I’m enjoying the pictures! Thank you toronado for starting it.

This Korean Fir has been a joy to watch grow. It also produced its first cones this year. Hardy and beautiful!

Flower buds appearing on Ilex verticilatta seedlings, planted last summer.

I had planted a dozen ginkgo seeds in 2004 and maybe 6 or so sprouted. Let them grow a couple yrs then transplanted out in several places. The one in the mowed yard has grown well, a slim 25 ft tall now. Others were planted in unmowed areas & all died as it was too hard to weed them (weeds would grow 6 ft+ tall in those areas). This yr I was poking around before the weeds got too tall and discovered the below in a spot I had long forgotten. It was in the ground for over 14 yrs, and somehow put a sprout out from the surviving roots.

Abies holophylla, Manchurian fir, with long sprouts this yr since it escaped the usual late frosts. Alot of sprouts everywhere as it has had alot of twig damage from the frosts in past yrs.

I'm envious of your Manchurian Fir. I left a small one behind at my old place, and it was doing well when I moved. There was a nice specimen at Morton Arb when I visited several years ago, but they are almost non-existent in the nursery trade. Cold hardy, heat tolerant, and attractive: What more could you ask for?

maackia, its near fatal issue is susceptibility to late frost, which I'm prone to here. On a plus side, its in heavy, rather poorly-drained clay and doesn't mind that.

To add, my supposedly 90% plus Amer chestnut hybrid from OIKOS has finally bloomed after 16 yrs or so (more blooms up higher). It does get some lower branch death, but seems like it will weather the chestnut blight.

Speaking of chestnuts, any new news on how the restorarion of the american chestnut is going?

LClark, I actually did a search and it looks like there's a number of places offering hybrid American chestnuts now. So they're becoming more available. Still, I don't know if these are capable of surviving and reproducing in the wild yet.

Wait! Did I say pollen cone? On the very terminal end of the main trunk?

Sheesh It's a Seed Cone! And it should help me finalize identification of what I think is a Pinus Ponderosa scopulorum (well I'm already pretty sure it is). :))

Only trouble is, they take two years to make a ripe cone.

I did find an 'Internet' picture of Jeffrey pine immature cone that may or may not be reliable but comparing it to mine does make mine look a bit 'Pricklier' so most likely mine is P. ponderosa scopulorum. :-)

eta: I was comparing my cone to pictures of both a Jeffrey pine and Pinus p. scopulorum immature cones and mine does look more like the scopulorum. Sorry for any confusion. :-)

Do I detect some giddiness from MN...

"Must it always come back to viburnums..." Awww...have a:

It WAS a great day to document ID details...

And sometimes, you just discover delight...

That last picture is making me giddy.

I did get a little excited about the cone but I've been waiting almost 7 years! ;-)

I just put this Hydrangea macrophylla in, it was a memorial gift for my wifes cousin who recently passed. It's been blooming since I planted it 6-1-22. Endless summer 'bloom struck'. We'll see if it makes our winters. If they were all like last year with abundant early snow, I'd have it made.

My Paeonia Lactiflora x Paeonia Officinalis has performed great even though it went through snowless winters and has pushed buds early. The frosts haven't seemed to affect this one. I think the wife stole bloom #7 before I got this picture. :)

Syringa reticulata has survived exposed winters and now at year #5 is ready to put on a show.

Taxus hicksii too has grown well since moved year before last. Picture a week old and recent rains have accelerated it's growth. (ignore the deer protection).

The heavy early snow made for a damage free winter for almost everything in the yard.

On the more zone hardy side:

Larix laricina, 3rd summer in the ground, started from seed.

Picea mariana from seed, 3rd season too. It is a nice blue green but my camera does this on cloudy days. Seems like it makes everything look more blue.

Bill, if that H. macrophylla survives two Wadena winters I’ll buy you Ellsworth, WI cheese curds. But no building of structures!

Nope, I plan on just leaving it to 'Luck of the Draw'.

I understand the tops of these might die but they'll send out new shoots in spring that will flower?

