but I'll do some google searches before I start an ID thread! :)

Ang

I think that planter is awesome Peggy. It is definately given me some ideas.
Most of my perennials are up but,I'm still waiting for a couple of my cranesbill-splendens to poke through the ground. I lost one bunch of my bearded iris. It was too wet and rotted. I lost a white sage. Didn't really care for it anyway. The flowers on the blue and rose coloured ones are much nicer.
MyWherryi Tiarella, Penstemon, Purple Pillows Cranesbill, Luxuriant and Bacchanal Dicentra, and Minuet Weigela are all doing great. These were all newly planted last spring.
Gotta go company.
Shelley

Does anybody have their fritillaria's coming up yet? I'm wondering because I planted a bulb in the fall and I have no idea when these guys are supposed to show up. I sure hope it hasn't died on me.

Laurie

Holy Smokes! Chasmanthium latifolium (Northern Sea Oats) are alive (2 plants).

WooHoo...Rooguchi Lives!

I was out wandering today and looked down and saw a sprout barely coming out of the ground on my clematis Rooguchi.

This is how I felt!!!

Sierra thanks for the happy birthday and I agree Marcia May is a great month for a birthday..now to convince my family I dont need any more garden statues..lol..I was sure the echinacea would soon pop up it finally did one tiny leaf so far..I know that feeling well Hunnerbun...lol..savona

Yeah Pudge, great to hear about your Northern Sea Oats, if you can recall I sowed some of these this year ;)
Do you have Miscanthus sinensis var. purpurascens Flame Grass, I don't see anything green yet at the base....is it a slow poker too?

Sharon

I have two of them, Sharon, and both are up but that's only because they are planted on the south side of the house. The warm season grasses out in the less protected back yard aren't up yet.

Thanks everyone for the lovely positive comments on the planter. DH thanks you, too!

The first winter we had the Morden Sunrise we didn't protect it, but a lot of leaves blew in around it, and we were too lazy to remove them! When in the spring it seemed to be doing just fine, we told ourselves it was the leaves, and deliberately put some around it in the fall. The next spring it had some winter kill, and in the fall we mounded leaves as high as we could. Didn't help, because last spring it just wasn't doing well. We moved it, and decided not to protect at all. This spring she had leaf buds in early April, then died.

We can't say we are too sorry, since it sure seemed like a picky rose to us. We don't baby any roses in our yard except for John Franklin which we mound with shredded leaves to minimize winter kill. If we don't, it dies almost to the ground, and stays quite short. We still have some winter kill, but now it grows to nearly 3 1/2 to 4 feet tall! Gotta love that!

Savona, there's a rain barrel on sale at Canadian Tire this week, and dh said to pick one up tomorrow. Happy birthday to me! LOL Not a statue! (The nicest one i had broke, anyway).

I can't remember right now what has come up that was borderline hardy. I do know so far I have no sign of life from Sempervivum arachnoideum (Cobweb Hens and Chicks), lily of the valley (any ideas why not?), sweet woodruff (thought I saw life a couple of weeks ago now nothing) and tricyrtis formosana. Since quite a few plants are still popping up I'm hopeful that these guys are just late and that they will still come up. I'm sure there is more that I'm missing I just can't remember everything I have. I really should do a detailed list/plan of the garden.

Syreeta

Always thought that mint was indestructible - well guess what didn't make it through the winter! My Peppermint plant - Spearmint is thriving, though. Also lost a clematis and only one hollyhock is up.

On the other hand, everything else seems to have survived, including the 'Black Knight' Butterfly Bush which is showing just the tiniest bit of green. Holly shrubs survived another year too.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Margaret

Hmmmm, I haven't seen any sign of Joe Pye yet or the Plume Poppy. Should these be showing signs of life yet?

Sierra

I don't know about Joe Pye, but my Plume Poppy is just starting to come up. It has purple leaves right now. If it didn't make it let me know and I'll give you another chunk.

