It is always a race here to see which clematis will bloom first, and this year it was like the Kentucky Derby. Several early blooming large flowered hybrids shot up quickly and budded out, but in the home stretch it has been ‘Elsa Spaeth’ and ‘Omoshiro’ that have been neck and neck with no way to tell who would open first, until today the winner revealed itself…Omoshiro.

Omoshiro is a stunning , maybe even breathtaking clematis. It is one of those clematis that reminds me why I became so enamoured with this genus of plants a decade ago . The flowers can be up to 7 inches across and are sort of a pale gray and pink with much darker margins and reverse . The anthers are dark pink at the tips, white along the rest, and the overall effect is spectacular.  Last year was the first full season Omoshiro was in my garden so it bloomed sporadically , but each flower was worth the wait. this year it has had time to assimilate and it is vigorously growing and loaded with buds.

I have heard differing accounts of the meaning of the name. Some say fascinating, some say amusing, all say the two words “omo” and” shiro “mean ” surface” or” face” and “white” when translated from Japanese (where this clematis was bred by Hiroshi Hayakawa) . I like fascinating , it fits perfectly.

I bought mine from Brushwood nursery  www.gardenvines.com  in case you are interested in adding this one to your own collection.

If you truly love nature , you will find beauty everywhere

                                                               Vincent van Gough

..but mostly in a garden

                           Cheryl Monroe

Busy work week but I managed to go out in the garden in the middle of a sunny breezy day, or in other words, the worst possible conditions for photography, and snap some shots for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hosted by Carol at maydreamsgardenscom. They will remain unlabeled for now  because I have to prepare for a class , but the lilacs are ‘Charles Joly’ and ‘Sensation’ for the curious.

I think the reasons we garden are as numerous as the people who garden. Everyone has their own reason to start cultivating their little piece of the world , but it is what happens after we start that determines whether we go one. Nothing succeeds  like success and each victory, from the first bloom on a tricky clematis vine, to the satisfaction of cooking dinner with the veggies from your own veggie plot pushes onward to the next challenge .

Lately, my challenges have not been positive ones like trying  new plants with zone pushing limits, or growing 6 months of fresh lettuce, but instead negative ones like how to end up having ANY plants at all given the bunny population and how to not give in to the deep desire to throw in the trowel and pave the whole thing instead.

Two things have been stopping me from an acre of black asphalt., the first is my new wealth of feathered friends. It may take a lot of imagination to those of you who live where many have lived before, but here in The Burrow, the entire 100 acres around us had no houses, no farms, heck no grass, no trees, no wildlife at all ( not even ants) for the eons since the last ice age. Once the houses were put in it became my goal to one day be standing in my yard listening to birdsong which you never realize you miss until you actually live where silence of the really silent kind abounds. My gardens were planned with that in mind so we have lots of  evergreen shrub cover , a few brush piles, food aplenty and water to make the perfect habitat. Slowly ,over the 16 years we have been here ,the birds have arrived, starting with the usual suspects of blue jays and cardinals and expanding until we are now hosting well over 30 species of birds including the arrival last year of redwinged blackbirds and this year of pine siskins. Now it gets crazy loud around here, and sometimes I rue the day I invited them here, but there is always some fascinating thing to learn  that makes me forget I am now awake every day at 4:30 am.

Last week I was rudely jarred from sleep by what were clearly three redwinged blackbirds in the willows surrounded by a flock of what turned out to be the female of the species. I did a little research and found  out  the males attract a harem of up to 12 females and as any of you who have spent time at a home dem party or a garden club meeting, that many females together= lots of cackling. Given my experience with cardinals and mourning doves who have just the one significant other, frankly I was astounded to discover the whole menage a douze thing.

Redwinged blackbird habitat is usually marshes or ponds where they can be found perched on cattails when they  wake up the neighbors up at 4 . I am still very unsure what has lured them here, although there is a small pond nearby. If you are ever curious about birds and their habitats, calls and migration, birdnote.org is a great place to start learning

The second thing that is keeping me gardening are a few marginal success stories in the bunny/critter department. I am using  commercial growers tubes around the clematis to protect the bunny accessible parts , and they work remarkably well, and after waking one morning last spring to half my tulip bulbs freshly dug out I installed this wire fencing around the garden in the pool area. This spring I got to fully enjoy my “flaming purisima’ tulips without worry. Everything else in that garden including  the asters ( leaving them the only asters remaining here in the ground) was also protected.( Pause for applause and back-patting). I still miss the old pre-bunny days, until I remember that they were also the pre-bird days and the  tree-with -skin- instead-of-bark days too.

