Utog, I have never seen a crocus that was all purple! I bet nicholsworth is very excited to see those Fire Islands...... her’s won’t be far behind.

I notice that you both call that hellebore “Ivory Prince.” Is that to simplify it? I have or had a label that included “Lenten rose“ as part of the name. Is that not part of the name? Just curious.......

debra

Debra, hellebore Lenten rose is like saying hosta Sum and Substance. The cultivar name when mentioned in context suffices. It gets confusing if two people are talking about two species/genus with the same cultivar name, i.e. Camellia Cherry Blossom and Hellebore Cherry Blossom. I think a few Heuchera and Hosta (or Hellebore) have identical cultivar names.

Spring cleaning today. We took down the wooden enclosure that my husband built 6 years for my tomatoes, which grew over 8 ft tall. Sadly, the enclosure fell over in a wet snow fall December 2018. Grape vines, gooseberry vines, and passionflower vines clambered all over the ruins, to the delight of my sons. Today, we cleared the ruins away. Side yard daffodils and nandina. Peach tree buds (dwarf tree, grown in a pot).

There are so many pips coming up. I do need my hosta babies to come back.

As some of you know, I am plagued my critters. The first photo is the one and only bud from camellia Roma Risorta. A squirrel plucked it, nibbled it, and cast it aside. The same happened to camellia Campari...every bud destroyed. Sigh.

The next 2 photos are of Asarum blooms. The big flower is from Splendens; the cluster is from Irish Spring. Happy St Patrick’s day!

The last photo is camellia Flame.

Epic weather for tomorrow with tornadoes and egg-sized hail.

Flowers

Camellias

Camellia Gay Baby, a New Zealand cultivar

My garden

More hellebore

Pips! Unruly Child, Fire Island, Rainbow’s End, and Raspberry Sundae

utog..it's so exciting to see pips!..we had a rainy dreary day..I have lots of hellebore blooms but it's too nasty to take pictures..some crocus by my driveway on St Patrick's day..a new leaf on my Alocasia Portora..Aglaonema and croton..50? 60? days to go and my pots can go out..

utog, gorgeous hellebores. Mine finally bloomed but they were smashed down by the November and December heavy, wet snows. Nicholsworth, good to see your pips--I am glad that mine are still buried under oak leaves that blew into all the beds. It was 60 here on Wednesday but in the low 30's last night. You must be a lot warmer than us. I know that you are similar to Columbus, OH which is always a couple weeks ahead of us in northern Ohio. No crocus in sight but plenty of weeds that did just fine over the winter. Somehow they manage to survive so well! Did any of you see the article on saving hostas from the frost in the latest Hosta Journal? It was very interesting and verified my experience that sheets thrown over plants is a bad idea since water forms on the sheets and ruins whatever the sheet touches. Last year I ran around with garbage cans to save my special plants.

Miles I read the article as well. It was good. Last year I covered plants with all kinds of things too. Plastic pots, plastic sheets, burlap, boxes, straw and I had rolls of cotton batting used for lining blankets and throws and covered plants with that too. Most if my plants did pretty well..... I had some minor damage and that was all. Nothing completely melted. I was surprised that boxes were listed as the best thing. The key I found was having enough of those clips usually used to hold down any number of things in the garden.

debra

It's going to be in the 60's here all week. I am already looking for pots to cover mine when the cold temps return. It's still March and in my area that means a good 6-8 weeks when it could freeze. We had to chop up a lot of branches and put them in the extra trash cans after the heavy snow here in November. My city doesn't collect yard waste until April. Without my extra trash cans, I don't have a lot of other options. I guess I could always use some boxes but that means I will have to go out and buy some for my larger plants. I agree clips are important.

Undertheoaks, your Camellia Hagoromo Magnoliaeflora is so lovely! I may need to look for that one!

Also, love your pup. I grew up with a boxer-we were the same age, so spent the first nine years of my life with him. They are just marvelous dogs.

Thanks, Cyn. She is a great dog, goofy and loving. She is also an excellent vole hunter.
Happy official Spring 2021!

First 2 pics are dwarf peach, then Pulmonaria Trevi Fountain, and 3 of my camellia blooms I picked yesterday (Gay Baby, Flash, and Sadaharu Oh).

Utog, I have a question about hellebores......you have so many. My two are waking up with some buds showing. There are a number brown leaves, but the stalks of the leaves are green. Should I trim back those brown leaves, keeping the green stalk or, what???

Thanks for any help. This is Royal Heritage I believe.

debra

Chodai Ginyo, Valley’s Lemon Squash, and 2 from my mother-in-law’s garden: pink Camellia, and Star magnolia.

