Early April in the garden

I came back from a vacation to see most of the tulips blooming and many shrubs leafed out. The garden is all tidied up, so I had to look for work! I brought out the plants from my potting shed to enjoy the sun and warmth.

My little Japanese-inspired garden

Clematis 'Jackmanii' & 'Jackmanii Superba' climb high, so we added string from top deck - they will grow 20+ feet

Gunnera along my little stream

The Clematis 'Romantique' planted last year has already climbed to the top of arbor.

Gunneras have emerged: Gunnera tinctoria and Gunnera manicata

It is fun to watch the Gunnera plants emerge and grow throughout the spring and summer.
Here is a photo of one of my plants. They are all next the my little stream, so I don't have to worry about watering them. I might toss a little fertilizer on them once during the spring, but that's all that is needed.
The beginning of November, we cut the leaves off and covered the crowns of the plants to provide winter protections. It probably was not needed during our warm winter, and it was the first time I'd done this. It is a good idea though.

This is Gunnera tinctoria. I also have Gunnera manicata a bit further down the stream. They produced "babies" last year, so I was able to separate them into a few additional plants.

March 12 garden photos

I had my Burien/Des Moines Master Gardener clinic group over this morning for a continuing education session. We discussed mason bees and put out the remaining bees. We observed several of the bees that I had put out earlier at work, buzzing around and mating. We had a wonderful break in the weather and toured the garden, with an emphasis on native plants and right plant, right place.

Here are a few garden photos I took today.

Frittilaria

Gunnera emerging by the stream

native flowering currant

great color combination

Early bulbs are blooming

I've been getting lots of late winter and early spring garden clean-up done in the last couple weeks. Here are a couple photos showing some of the early bulbs in my garden:

no bulbs in this garden, but it looks nice in the late winter rain

Bulbs are coming up

After more than two months of no garden activity, I've spent the last couple weeks doing a lot of garden clean-up. It's amazing how tidying things up can enhance the garden.

The Sarcococca have been flowering and extremely fragrant since January, and the Daphne is blooming now. I planted about 1200 bulbs this fall, and they are coming up. Here are some photos showing the promise of many early spring flowers.

Miniature Dutch Iris

Daffodils in bed near entry

King Alfred Daffodils lower hillside

The Pre-Winter Garden

I've been busy "winterizing" the garden. Here are a few photos to illustrate:

This shows the Camellia sansanqua in bloom, a little earlier than usual, probably due to unusual weather this year. You can also see behind it the pruned stems of my Clematis Jackmanii and Jackmanii Superba. These grow 20 - 25 feet each year and give spectacular show of purple flowers.
As I was looking at the Nandina (Heavenly Bamboo), I'm inspired to include some cuttings in an autumn flower arrangement.

 I spread 21 bags of compost on my lower garden beds. Here are some of them. I cut back many of the perennials, leaving some coneflowers for the birds. The Irish Yew, Choisya ternata (Mexican Orange), and some of the blueberries stay green all winter, so the bed is not too bare.

 Here it is November 12 and the bananas, the alstroemeria, some of the cannas, and even the elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) are still looking good. So I couldn't bear to cut them back yet.
The Angel's Fishing Rod (Dierama pulcherrimum) had gotten quite large, so I managed to divide it. I planted two sections in other spots in beds around the lawn, and potted up more for friends. It was a big job - I hope they all do well.

 My lovely shade bed is so bare. The hostas, ferns, and astilbes are all cut down. Only a little patch of Himalayan maidenhair fern and a heuchera are left showing. I top dressed this with compost too.

 Here is my wonderful potting room. I've brought in Angel's Trumpets, bananas in pots, Colocasia esculenta  (Elephant Ear), fancy-leafed geraniums, cannas, asparagus ferns, and more. I've also got begonias stored in vermiculite and perlite.

 I planted about 1200 spring bulbs! Some of them are in pots. I planted a lot of daffodils and tulips, plus some hyacinths and frittilarias. I look forward to a fabulous spring show!

July flowers with hummingbirds and bees

Just a few photos of garden flowers in the July garden, most with hummingbirds and bees:

 Hot lips Salvia continues to be a hummingbird favorite.

This last flower is a Tigridia, a bulb.

July 1 garden photos of tropical memory garden