Just in case you were wondering, the owl in the photo does SQUAT ( see post here ) to deter anything , it just scares my dog and I kind of got used to it sitting there so I never removed it.

Here in Massachusetts an horror story is unfolding that is not only frightening, but achingly sad. Starting with disenfranchised young people who feel the only recourse they have in this world is horrific violence and ending with that very thing by way of bombs, guns ,death and mayhem, the whole story is heartbreaking. I am heavy hearted for those who lost loved ones in a senseless tragedy, I am deeply concerned for all the law enforcement personnel  who remain in harms way, I am unbearably sad for a world where any event like this could unfold.

Yet, there is always good in the world. I was reminded of this over and over again as I saw those who ran to help the victims, those who have rallied to support the families affected, and those who are working to catch the killers. Good people, there are always good people.

I was headed out to speak this morning, and feeling like a garden lecture was exactly what no one wanted to hear as the news of more shooting and death was hitting the airwaves.  While struggling with how to present something so frivolous as garden design  is such a serious moment I realized that  had a technical glitch and the show may not, in fact ,go on. In the next few minutes I was reminded as I was offered help above and beyond what I imagined that there are so very very many good people in this world and I count myself lucky to get to meet them every time I step out the door.  Small beans compared to those who are suffering the consequences of the last week, but a bright light to me all the same.

This small act of kindness made me realize that these people and many more like them  are the ones  who will step up in the coming weeks to offer help to those in the Boston bombings, because it is who they are and how they roll.  The kind of people who honestly care, who  will go the extra mile to help those in need, and will put others before themselves. They far outnumber the few who place their own personal agenda over the lives of others and they restore our faith in  goodness , compassion, and  humanity.

and that, my friends, is a super nova of brightness on a very dark day.

Often during workshops or lectures on design I will stress the well known adage that sometimes less is more. This is certainly true when as a gardener  you find yourself trying to squash 6 more plants in a space that is quite clearly full and WAS well designed , and now it will look all the worse for the additions that will mess up any sense of  flow or color or spacing and clearly indicate you are a plant collector who has been out on a binge buying plants that have no intended place in your garden.

Less is also more when I am teaching the art of making pressed flower designs, as the beauty is in the simplicity . Trying to jam in too many colors or textures results in a mess and often when participants are staring at their design wondering what went wrong and I speak the mantra of EDIT EDIT EDIT, they realize their original design thought process was everything they had hoped it would be, they just didn’t know when to stop adding flowers. Again, less is more.

Today however, on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, less is , well, less. So very many inches of snow this winter combined with cold spring days with little or no sun have left us with little or nothing to look at  in the garden . Snowdrops ( galanthus spcs) are blooming now, maybe they were before this week but the garden was inaccessible so who knew?

The Siberian squill has just exploded into bloom and is covering the Dogs Garden with its sweet little bluish colored flowers.

I have planted a few pansies tentatively ,knowing out temps will still plummet some nights and they may have to be replaced,

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.and the chionodoxa is just starting to show a smidgen of color promising to bloom soon.

That’s it. No more. The end.

There is hope though, as the weather forecast looks promising and fat buds are swelling on the magnolia, forsythia, lindera, amelanchier, cherries, lilacs ( the straight species) , daffodils, hyacinth, tulips and oh so many more plants out there. Then , gratefully, MORE will be more 🙂

Heading out tonight to speak on Easy Care Roses. Nothing is associated  with the cultivated garden more than a rose, and planting disease resistant own root hardy choices is the way to go for sustainable gardening. Roses that require no chemical  spraying, extra watering or pruning are also easy on your wallet and back, and a little forethought before planting just any ole rose will pay you back in flowers for years to come.

A few of the roses I recommend for here in New england are any in the Kordes Fairy Tale series  including this one clled Lion’s Fairy Tale….dreamy , no?

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.The double pink and yellow Knockouts from breeder William Radler ( bred from the dog rose) …both slightly fragrant and EXTREMELY  long blooming

and All the Rage from the breeder Ping Lim and the folks at Easy Elegance Roses, a true garden performer.Or any from the Griffith Buck “Carefree ” series like Carefree Spirit  . … oh I need to stop daydreaming about roses and get to work !

There is a little rhyme my Aunt Jeanne used to say to us when we were little and impatiently waiting and whining for Thanksgiving Dinner/Easter egg Hunt/Christmas to begin.

It went

Patience is a virtue

Virtue is   a grace

Put them all together and you get a happy face.