Does that count? :-)

Oh, the Bicolor oak (Quercus bicolor) from acorns procured at the Freedom tower NYC is doing well but like I said, it's been a 'Cinderella year' with heavy snow cover last winter. An additional 2.5" of rain last night means the drought is over here (for another 2 weeks anyways). ;-)

You all have such great gardens! This little guy, a Siberian crabapple, lost about 1/2 of his overall height this winter and I wasn't sure he'd make it, but look how happy he looks! We also started a hive this year. Wish us luck trying to over winter them up here in zone 1!

Great pictures!

Nice start on the sunflowers, they're bigger than mine are. :-0

Keep us updated on these projects they sound interesting. :-)

Yes, the sunflowers do so well up here! This spot gets sun pretty much all day. We're at just under 22 hours of sunlight right now, although we've already lost almost 5 minutes since solstice ὢ5.

Here's a comer: Lonicera sempervirens flower buds, slightly back-lit...

And...a really long bloom (~ 21 inches/53 cm) that is still about 10 days from opening: Aesculus parviflora var. serotina seedling...

Woah, that is a long flower

These bloom unabashedly, and they are handsome in fall color as well.

Hard to get a good pic, but my serviceberry has a bumper crop this year. Even the birds, squirrels and chipmunks can’t keep up and there was enough for pie. Best pie you ever hung a lip on!

tj

"Is everything a toy to you???"

I have a couple of the above (3rd year from seed), about 6' tall. Time to outplant or repot them. That's a Heptacodium in the background.

I have a big tree that was outplanted in 2003, about 30 feet (9 m) tall now. I didn't realize it, but it had set seed and I pulled the leaf above from a seedling that had germinated in the gravelly edge of my driveway - where I had presumed it was just another Celtis occidentalis that I'd whack when I got around to it.

Now, I suppose I should move it and give it a better future.

I also see that there are either seedlings or root sprouts in the vicinity of my lone Heptacodium. Maybe I'll have to move some of them around, too.

Here are some diminutive details that will become showpieces as they are pollinated and become fruitful...

Viburnum, I can't tell from above what you're showing there. Certainly unique flowers.

This Bismarckia nobilis palm I planted from a seed 3 years ago, is finally getting palmate (fan) leaves.

VV's photos from yesterday look like Euonymus atropurpureus - a species that is scarce enough in Michigan to be of "special concern" - I've never seen it in my area. I'm still wondering about the ID of the viburnums in VV's photos from 7 days ago?

Palms and Pines - I had to look up Bismarckia. Pretty cool looking palm. I'm assuming you're in south FL?

Around southern central florida but pretty close to south florida, yeah bismarckia is quite nice when fully grown unfortunately a weevil has been killing alot of them around me so I hope they dont attack my little one.

Catching up...

Yes, Euonymus atropurpureus is affectionately known as Eastern Wahoo 'round these parts. These are quite small flowers, and along with the darker purplish color, most would not observe them when they bloom. This plant's show comes later, when the "hearts a-burstin'" capsules are formed, split, and the orangish seeds hang down.

This species can also represent quite nicely in the fall color department...

And to additionally respond @arbordave (SE MI):

The first two images (heart shaped leaf and stem showing stipules) are Viburnum molle - Kentucky Viburnum.

The next three are Viburnum rufidulum - Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum.

See @maackia? It needs to come back to viburnums...

VV, your Euonymus atropurpureus just reminded me, my Physocarpus Opulifolius (Diabolo ninebark) had beautiful white flowers a few weeks ago and I had to do a double take when I looked last week and saw red (literally). :-)

Early June:

Late June:

Pretty cool! :-)

First flowers on male Ilex verticillata. Seems slow and late but our growing season didn't start this year until almost June. The Female plants seem to be a few days behind the male with no open flowers yet only buds beginning to turn whitish in color.

These were very small seedlings when planted last season, so I'm surprised to see any blooms. I was expecting maybe next year.

6-3-2023:

' Bill, if that H. macrophylla survives two Wadena winters I’ll buy you Ellsworth, WI cheese curds. But no building of structures! '

Just for the record, went through winter of 22-23 with only natural snow cover (I just added the sunscreen for this summer).