Margaret, that is great that Buddleja 'Black Knight' made it though the winter for you. I think I'm too cold and it won't make it here. You'll have to post pictures if you get any flowers this year.

Syreeta

I pruned my roses today and lo and behold my Morden Sunrise has some new shoots also my Morden Ruby rose along with my Ladys Mantle. I planted a Virginia Creeper last year and still no sign of life. I think it has passed on as it did not grow very well last year, then the leaves got red in mid summer and although they did not fall off the vine did nothing. Other plants that I lost were a perennial phlox, Avens "Mrs. Bradshaw" and my Himilayan Poppy. Everything else seems to be coming up so far. Now give us some rain!!!!! It is getting so dry here that the trees are starting to chase the dogs!!!!LOL

Cheers Al

Joe Pye is one of the last plants to emerge in my garden.

My Lilies of the Valley have been very late showing up this spring. They're just coming out now.

Savona, I guess you've been busy the past couple of days but go peek at the Conversations if you get a chance!!

Syreeta, please don't tell me that Sempervivum arachnoideum 'Cobweb' didn't come back...I just bought one the other day! Pudge do you grow this one in your rock garden?

As for the Galium odoratum Sweet Woodruff, mine's up ;)

Today, I saw sprouts of Tiarella ÂNinja Foamflower poking thru!

Anyone grow Rudbeckia triloba, I see nothing coming up at the base?

Sharon

I now have leaf buds coming out on Marie Bugnet..yippee..and just in time..I was going to replace her yesterday but didnt have too after all..savona

Syreeta, I was quite surprised that the Black Knight made it though; actually, this is the second winter that it has survived.
On the other hand, another casualty was all of my lupins! Ironic in that they are/were just a few feet away from the Black Knight in an area protected from wind but that still gets lots of snow. Can't figure it out. Thought lupins were also indestructible.
Margaret

Margaret, I've heard that lupins aren't long-lived plants, and that's what I've seen in my garden too. Pretty much every year I start a few from seed to replace the ones that don't come back. Last year I had picked up a white one, but I see that it's showing no signs of life. It's a good thing that I got some seed from it and have a few babies coming up now. Hopefully they'll be white like the mother plant, but there's no guarantee of that :(

Laurie

Today we have the first sign from clematis Etoille Violette. This thing seemed to just leap out of the ground over night. Its up over 1" out of the ground and I didn't see it on Saturday when I walked around!

Today I noticed that my Dianthus 'Zing Salmon' is making a come-back! I thought it was gone since all my other dianthus were up long ago.

I also noticed that some type of volunteer clematis is coming back too -- in the middle of my flowerbed and no where near a trellis! I'm debating weither to rip it out or dig it up and try to move it somewhere... not sure what to do yet.

Ang

Sharon I'll let you know next year about Rudbeckia triloba, I just received a plant from Botanus last week.

Syreeta

Laurie, I just assumed from the way lupins grow wild here that they would come back. I guess they must self seed..? May have to go and relocate some later this year.
Margaret

Oh yes, the lupins do self seed and will keep the patch going. It's just that the individual plants, for me anyway, don't seem to last for more than 3 or 4 years(the wild ones could be longer-lived than the Russel hybrids that I grow). Definitely not at all like say, a peony that will live for 50 years or more. But I love the foliage of the lupins, so they'll always have a place in my garden :^)

Laurie

I have the wild lupines, winter-sown last year, and they'll probably bloom this year. Anyway, i'll let you know in a few years how long they last - remind me, eh? :)

Lupines last about 3 years in my garden before they have to be replaced. Sometimes I will get a 4th year but they are usually smaller. I started some indoors this spring to replace the old ones that didn't come back or the smaller ones that I will pull out. I have also transplanted the self-seeders into the area that I wanted in past years...but then you mostly get the wild purple types.

Sierra

By golly, I think my Miscanthus sinensis var. purpurascens Flame Grass is poking thru, crossing my fingers that it ain't quack grass! LOL

Sharon

Today i was planting in the garden where my campanula 'Hot Lips' is - or was - and don't see any sign of it. Weird - it's a zone 4 plant that made it through a couple of normal winters and didn't make it through this mild one!

