Gardeners often find their passion when the kids fly the nest, the first house is purchased, or maybe at retirement. I was an odd child. I planted tree seedlings in the sandbox and collected seedheads while on the family vacation. I remember one Christmas when in addition to playdoh and matchbox cars I added bulbs to the list. Somehow Santa found a few wood hyacinth in December, and I was a happy kid when the presents were opened.
My parents were the sensible type though, and although a lot of the lawn was turned over for flowers, they insisted I take it easy so that the yard wasn’t a complete burden when I moved on. They were right of course. The college years, first apartments, moving around to different states, all those other things in life that interfere with gardening happened, and it’s only now twenty something years later that I’m settled down enough to really have some fun. I can’t afford a fancy car-midlife crisis, but I can still swing a few overpriced snowdrops while also keeping the kid’s college funds intact. Here’s a treasure from Far Reaches Farm in Washington state. A friend tipped me off to a few snowdrops at this nursery (very reasonably priced for named snowdrops), and although shipping cross country during a polar vortex isn’t exactly normal plant buying procedure, I’m sitting fat and happy here, all hunkered down on the Pennsylvania tundra with my brand new galanthus “John Gray”.
I also picked up ‘Blewbury Tart’. Maybe she’ll grow on me as the little tart clumps up but for now I’m still lukewarm to her small sideward facing congested bloom. Both of my new snowdrops show up on ‘best growing’ or ‘favorite snowdrop’ lists, so I’m pretty sure that even when they’re out in the garden among all the other snowdrops they should someday make me proud.
Of course when shipping cross country it’s foolish to buy just two plants. Far better to fill the box, so I added two primrose plants. This one is primula vulgaris ssp. sibthorpii, an English type primrose that has a reputation for doing better through the dry, hot spells that other primrose generally don’t like here. The second (and third bonus!) primrose are in a cold garage corner (still dormant), but this one with it’s blooms already coming up goes right in to add to the winter garden!
I loved my Far Reaches Farm order. Premium plants packed to perfection, communication was great, and the primula are so well grown they could even be divided now if I were so inclined. Just looking at their website today I could have easily filled another even larger order with cool arisameas and species roses…. but I should really do a one month cool off period for any more new plant orders (the budget being blown as it is!) For now I’ll have to be satisfied with the winter garden…. for as long as it lasts…. the cold is creeping into the garage and the last polar plunge has pots in the corners of the garage frozen solid.
All these exciting new treats make me wonder why I ever bothered to overwinter those tired old tender plants from last year! They only look marginally better this winter after having spent most of their time under the grow lights, and I think the trouble’s not worth it, so next year it’s back into the near dark of the garage.
I know come May it will have been worth taking them in. Maybe if I’m bored during next week’s not-going-over-freezing weather I’ll repot the geraniums and start giving them a little water. It will be nice to have some summer flowers growing again, and they shouldn’t mind the cool garage temperatures at all.
The combination of toddler, new baby, and home renovations is a fun mix, and outside changes were mostly put onto the back burner, but that summer I did manage to get out the salmon colored edging and covered the colorful red bark mulch with a more natural shade. I’m not saying it looked better, but at least it’s a little less sterile looking.
Blues, yellows , and greens seem to complement the house better than all the loud mixed up flower colors. For a couple weeks I didn’t mind this look, even as the tulip foliage yellowed and died off. But then boredom and excess plants struck, and I was back to my old ways of sneaking in a few new plants here and there. 
One of the centerpieces was the tree fern room. Always flooded with a thin sheet of water, this year Granny Smith and Rome apples were arranged into a floating flourish of color. The hanging “chandelier” isn’t too shabby either!
Writing out the labels probably takes the most time. Name, notes, date, and source written with a plain old pencil.
All kinds of goodies were re-discovered just in time for fall planting, I think it was something like 20 packets for $7 and I picked out 40. Who can’t use a few more lily seedlings coming along or a couple packets of winter aconite seed? NARGS keeps previous lists online, so if you’re curious to see if it’s something you might be interested in, 
The red color in the last picture is a burning bush (euonymus alata) and its days may be numbered. Even though they show up in many local landscapes they’re very invasive. I haven’t seen any seedlings yet, but don’t doubt they’re out there, so next spring I may move one of the blueberries into its spot. The color is not as intense and the shape is less tight but you get delicious blueberries!
‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea) is a top 5 grass. Up to 6 foot tall seed heads come up out of a neat 2 ft fountain of foliage. It’s tall yet airy and light, and the yellow fall color hangs on for a while. If winter comes late and seeds ripen there might be a seedling or two next spring but hardly anything to worry about. The plant practically falls apart over the winter and is an easy cleanup.
Miscanthus in general are losing their hold on me. The springtime cleanup is a pain with their tight clumps and I’m starting to think of them as industrial park plants. They look great there, but might be too much work in my own garden. I still have a few variegated kinds and who knows what next year will bring, since my fickle crabby self might divide up this porcupine grass (miscanthus sinensis ‘Strictus’) next spring and plant it all over the place.
Planting grasses is easy, it’s removing ornamental grasses that’s the problem. My only advice is sharpen your shovel beforehand, you need a nice blade-sharp tip to make the job almost easy, but even then you really have to put your back into it. Also watch the seeders. I’ve evicted the taller Pennisetum alopecuroides because of their reseeding (the real dwarf ones seem to be sterile) and I’m keeping my eye on the Korean feather grass. Most of the trimmings can be composted, but don’t mulch your daffodil bed with fresh little bluestem mulch, it makes a great grass seedbed and will make you hate your daffodils and weeding them.
sorta like suburbia 