It’s a new year and a new season and although one would hope for inspiring resolutions and the turning over of new leaves to happen, this dog has already finished trying to learn that trick.  In my opinion we might as well skip the introspection and self reflection and jump right into the new year with a fresh batch of poor decision making and questionable choices!

Option 1.  The temptation of clearance bulbs when both the thermometer and calendar say it’s too late.

In this neck of the woods after Christmas is too late to plant spring blooming bulbs.  Reason number one is that a week of snow and temperatures in the teens has frozen the soil solidly leaving no options for outdoor planting.  Solution?  Pickaxe a clump of compost, thaw it out in the garage, and pot up way too many bulbs for winter forcing.  I’ll let you know how it works out.

Option 2.  The temptation of clearance evergreens when both the thermometer and calendar say it’s too late.

Same deal with a ‘Red Beauty’ holly and ‘Butterball’ Hinoki cypress.  The holly was practically free since its clearance price was significantly lower than any other single item purchased on that particular trip to the DIY store, and the Hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa) also barely registered when dropped into the wagon during a Christmas Eve grocery run.  At $8.99 it was completely worth the eye roll I endured during checkout. 

Option 3.  The way below freezing forecast (and calendar) say this snowdrop is much too far along.

Snowdrops are hardy bulbs more than capable of enduring the next two months of cold in the wide open garden.  I’m a worrier though, so when my precious ‘Fly Fishing’ sprouted too eagerly I chose to opt out and just take the little guy inside and under the lights of the winter garden.  People say growing snowdrops indoors under lights and in pots is difficult,  I say running outside to cover a precocious galanthus every time an arctic blast threatens is worse.  So in it comes.

My modus operandi for these snowdrop “rescues” is to completely rinse off the garden soil and pot up in a deep container with a loose, gritty mix of potting soil.  Not to point out the obvious, but I really have no basis for much of what I do.  Advice is always welcomed. 

‘Fly Fishing’ came inside the first week of December, so it’s been a month, but this transplanting “in the green” at what’s probably not the best time of its growth cycle seems to have done little damage.  Obviously you should take care with the roots while doing this.

The flowers of Galanthus ‘Fly Fishing’ hang at the end of long pedicles.  Outside it sways gracefully in every breeze.  Inside it’s just as nice, and perhaps even better when I can turn on the lights and admire it at 8pm with an adult beverage in hand.

Anyone who has followed this blog for any amount of time knows that smart decisions, restraint, and resolutions do not come to mind when I consider snowdrops.  On clearance at $17 per 100 bulbs I could not resist a few hundred Galanthus worowonii bulbs even if it doesn’t come close to being a favorite species.  I decided that’s kind of ignorant though since I’ve never even grown the plant myself, so in an attempt to become a better person I bought and planted 300 outside with about 2 dozen reserved for pots in the winter garden.

The first pot of G. worowonii under lights in the winter garden.  I find it promising that one is not showing the typical apple green foliage of the species, since it’s likely a ‘mistake’ mixed in.  I doubt it’s anything too exciting, but I do love snowdrop surprises!

So at this time of year I guess I am just like every other person out there trying to start the new year off as a better person, even if it means buying more snowdrops.  Not to sound threatening but I’m sure this will involve more snowdrop posts than any decent person would want since there are several more potted up for inside as well as several new ones which look very promising outside.  I’ve already admitted to having a problem, so please spare me any additional eye rolls.  The rolls wouldn’t make a difference anyway since over the years I’ve developed quite a high tolerance.

Happy New Year and all the best for 2017.

Christina at Creating my own Garden of the Hesperides is the host of a monthly look at the importance of foliage in the garden, and for some reason this celebration always sneaks up on me.  Fortunately this month it falls on a weekend, and a rainy one at that, so rather than start projects inside and waste the weekend doing all those boring things which end up on a to-do list, I’m going to sit and relax with a coffee while reviewing the beautiful week that was.

The view out the back door.  My camera must be an optimist since it really is much rainier and gloomier than this photo would suggest.

We were back in shorts and T-shirts this week as summer returned for a few days.  The ground is on the dry side but it was still perfect for just puttering around and thinking about getting ready for winter.  I should be doing more than just thinking though since each year I seem to add more and more stuff which needs winter protection.  Fortunately the first step was taken and all the succulents have moved up under the back porch for a quick look-over before moving on.  A few go into the garage, a few go near a window in the basement, but they all go into a cool spot which won’t freeze over the next several months.

Succulents can be dangerous.  They come in cute tiny pots and many root off the smallest bit of stem or leaf, so before you know it there’s a collection. 

I kill plenty of these each winter and these survivors can all handle the conditions which I put them through.  Cool, dry, and dimly lit… although I would give them more light if I could…  A little shot of water maybe once every two months (if I remember) and if they make it good.  These do, and in the low autumn light I love the way their various foliage shapes and colors go together.

Again I need to replant, they never seem to change yet suddenly all have grown!

The light of autumn has also been very kind to the foliage and flowers of the grasses.  Their colors just fit at this time of year and it’s kind of a sunset of the season with all their reds and pinks and yellows.

I moved this ‘Peppermint stick’ Arundo donax this spring and it’s been much happier in this more open, better watered spot.  Next year I’ll pull out the floppy Miscanthus from its right and hopefully figure out how best to complement the strong variegation of this grass.  

Another grass which is doing well is this spiteful clump of pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris).  It’s been doing particularly well this year and I bet it’s because I evicted its two lazy neighbors and told this clump it would be next if it doesn’t shape up.  They always look miserable for months and then only flower just in time to get killed by frost.  I think they’re just not well-suited to this latitude and I’m trying out a selection called ‘Fast forward’ which is supposed to bloom earlier… but so far it’s been on exactly the same time table.  Maybe next year after it’s become better established, but this spring I was just happy enough it survived its late autumn planting.

Pink muhly grass flowering in the last few days of frost free weather.  It will still be nice enough after the cold comes, but the pink color will fade to white.

The foliage on the muhly grass does absolutely nothing for me and even with this late season show I already had plans to replace it.  To this end I bought another grass, a giant bluestem (Andropogon gerardii ‘Red October’) with purple summer foliage and bright red autumn color.  My fingers are crossed and so far so good, but I’ve heard stories that it’s a bit difficult to establish from a later planting.

A close-up of the pink muhly grass with a few blades of ‘Red October’ coming up behind.  I love it so far!

Autumn foliage is showing up all along the street as well.  The summer lushness has faded and things are beginning to call it a year.

The dogwoods have taken on their russet red shades, and there’s no more pristine white on the ‘Limelight’ hydrangea.  Such a nice pink tint on the hydrangea is something I haven’t experienced before, usually the flowers  just brown off in the dry heat of late summer.

Also calling it a year is the front border bed.  Because of the dry summer I gave up on it in July but it still looks fine even without the annuals I usually add for some extra color.  Less work is always a good thing, so maybe just maybe I’ll do the same thing next year…. unless I dig it all up and replant everything.  Why keep things simple?

A calming border of blue fescue grass and a jolt of autumn color from the ‘Tiger Eyes’ sumac.  I wish I had a hedge or wall blocking out the rest of the neighborhood, but that’s just not how we roll here in suburbia.

I better stop here.  The sun is out again yet there’s a bitter wind blowing until tomorrow morning.  I suppose I can take today off from the garden but tomorrow if the sun shines I’m sure I’ll be out there again.  In the meantime please consider giving Christina a visit to see what others around the globe are enjoying in their gardens.  Enjoy!