Winter #1 complete. ;-)

It's too early to count your curds!

7-4-23: Endless summer 'bloom struck'. Update.

It took a hit from dryness when I was gone for 5 days. Only a couple of bloom buds lost.

It has rebounded and growing nicely since. A little purple but not because of high ph. ;-)

7-25-2023

The initial blooms are fading but new cauliflower appearing.

It's not crazy about the full all day sun but plenty of water helps.

8-24-2023:

Still no blue color but second round of blooms opening.

;-)

9-5-2023:

After the last 5 purple flowers, the sixth is turning Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! ;-)

:-)

' Bill, if that H. macrophylla survives two Wadena winters I’ll buy you Ellsworth, WI cheese curds. But no building of structures! '

maackia,

Just to be honest and I don't know if this would be considered a building or structure, I placed dry mulch over the H. m. Not so much to ensure survival of the whole plant over winter, but to see if I can get some of the dormant buds on old wood to not die and bloom right away in the spring.

I knew I was taking a chance and giving you an easy out, but I like experimenting more than I like cheese curds ;-) and wanted to be transparent, even though putting mulch over these is pretty much standard procedure in colder zones. ;-)

The hardware cloth is only for keeping the mulch layer compact, rodents out and preventing the wind from dispersing the mulch across the yard.

At 24" diameter, it's probably not wide enough to entirely cover the root zone but as we all know, snow cover or not can make a difference in the survival of plants like these. Time will tell. :^)

No cheese curds for you!

I don't like cheese curds anyway. haha! ;-)

I'm sure the mulch won't preserve the old wood buds, it just gets too cold here for too long.

Last year the snow cover protected the whole plant until early spring, then after the snow melted, then it got below freezing again for a while which then killed the old buds.

The plant started growing again from the root mass which I'm sure it will again next spring, mulch or no mulch. But I thought I'd have to try.

4-30-2024: Update on Hydrangea Macrophylla:

Removed the leaves and mulch the other day.

Not a disaster but being it stayed warm and wet all Fall and I don't think the plant went dormant early like normal, or I should've waited later in the Fall to cover it. The leaves and mulch got wet early and remained very soggy all winter.

Once uncovered, some of the leaves on the Hydrangea were still green (dead green) and the upper stems looked dead but with little warm weather so far, we'll see how this plays out.

However, you can see new shoots/buds coming from below ground level and some higher on the old wood stems, as much as 2" up on the old stems (hard to see the shoots on the picture).

Not sure yet if they are bloom buds but It's acting like it did last year, after the first winter in the ground, there were some blooms from these lower branches right away in the spring, then from the ground, new branches came that bloomed later in the season.

So, if this happens again, it will not be bad considering a good part of the winter we had zero snow cover and January gave us single digits to teens below zero on many occasions.

Too early to tell but it's alive and there's enough new shoots so it appears healthy.

I'll post again later when it leaf's out and blooms.

I think next year I'll just let go with some wood mulch only. It'll be less work and basically will get about the same results. ;-)
eta: better picture.

6-16-2024:

On the way. No early blooms but it seems reliable for summer blooms.

I installed my ’shade garden’. I’ll post pictures soon

7-12-2024:

The blooms start out with a 'Viking Purple' but then turn to blue (too bad huh). ;-)

Not all in concert and quite a water hog. Some shade would help I'm sure, this is all day sun and must water every day to correct a drooping, wilting plant.

Bill

just out of curiousity.. how many hours of sun would you say hydrangea gets in july and august?

15-1/2 hours daily.

Some cloudy days or partial sunny days.

On a clear day, it's wide open.

Added a shade cloth.

Takes less water to get through the day.

Last post, promise. :-)

I planted an Annabelle hydrangea this year, and while not a macrophilla, it’s about the thirstiest plant ive ever grown.

Clark.

Annabelles will take all the water you give them but last year we had drought, I watered them maybe twice, once they got to looking wilted.

It still had blooms although they were smaller than the year before and stems were shorter, but it survived just fine and came back without noticeable damage this season.

Now this year with more normal rainfall it has some of the largest blooms I've seen so far.