My lily of the valley has shown up, now if only the rest of the stuff I'm missing would make an appearance.

Joy, joy, joy!
The clematis that I thought I had lost is now showing signs of life! 'Black Knight' is oh so sloooowwwly coming along.
Margaret

Margaret, my 'Ville de Lyons' takes its time coming up in the spring. It's early this year, but most years i get all worried until it finally pops up. Darn thing - it likes to tease!

Marcia, last year my 'Ville de Lyon' didn't come up until August. Never had a chance to bloom either and only got about 12" tall. I'm not sure if I should have any hope for it this year at all :(

I bought a 'Ville de Lyon' last year (or it was supposed to be one, but the first flush of blooms were 4-petal & purple, the second flush were 5-petals, and the last blooms of the season had 6 petals and were just starting to get a hint of a second color...is this normal or do I have something else??), anyway, whatever it is, it's LOVING it's location (south wall of the house - full sun) and is already up over three feet with 8 new stems...YEAH!!! My clematis 'The President' is only up two inches, but that's OK, since it had serious die back late last summer, and I thought I had managed to kill it.

Most things came back for me. No sign of my gaillardia (unknown variety from seed), and my snapdragons died after a cold snap in April...they never self seeded either...but I guess that's Ok, since the bed they were in has been taken over by cosmos.
I lost 2 hollyhocks, but the rest are already up almost two feet. Oh, both of my fox gloves died... :-( Maybe I'll try them again next year.
I have so many plants this year I don't even know where I'm going to put them all...probably in the veggie garden...what a wonderful conundrum to have! LOL!

Over all a good year for my plant babies...the yard is starting to take shape. :-)

I'm still waiting for my butterfly weeds/flowers. I've been told they are late to come back, so I'm still hoping for them to show up. I'm also missing a Speedwell Veronica, and some trumpet lilies I put in last fall.

Kristal, my Butterfly Weeds and Trumpet Lilies are just starting to poke thru, so yours should be coming up soon too.

Verena, you didnÂt perhaps buy your 'Ville de Lyon' at Walmart last year, did you? Mine behaved exactly like yours! So will see how it performs this year, if it actually turns to the accurate colour.

Sharon

Sharon, I bought my 'Ville' at the Co-op Home and Garden Center...but I was looking at the plants in Walmart a few weeks ago and they are carrying the same ones (identical pots and lables) so I'm guessing they're from the same supplier. It will be interesting to see what happens this year...I'm really impressed with how mine has taken off this year though!! Just went out and checked, and it's jumped to almost five feet on all the growth over the last two days...must have liked all the rain, with a bit of sun shine mixed in for fun...if it keeps growing like this it will be off my 8' latice by the end of the month!! LOL!!) It will certainly be interesting to see how it blooms.

Verena

Oh dear! I can't find my heliopsis Lorraine Sunshine. I've had it for years, and no sign of it. Either my little goutweed problem got it, or it just got too old.
This is the first year I've had a problem with serious goutweed spread, even though I've had it in various places for 15 years. I think it must really like all the moisture we had last summer. Oh well, rip, tear, and put in some lawn edging to keep it contained. My univited (came with other things) goldenrod and the achillea the pearl are also very enthusiastic this year.

Connie

Shouldn't my Bee Balm be up by now? I can't remember what it did last year. And I'm getting very afraid for my Ice Berg LA lillies and Lemon Pixie Asiatic Pot Lillies. I dug around (SLAP!) a week or so ago and I'm sure I saw a sprout coming and the bulb seemed healthy. My neighbors asiatics on the south side of her house are a few inches high. Hmmmph! It has been rainy and cool this week though.

On the brighter side, the other Phlox 'David'is now emerging!! Still only the one Dicentra 'Alba' is up though.
One of my daylillies is brown on the tips - I'm thinking its frost damage. It's growing though, just looks ugly.

