Why I Oughta...

At the end of March, I posted a photo of a clump of closed-up buds that were emerging from the soil and talked about how we've 'inherited' these Virginia Bluebells from our neighbor - both by division/sharing and by naturalization and spreading under the fence.  Now, three-plus weeks later, the Virginia Bluebells have leaf'd out and showing their green-and-light-purple foliage while we wait for the little blue and pink flowers to arrive.   Below is a look at the same clump of native Virginia Bluebell - ahead of its flower arriving - that I showed in March.   And, in the photo below, you can see this same clump on the bottom right of the photo.  But, you can also see the other, smaller plants that have naturalized from under the fence.  There's that one random tulip bulb back there, but otherwise, just these Spring Ephemerals.   The other Spring Ephemeral that is naturlizing via our neighbor's garden is Bloodroot .  She was nice enough t...

Over the past couple of years, our garden has been home to a couple of Spring Ephemerals:  Virginia Bluebells and Bloodroot .   They both naturalized via our neighbor's garden.  And... my neighbor dug-up a couple and gifted them to us a few years back .   They live in the 'kitchen curved' bed amongst the Oakleaf Hydrangeas and put on a quick Spring show.  Hence the name..."Spring Ephemerals".   As I was cleaning up a little bit in the beds this week, I came across this crown of a plant that was just emerging from the soil.  See below for the buds emerging from the soil - partially covered by snow: Since these things naturalize and have been spreading, I'm NOT certain which this is - but based on some of the images online - I'm pretty sure this is a crown of a Virginia Bluebells plant.   From snow-covered trees yesterday .  To these sure signs of life the very next day.  Spring is here. 

Last Spring, my neighbor to the south shared a couple of native Spring Ephemerals that live in her garden - Virginia Bluebells and Bloodroot - or Sanguinaria canadensis .  They grow in a woodland part of her backyard garden and arrive in early Spring and depart before everything else comes alive.  She gave me a clump of each and I dug them into the bed that is right across the fence from where they came from - my thought was if they were happy on one side of the fence, they'll be happy on the other.  The conditions are virtually identical. The Virginia Bluebells came back earlier this month.  That's nice to see.  But, the Bloodroot just arrived.  See below for a look at the current state of this native Spring ephemeral: Nice to see this one come back for another year - as the transplanting process last year was stressful. These naturalize and spread out to create a little colony or drift (if conditions are right).  The idea of " Spring ephemerals " i...

What's that you see?  It is a native, ephemeral named Virginia Bluebells.  Two clumps of them to be specific.  Where did they come from?  Our generous neighbor who has them in her garden.  I was talking with her over the fence - admiring them - and she said:  why don't you take some??  How nice, right?    I've posted about these a few times over the years - first...with a post in Fall 2021 from Erin the Impatient Gardener who talks about how great these natives are in her garden.  And then...I spotted them showing up 'under the fence' from our neighbor's garden last Spring .   Our neighbor has these growing just beyond the fence in a bed that includes a groundcover of Vinca and a bunch of natives - including these Bluebells.  This piece from U of Wisconsin Extension Office of Horticulture is a good overview including a note that these are increasingly 'rare' and that they don't transplant well.   I decided to p...

After a long, cold early Spring, we finally have some color popping up in the #newoldbackyard.  However....I only count 24 of them, though.  ( I planted 30 tulips last fall .)  I also posted about these very tulips emerging for the first time earlier this year.  They're located along the fenceline largely because that's where we had available space last fall because the area in front of them was lawn.  But, as you can see in the photo above, we expanded the bed (and relocated the Automower boundary wire), so this fall I'm planning on relocating these bulbs from the fence to the front of the bed. Also, interesting, is the blue-ish flower growing behind the bulbs.  Our neighbors have it running in their beds and it has crept across the fence.  I'm pretty sure it is Virginia Bluebells , and it is quite striking, so I'm not unhappy about it migrating northwards.   I'll keep an eye on them this Spring and perhaps if they continue to creep, t...