Because I am a smart- ass I used to rewrite it to say

Patience is a virtue

Virtue is a grace

put them all together and you DON”T GET CHERYL!

only also being a smart person I would sing song it to myself in my own head ( the smartness at play here) so as not to get punished for my mouthiness and miss the very thing I was aching for to begin with.

Well, now it is Spring, or more precisely spring weather, I am impatient for. According to the counter I posted here  we are already over a week into Spring, yet my yard looks like this with nary a daffodil in sight. Daffodil?? What am I thinking ! We have yet to see the first snowdrop or hellebore  whose common name is Lenten Rose and has thus  missed the boat . Lent has sailed on by, Easter is upon us.

The temps have moderated a little , but the snow is melting ever so slowly. I truly do  love the snow and the winter but prefer  everything in its own  time and place , so feet of snow on the gardens in late March is not appreciated .I have faith that once it gets going it will all but dissapear in minutes but for now it is trying my not so present patience.

In a move that stunned my daughters, I purchased, yep you read that right, purchased a pot of blooming  Daffodils. Despaerate times call for desperate measures.

Our Easter Sunday will be spent indoors , no rush to clean up the Dog’s Garden where we usually egg hunt as even if a miracle occurs and the snow is gone there will be mud….which is worse.

The very good thing about all of this as far as my lack of patience goes, is that the plants don’t have any either.Once that snow cover is gone the first warm day will bring an explosion of little green heads poking out of the ground quickly followed by flowers. Then it will be a virtual landslide of bloom until we get back on track  probably in May.

The very bad thing about this is the workload will be a virtual landslide too and I may all but disappear outside for days at a time trying to keep up.

Meanwhile I have been busy inside, I got  a new office space, re-painted the dining room and am at work on another large project ( which may or may not be my kitchen..I can’t say because it might jinx the spell I seem to have placed on the  ever reluctant to home improve Wil  ). I figure right with the going gets rough indoors with what is or is not a kitchen renovation  the garden will be screaming my name simultaneously, isn’t that always the way?

Happy Easter  and Springtime to you all!

A peek inside for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

I am thinking green, and not just because I have pre-spring fever, but because I am suffering from jealousy and am green with envy to see snowdrops and witch hazel blooming in Maine( The Coastal Maine Botanic Garden posted photos on their facebook page),and  tulips and daffodils poking out their first feelers to check if it is indeed time to emerge all over the place, except here ,where everything is still covered in snow ( 24.4 new inches last week)

But mine is not to question why, instead I will revel in my own little spring I have created inside the house. As you recall I was busily cutting  branches from spring blooming trees and shrubs when I last posted, and the  results have been wildly successful.

Forsythia, one of the easiest of plants to force into bloom has been coming on in waves here as I venture out to cut more every few days, the whole understory outback is planted with them so I have a great supply. While such a bright golden yellow can often be garish in the garden, when one is awaiting the burst of color that is spring  ,forsythia yellow is nothing short of perfect.

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.The redbuds are playing along , just starting to show the first hints of color

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.The cherry blossoms have already arrived to the party, although the hamemelis ‘purple ribbons’ has already left

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.The magnolia is by far the most intriguing to watch as it  sheds its fuzzy coat to show off  that flamboyant  purple flower….don’t you want to shed yours too?

The pear branches  are changing daily,each morning  more puffed and closer to bursting open

I never know where I stand with the finicky viburum carlessii , every year it taunts and teases looking for all the world like it will bloom at any second, only to break my heart and stubbornly remain closed. But I will never stop trying or loose hope for it’s scent is one of my absolute favorite parts of spring and I would camp under the bush every night it was in bloom if I wasn’t such a sissy about critters. Having it bloom inside is the most rare and delectable treat.

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.This cuphea I bought on clearance at the end of the season last summer and thus was not ready to part with, has grown and thrived from a small cutting I took in September and has been blooming in the window for a few weeks now, Isn’t it  sweet?.

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And a big pat on the back to the clematis florida that has lit up my picture window since December and is still loaded with blooms and  buds.

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.I am still awaiting lilacs, (fingers crossed..so far so good) and  crab apple blossoms which I cut later than the rest. But no worries there as my indoor spring is well under way and I couldn’t be happier

oh..wait..yes I could! My dear friend Barbara  dropped by yesterday as I was on my way to work and gave me this adorable little shamrock plant which I used along with a precious little nest and eggs and some pussy willows as my table centerpiece. Nothing says “lucky” like shamrocks from a friend! Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and the luck ‘o the Irish to you as well.