Although there is lots blooming outside right now, my attention has been completely stolen by one teeny little plant…. tulipa clusiana ‘Lady Jane’. Lady Jane is a species tulip, often referred to as the candy stripe tulip because when the flower is closed its petals have  a delicate pink edge that when open reveal beautiful a recurved creamy white bloom. Only one of the 50 I planted is open today , the others are just showing their pink backsides.It  is only about 10 inches high and it would be very easy to walk on buy with your eyes glued to the tall and showy hybrid tulips or the drifts of daffodils…but I have been patiently waiting for this one.

You see, I planted Lady Jane last fall right after the passing of my Gram whose given name was Genowefa (Polish) which  was “americanized” to Jane when she was little. I have written about her here before, indeed she was one very special lady.

On any given day you would find her dressed to the nines; dress, stockings, pearls and lipstick, even to just run to the grocery store. She carried a compact with a mirror and powder , and used it for frequent touch ups . She was the epitome of class; polite, well mannered and demure. She was pious, but never judgemental, and always  ready to heap praise upon those whom she encountered . In her eyes everyone was beautiful, skinny, smart, helpful, and any other positive words she could come up with to compliment you. I have never ever heard anyone EVER say anything except that she was the sweetest most wonderful human being ( and it was only in her last years when she was very ill and very lonely that she was ever cross with anyone and even her few moments of impatience were immediately followed by apology after apology and more compliments). Her children(6) and grandchildren (14) idolized and adored her. From her I learned grace, patience, the power of a smile to change the world around you, and , most importantly for my gardening soul, the joy of flowers. This week  she would have celebrated  her 91st birthday….

So, how perfect to have  planted Lady Jane in her memory.

We certainly get our share of gardening challenges here in New England, and I was discussing that very fact today with a member of a garden club I was speaking to when we both came to the realization that there is  no “normal” year here. Early snowstorms, late snowstorms, untimely frosts, very hot summers,unusually wet/cold springs, too much snow, too little snow,  you name it, we get it.

The weather du jour that is causing us concern, is unusual in it’s timing. Although we are no stranger to it, it is usually in summer that we are subject to its effects, not early spring. The problem is ,…… it is dry,dry,dry.We have had 7 fewer inches of rain than is “normal”, and that, combined with heavy winds and the piles and piles of brush from the damaging October snowstorm we had,is making the risk of brush fires is extremely high. Brush fires are scary and the people who are currently dealing with acres of burning  land around here have my sympathy. Sigh.

Another unusual happening for this neck of the woods was the “record breaking” or as the local newspaper called them in an article today”record shattering”  string of temperatures occuring  over the last month. Did you just hear me laugh out loud?? Let’s see, the Earth has been around for what ,like  give or take 4 BILLION years ,and we humans have been keeping temperature records for about oh say, 160 of them, I fail to see the reasoning behind the hysteria. Call me crazy, but I am a moderate in all things, and although I can appreciate climate change and have read volumes and volumes on it , I do not think we have enough info to even comment, much less react yet. And frankly, since our food sources are adapted to growing at warmer temperatures, and are threatened by lower ones, I will take warming over an ice age any day. (yes, that is overly simplistic, please stop yelling , but our climate here on Earth has changed and changed and changed and changed, it did long before we got here, it will do so long after we are gone. )

Anyway , back to the dry……it is weird to have to worry about watering spring bulbs, yet today I am probably going to do just that. I have also started transplanting things, which spring is a perfect time for given the consistent rainfall, but not this year. So out will come the hoses and the grumbling. Sigh again.

On a happy note , there are oh-so-many things in bloom outside that I will be taking photos of and posting on later this week, and one wonderful happening inside, where in the living room , the lemon tree looks like this.….. causing me to erupt into giddy laughter every time  I walk by!

In a month I may have my first home grown martini garnish .Happy sighs for that!

It is so exciting to think we are on the cusp of a floral explosion around here. First the hammamelis (witch hazel) ,snowdrops  pussy willows and crocus, followed quickly by siberian squill,  daffodils and quince, next thing you know its early tulips ,hyacinth forsythia, spice bush (lindera)and flowering fruit trees.  Then the list expands rapidly….magnolia, azalea, euphorbias,moss phlox, violas ,iberis……..my goodness..it is all too much to think about because the garden is awake and calling loudly for its mother!!!!!!

