Winter to Spring

 Gardening for winter interest is not glamorous. It is, however, rewarding. When the calendar turns to March my antsy nature must drive FM a little bonkers. I want it to be spring but technically it's still winter, so the frustration of wanting to garden vs. being able to garden is often at a peak level. I'm glad, therefore, to have some of that good ol' winter interest to slide me into a safe zone until those real signs of spring, you know, where the nurseries are fully stocked and the daffodils have been up for ages are really and truly a thing. This transition time has been mighty forgiving this year and I can feel that it has helped with my mental health tremendously, otherwise the news of the world could break a person. Never mind that the apple blossoms are nowhere near making a debut, I've shrubs and dried grasses from last year and all kinds of weird and wonderful bits of nature to feed the soul.

Here then is the transition zone from winter gliding very graciously this year into spring.

Coming up the driveway, this is the unofficial entry point into the bulk of the garden. What I love about it now is that the Hebe 'Karo Golden Esk' and H. 'Sutherlandii' shrubs are mature (I know, they are technically Veronica). Their striking foliage colors offset the reds of the Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' branches (coral bark maple) as well as greens of Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir). It does look fresh and fluffy in spring and summer, but the bones that are here also bring me joy this time of the year.

Arctostaphylos pumila and all the arctos in my garden are reaching mature sizes. They have been in bloom, one succeeding the other, since early January. For example, A. 'Austin Griffiths' has come and gone as far as flowers are concerned, but this A. pumila is in its height of pollination glory. How wonderful to have an evergreen shrub in bloom during the winter months.

That same A. pumila is on the lower left corner with a host of other evergreen plants in the labyrinth garden. The silver shrub is Brachyglottis greyi, to the left is Arctostaphylos 'Howard McMinn' and next to that intertwined with the silver Brachyglottis greyi is Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley'. The small green perennial on the lower right is Penstemon 'Firebird' - evergreen as it's been quite a mild winter. 

Fleeting sunshine had me believing for a brief moment this was a summer view. Then I noticed the naked deciduous trees and snapped out of it.

Arctostaphylos 'Austin Griffiths' at the end of its flowering.

As there is a lot of spring clean up on two acres, so I take it bits at a time. Here the Teucrium chamaedrys got a bit of a prune, the top several inches of bare stems from last years' flowers. It's not necessary to prune them but I do so to not only have this area make sense visually, but also to help remove some of the thousands of oak leaves that get stuck in them. I have also begun redefining the edges of some beds as weeds and grass wishes to creep in. Just me and a shovel for hours on end. And Ibuprofen in the evening.

The large grasses will be cut back later this month, for now Miscanthus sinensis 'Malepartus' and others are left standing for the birds.

Against the house are four Miscanthus 'Cabaret' grasses that will be cut back at the same time as the M. 'Malepartus'. It's a long job, FM and I tackle it together. We tie bungee cords around each grass then FM comes in with a hedge trimmer and cuts them back while I gather the stems which will be piled up in the chicken yard as another layer on our many habitat piles.

Arctostaphylos 'Saint Helena' flowers are the prettiest white/pale pink color. They go well with the glaucus blue foliage in my humble opinion. They are just getting going. An observation is that hummingbirds, as well as bees, visit arctos.

Moving around to the front of the house and the berm garden. There's not a lot of clean up here, just a couple of perennials and removing leaves stuck in bushes. That task, cleaning leaves out of bushes is an annual task that frankly, is no fun. It's the darned Acer macrophyllum and Quercus garryana leaves that are the worst offenders. They stick around for a long time, so leaving them intertwined is not a good option. Still, even though it takes weeks (a little at a time) we do it.

Not the most impressive photo but it's Fuchsia 'Hawkshead' which is breaking what was a very short dormant period. I'm happy that the fuchsias will hopefully reach a good size this year coming off of a very mild winter. I would estimate that in an average winter (what's average any more?), this wouldn't be happening until well into April.

The shade garden is showing signs of coming into its best season, early spring. Brunneras are up, the Oxalis oregana is refreshing itself and I spotted a couple trilliums emerging.

Lovely bit of moss and Polypodium glycyrrhiza on a log in what I call my Mom's garden. 

Moving back around to the labyrinth, the light through the shrubs and grasses illustrates how lovely even spent perennials can be in the cold months. Granted if we had had a terrible winter, it would likely have been flattened and a muddy mess. Right now, I'm enjoying the textures.

One of many chores to come, deadheading the hydrangea patch.

A detail: the blue purple from the previous image is this - Iris unguicularis. It has been in bloom for a couple of months. While this clump has been slow to bulk up, it really can be seen from a distance now and adds a splash of color in winter.

Miscanthus 'Malepartus', a birdbath, Libertia ixioides and Dorycnium hirsutum on an early March day.

Moving down slope, Hebe, Erica, Luma apiculata and many groundcovers actually have a bit of vibrancy even in early March.

As seen from a distance with FM's new steel edging now firmly in place along the path. It was so warm and dry earlier this week that he was able to mow.

Hesperaloe parviflora peeking out of Brachyglottis greyi. For many years I tried to keep the latter cut back out of the former's way, but gave up once the Hesperaloe grew tall enough to reach for the sun.

Erica arborea 'Golden Joy'

While it looks a bit messy now, once a bit of clean up happens later this month and new growth pops from the ground, you won't be able to see the ground at all.

The same is true for this area, the meadow with many grasses, wildflowers, asters, bulbs, etc. It takes me the longest time to clean this area which I leave for the very last as it's such good habitat for insects and birds. The whole area will likely take me the better part of a day, if not more. New growth is already emerging on most of these plants.

Erica x darlyensis 'Kramer's Rote' against the chartreuse colored Hebe 'Karo Golden Esk'.

Trillium kurabayashii emerging.

There are a couple patches of crocus here and there.

Oemleria cerasiformis, oso berry, is one of the earliest of the deciduous woody shrubs to bloom. While I did plant many on the property early on, I have since discovered many volunteers popping up. Such a lovely plant.

Another that is awakening is Ribes sanguineum. The flowering currants are always a cheerful, welcome sight in the garden. Ten out of ten hummingbirds agree.

A small before and after. Earlier I posted about Oscar, the Agave parryi var. truncata and how I thought he needed a bit of air circulation. Well, we gave it to him:

We removed a Berberis darwinii on the right that also opened up the area for one of two Arctostaphylos pumila. After a fresh gravel application and perhaps a couple well-placed rocks, I think this refresh will be complete for now.

The hazelnut catkins are dripping, the quince and forsythia are blooming, the birds are chirping, weeds are popping and life carries on one way or another. Projects, while on the smaller size, are being crossed off of our list and I'm busy in the greenhouse sowing seeds and tending plants. We're just grateful to be doing what we love amongst it all. Speaking of tending greenhouse plants, as well as our annual spring Dirty Diggers plant sale (Saturday May 9), there is another plant (and bake sale) benefitting the House of Dreams Cat Shelter. It's on Saturday April 25th, I will be donating about 15 flats of plants so if you'd love to support them, it's a great sale with a variety of donors.

OK, that's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always thank you so much for reading and commenting, we do love hearing from you!