Still no signs of life with the Athyrium niponicum var. pictum Japanese Painted Fern, any of you have yours coming up yet?

Any updated reports on what made it and what didn't in your garden?

Sharon

Yup, my Japanese Painted Ferns are up. Still tiny, but I noticed them about a week ago. Today I found my Artemisia Oriental Limelight finally showing sprouts.

I think I finally have to admit that one of my Hawkeye Belle roses is dead. It had about 5" of green cane this spring, but slowly it's turned to grey :( But at least my other one is doing great and should be blooming in a few days. I think where the other one was, the soil just wasn't as well drained as where the healthy one is.
All I can say is DARN!!

My Athyrium niponicum var. pictum Japanese Painted Fern is just showing up now, Sharon. Yours should be along any day now. I know that they weren't there last Thursday when I left for the weekend. Just this morning, I spotted 3 of the 5 that I have and I haven't had a chance yet to look for the other two. But, I'm sure they are not too far behind.

I've also lost both of my Gaillardia 'Fanfare', all coreopsis, not just my 'Sweet Dreams', some Sweet Woodruff (I might try that one again) and Helenium Wyndley didn't come back very well at all so I took it out.

I've got Gaillardia grandiflorum sprouting everywhere, even though I deadheaded quite well, I thought, last year. And I was a bit surprised to find that quite a bit of Catanache caerulea has come back. Maybe it will actually bloom this year.

Shauna

Yay! I hit the panic button a week too soon! Bee balm has started, all the lillies are up and they brought friends with them this year!!!!!!! The other Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba' is up too, just way behind the other one. Only loss has been a double purple columbine, which I think I can give up on now. Tarnish bugs really hammered on it last year, so maybe they just weakened it too much.

My unknown single yellow rose had 4 buds (the first) on it, but looks like the deer got them last night! AARRRRGGHH! I need to have a talk with my dogs about that! Thank goodness they didn't touch the martagon, which has buds on each stalk. So it just needed to 'feed' last year to recover from being eaten the 2 years previous. Glad I didn't give up on it!
Toots

All right! My heliopsis Lorraine Sunshine has reappeared. Maybe this early spring had us all getting too worried too soon. Can heliopsis be divided? I wouldn't mind spreading a little "sunshine" around.
Connie

Your Lorraine Sunshine heliopsis should reseed itself. I have a lot of little 2" tall Lorraine Sunshine plants that I am taking to a plant exchange for this Saturday.

Brenda

Connie, if your Lorraine Sunshine is only 2 years old, I'd wait another 2-3 years before you divide it, let it get established first.

Well, by golly Toots... it looks like my Monarda didyma Marshall's Delight is up too! When I lived in Saskatoon I grew Beebalm like weeds and I can't tell you how many attempts have I tried to get a clump growing here in Wainwright since the year of 2000!

You're right Shauna, it appears that my Japanese Painted Fern is poking thru....I just brushed some leaves back and lo and behold it's alive, it's alive....if this grow great, I'll pick up another 2 so its not so alone ;)

Laurie, too bad about your other Hawkeye Belle.

One thing I noticed today is that nothing is come up with the three plants of Verbascum bombyciferum Giant Silver Mullein that I bought last year....it still has the leaves from last year but nothing....Faith, if you still visit here at the FN forum, how's yours doing?

Sharon

Well the final verdict is in at my place - Double Delight is alive but Autumn Sunset is definitely not. I have removed and replaced it. Oh well. But now that I have seen Sharon's Rugosa "Agnes" on the weekly photos... with its similar colouring and form... oh Sharon, do enable ;0) Where can I get one and how badly do I need it?

Also the delphiniums I transplanted last fall are all either dead or nearly so... I think I need to move them back into full sun. Part shade and heavy soil clearly did not agree with them! They used to be so big I had to move them because they were taking over.

Gil, I bought Agnes at Cornhill in 2004. This is one rose that apparently is hard to root, so therefore its not on its own root, they graft it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornhill Nursery