I have lots and lots to do and have started with the myriad of lists that will grace my desk, the kitchen counter and table, and stuck via post-it-note to the cabinets. The bulkhead needs fixing and painting, we have three new  big projects in the works:

-a covered sitting area with fire pit and fountain in the pool area

-the inside of the shed ( including ,but not limited to, wall building, painting, shelving, and decorating)

-the front of the side yard will be lawn- free and tree- full hopefully by the end of spring

As for the screaming garden itself, I have yet to finish fall clean-up….which I know shocks you , and the bunnies are more than active given the warm weather so I have a lot of little cages to build to protect all that tastly new growth they love so much. There are layered shrubs to divide and replant, roses to transplant, and seeds to start.

As for the clematis, I have several more arriving for spring planting ( more on that later) and must cut back all the hard prune varieties including the sweet atumn (terniflora), tanguiticas, all the vitacellas ( Betty Corning Etoille Violette, Kermesina, Purpurea elegans), Comtesse de Bouchard, Gipsy Queen, Mrs. Robert Brydon, the texensis hybrids… eegads…I should make another list!

While I was speaking over the winter there was an emerging theme of  “Gardeners  who only have August Blooming Clematis” ( not a very catchy theme name but its early in the morning here). If you have clematis that bloom ONLY in August and they are not Sweet Autumn (terniflora or it’s new variety mandshirica) ,or  the groundcover c.joinana, chances are its is because you are pruning them when you shouldn’t be. There are many clematis that bloom early on  old wood, then again  in August or September on new woood. they are typically refered to as group 2.  I think many gardeners just always cut back their clematis routinely no matter what variety they are, and in doing so sacrifice what should be a long season of bloom.

Here in the Burrow, I cut back to about 8-12 inches ( leaving just a few leaf buds) all my Type 3 ( or hard prune) varieties and LEAVE THE REST ALONE! If you are really bothered by their appearance, trim them a little, taking away no more than 1/3 of their growth.  When I said this to  someone at a talk  I was giving, she expressed disbelief that the brown vine with shriveled up leaves she had could possibly turn into a viable plant and was inclined to ignore me. That makes me sad a.) because I hate to be ignored and b.) because that clematis will be beautiful in late May-early June if she just leaves it uncut.

Clematis are woody vines, not perennials. Think of those vines more like a lacecap hydrangea  who, unlike an annabelle hydrangea which can be mowed to the ground in the spring and flower later, will loose all its flower buds if you prune it in the spring.Put the pruners down, and walk away. Then email me to thank me in June when your lovely  Henryi, Elsa Spaeth, Crystal  Fountain, or whatever is putting on quite the show precisely at the time of your graduation party-first cookout-garden tour- or whatever else you have planned in late spring.

It is also Flower Show season, and although I have not been to the Boston one( which started yesterday) yet, I have been to Rhode Island and will be in Boston on Staurday and Sunday.

I am putting in the photos I took in RI, and here is my little mini review too…

I loved that most of the displays used spring flowers that would actually in real life be in bloom at around the same time. I get annoyed when I see displays that have summer blooming plants nestled next to the daffodils. Picky? Yes.

I love love love the window box with the clematis. YES you can plant them in containers and window boxes, there are so many available now in smaller sizes for just that reason. AND they will overwinter just fine if left there.

I got a kick out of the lawn speckled with dandelions. and that display ( even though I forgot to look at who did it) won hands down for me. In the pictures it is the one with the best looking forced  fothergilla I have ever seen ( it is loaded with bottle brushes!), the old lawn mower and the window boxes. It was all very real looking and do-able for any gardener and charming to say the least.

Happy Bloom Day! ( and thanks to Carol over at May Dreams Gardens)

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After a very warm, very snow free winter…we finally got a nice long two day 10 inch snowstorm.It started last night, here  the first few inches fall around the corgi topiary The  real dogs are in their glory, they love to romp around in the snow.The kids are ecstatic with the first snow day of 2012…..AND…..