Debra, it is Ok to trim the brown stuff off. Hellebore are somewhat rubbery to cut. Also, wear gloves.

Yes!

Raspberry Sundae

Coconut Custard

Fire Island

Ripple Effect (grown in full sun in pot, which does make it come up earlier).

I am happier.

Rainbow's End

Mourning Dove

Cameo

Royal Wedding has huge pips this year.

Montana aureomarginata to the rescue!

Peach blossom, dwarf tree.

Sunshine Ruffles hellebore. Yes, it is yellow!

Sadaharu Oh camellia has been blooming for 4 months, and has a few more flowers to go.

Thank goodness it’s spring!

Variegated vinca, which I treat as a weed despite its loveliness.

Pulmonia Trevi Fountain shrank this year. It varies.

Rose Quartz hellebore with daphne.

Unruly Child hosta with oh-so-many pips!

Pips!! 👍🏽

debra

Dogwood flower,

hellebore with daffodils,

peony (never flowers), .

and Little Honey oak hydrangea

Camellias

Flash

Imura

Imura

Turandot

Hostas! Montana aureomarginata,

Coconut Custard,

Unruly Child,

and Fire Island

Mountain azalea,

variegated hydrangea,

saucer magnolia,

and Gay Baby camellia.

First Love,

Monkey Business,

Ripple Effect,

and Deliverance

Flowers!

Peach,

hellebore Cherry Blossom

hellebore Great White double

Camellia Turandot.

Hellebore Maestro

Hellebore Pink Frost

Wine-red azalea bud,

and another camellia (NOID)

Assorted hostas, with Fire Island,

then Raspberry Sundae,

Ani Machi,

and Rainbow’s End

Wolverine,

Invincible,

and then two of Chodai Ginyo.

Every time I go out outside, there is more to see!

Phlox

Mountain azalea flowers

Variegated climbing hydrangea

Montana aureomarginata

Lemon Kiss!

Hail storm! Oh no!

More hail storms are coming today. Aside from the extra work to protect the few leafed out hostas from hail, it has been a glorious weekend.

Hope you can avoid the hail. I spent the last few days weeding and mulching some beds. We were in the 60's but then there's a day this week that the high might be around 37 so spring may be here but it flirts with frost disaster. I have tiny new leaves on a hydrangea and the magnolias are ready to bloom. My hellebores are finally in bloom, last year I had blooms in February. The daffodils are radiant and a random hyacinth has bloomed here but that's it.

Everything is looking so great!

debra

Today, I got to do the Hosta shuffle. No hail fell today, but there was hail yesterday. I got plenty of exercise this weekend!

Bletilla striata albomarginata

Hellebore Ice n'Roses Red (still going!!!). See the mountain azalea buds in the pic with it!

Primose and wild violet. Oh, and periwinkle that I have to weed out.

Wild violets everywhere.

Please don’t hate me. There is frost in the forecast in 3 days, so these babies will keep me busy.

White Feather. Ugly little plant, but interesting curio. It was a gift.

The hosta my mother gave me. You know, the one with the white center? Undulata undulata mediovariegata. Actually, quite a sturdy, generous plant.

There’s more.

Undulata albomarginata next to Japanese holly fern. JHF loves this spot under the hose.

Sugar Plum

Aqua Velva

Ani Machi with light hail damage.

Spring races onward.

First Love

Side garden path from the gate at the bottom of the driveway. If you squint, you can see the 20 pips of Beyond Glory in that big pot!

Dinner Mint

Tangerine Tango

More garden.

Hellebore Cherry Blossom has great flowers!

Ostrich fern fertile frond, first one ever in my garden.

Many buds are starting to appear on the wine-red azalea!!!

The other hellebore Cherry Blossom (mislabelled) is beautiful. It owns this spot with the Stars and Stripes Aspidistra.

Camellia Tama No Ura survived the Mother’s Day 2020 root ingestion by chipmunks. Hostas Beyond Glory, Dinner Mint, and Sugar Plum

Some of the pips are huge. Spartacus, Mourning Dove, First Frost, and Blue Ivory.

I am now waiting for April in your garden......can it more exciting than March? Everything is so beautiful. Things here are slowly waking up here. I am wondering where you have found all your hellebores? Local? I don’t see many of them when shopping for plants. I will have to hit the nurseries I suppose.

debra

Debra, I have bought several from local nurseries. The majority are seedlings from my neighbor’s 30 year old patch. The seedlings came up in my yard. My boys helped me dig them up from the lawn and replant them along the garden paths and in the beds.

Debra, I created the April 2021 post tonight.