The rabbits are  pretty happy too, shamelessly hopping around and eating my plants. Why can’t they feel my hatred for them  radiating through the walls and flee in fear???

I am happy for the garden,  and enjoying the beauty of clean white snow covering everything especially since although it is on the wet and heavy side it does not seem to be too much for the shrubs and trees to bear. Check out the girls “Gardening Guy” snowman here Pumpkin is checking him out….. Tig is not crazy about being outside when the snow is actually falling, he squints his eyes and makes funny doggie facesI used my  snow day to pot up  a few succelents  into a new pretty blue pot ( baby toes fenestraria aurantiaca , borros tail sedum morganianum and mimicry plant pleiospilos nelili) and mount a living teardrop basket/ wreath on a board( that I still need to add some paint detail to) for hanging on the new shed when the warm weather gets here. I did a little knitting on my second thistle mitten, and also took inventory of my seeds and made a mental list for what I still need to order and a contrived sort of a plan as to when I will begin my indoor seed starting.  I hope to still get around to making cuttings from the scented geranium in the background of this photo before days end. All in all a great snow day!

Hope you had a great day too, and if it involved snow, a warm fire, projects ,people and pets you love, all the better!

February school vacation is not normally my favorite time of year. It usually looks like this and the children are stuck at home with me and bored silly  driving me crazy looking for things to do.

Sometimes it looks like this ,which is a great way to spend a day in a  typical New England winter or even this

when snow and ice give us guilt free days to curl up on the couch and knit, watch movies and drink hot cocoa.

One night of vacation  week always  it looks like this when we head to a nearby hotel and let the girls alternately swim  in the hotel pool and shop at the adjacent mall .

I dream  that someday it may look like this

but realize that two more college tuitions may make that always stay just a dream. Bummer.

One thing it NEVER looks like is this

but this year has been anything but normal weather-wise. Usually in February here, even IF the snow has melted ( and that is a big IF) the ground is certainly wet, and the garden frozen in place.Today it was 50+ degrees and mostly sunny so I figured, what the heck, might as well play along and got out my clippers and rake and started my spring clean-up. I cut back the ornamental grasses, cleared a couple aof perennial beds, cut down my biggest clematis ( a terniflora or sweet autumn that grows intertwined with a rambling rose), and added lots and lots of branches to the burn pile .

I also did a yard scan and found a nice little nesting area of voles . they had set up house right next to a pile of brush that I left to move “later” after the October  snowstorm. They were happily chewing easily acessible bark from the downed limbs, but unfortunately also were gnawing on the new baby gingko tree I forgot to wrapDarn.I reloaded a tomcat bait station and placed it near the holes I found , and they should be gone soon.

The good thing about getting outside now is that I got to see things like this.. the first snowdrop of the year here coming into bloom

and this  boxwood seedling in an unexpected place

and this salvia I left in a container with fingers crossed that seems to have  overwintered just fine

Not a bad way to spend a February day, even if I do miss winter .

I found a very helpful link the other day from the folks over at The Frelinghusen Arboretum in New Jersey about cutting and  forcing branches to bloom  in the late winter. I have seen many very informative articles, like this one from Fine Gardening Magazine, but the arboretum’s  is a standout. It lists the shrub or tree, its usual bloom date and the number of days it will take to come into bloom inside your house based on the date you cut it outside. Once you look at the chart you will see  what I mean, (it is far more clear than that lousy expanation I just wrote).

I use my own system here…it goes like this.

Most spring flowering shrubs need a cold dormancy period of about 6 weeks before you can cut them for forcing. I pretty much like all the seasons here for a short while , but then quickly tire of being too hot, too cold, too gray, or too sick of dirty snow. About the time I am feeling quite sick of winter, I know it is time to go cut some forsythia for forcing. Forsythia is one of the earliest and most reliable of shrubs for indoor bloom. A few weeks after  the forsythia has bloomed and is starting to shatter  and messing up my table, it is time to cut cherry and pear branches, followed by redbud and lilac (which is usually a fail for me.)

That , I know is very unscientific, but it works for me. But this chart is a positively a wonder. If I had a specific event I wanted to have flowers for in the spring, I could actually PLAN what I was forcing …wow. That would be pretty impressive. The chart is obviously based on the  NJ  USDA  hardiness zone, but I know approximately when things come into bloom here so could modify it for my zone.

Off topic, and speaking of zone, the USDA working in tandem  with many reputable plant people , has come up with a new weather zone map and it is very interesting. Take a look at what changes may have come to your area by using their new zip code feature. According to the new map , Jefferson went from 5b to 6a, but I will  still always plant like we were zone 4 because fo our elevation and unpredictable snow cover.

Back to branches……in our new hardiness zone this year things have indeed been mild and so I cut forsythia and the buds were already starting to swell . They will open much quicker than the chart says given how unseasonably warm it has been here. I also cut some of my favorite viburnum, burkwoodii, whose blossoms have the most heavenly scent and I would be ectastic if I could enjoy them more than once a year. Viburnum is difficult to force, but given the  mild temps and using the arboretums suggestion of tenting around  them with a ziploc to provide  humidity , the buds are definitely opening!!!! Keeping my fingers crossed  😉

One of the workshops I offer to Garden Clubs  is a primer in pressing flowers from the garden and making them into cards. It is lots of fun and easy for even those who feel “craft challenged”.  At the workshop I  bring all the floral material , so they don’t have to press their own flowers YET…but I hope they will after I give my stellar directions for fool proof pressing.

A.) Make sure you pick flowers/leaves in the afternoon, and on a dry day. For some methods of pressing, moisture is enemy #1

B.) pick whatever you like the looks of, you have nothing to loose trying to press something  no matter how chubby it looks (boy, if that only worked with humans I’d be golden!)

C.) If you are using heavy  books (encyclopedias etc to press which is old fashioned but effective all the same), get some newspaper, tissue paper or looseleaf paper and place  the bloom or leaf carefully on a piece , and gently flatten it before covering it with another sheet of paper. If I press this way I always go back a day or two later and check to see if it seems wettish. If it does, I take it out and let it sit on the counter overnight to dry a little, then put it back in the book between fresh sheets of paper.

D.) the flower presses they sell made of corrugated cardboard work on the same principle and are usually  pretty  decorative to boot

E.) When pressing  lots and lots of floral material,which I do at high bloom time here in The  Burrow( June through August), I have large presses made of plywood cut into 2 foot squares that I fill with layers of flowers and paper like above but stack up to 5 or 6 sheets of plywood high. I wrap ratcheting bungee cords around them and draw them tight, and will continue to tighten them as the flowers dry and shrink.

F.) for fast pressing, and also when I am pressing something large like a mophead hyrangea  or rose, I use the microwave.For my microwave press I use pieces of ceramic tile (from home improvement store) , 100% wool fabric (which readily releases moisture) and paper.

These tiles are 12 x12 ,but you can use smaller ones

Layer 1 tile, 1 piece of wool cut to fit tile,

then a sheet of paper, then the flowers , another sheet of paper, another piece of wool ….coffee optional  ;0

and finally the 2nd tile.

Place the whole thing in the microwave and Microwave on High Power for 1 minute for leaves or delicate flowers (the object is to NOT cook them), and for larger things, like roses, I cook for  1 miute then flip them over  then cook  1 more minute. When you take them out of the microwave to flip them you can see all the moisture that has escaped the flowers went through the paper and wool and had condensed on the tile. Just wipe it dry before you put it back in.

If the tiles are too large to rotate in your microwave without banging the door look for a button that says “turntable off” on the front of your microwave and push it, or you can  use smaller tiles, or if all else fails listen to the banging 😉

These are roses I bought at the market last night and pressed in the microwave . Aren’t they pretty?

Once all the flowers are dried, pressed and ready, I use them too make arrangements on card stock using elmers glue to hold them in  place. After the glue is dry, I scan the image onto my computer as a jpg. file that I can use to design note cards .

If the arrangement came out really nice and I want to frame it, a quick trip to the copy center for a high quality color copy is all it takes. Once matted and framed it is really hard to tell that you are looking at a print and not the actual flowers. Very cool.

Here are some photos of the artwork The Wellesley Home and Garden club made today. They are a super bunch of ladies who listened carefully when I put on my teacher hat and really came up with some gorgeous designs. This afternoon I will be scanning the arrangements to make into cards.