A Work in Progress

Here is the newest section of my alpine/rockery garden, which I started work on last fall. Now that the ground is thawed, I have started the continuation of the project. I have put in part of the path, to make it easier to work in the mud, and some fencing to keep the dog out. When this section is finished, Sempervivum and various mosses and other carpet-forming plants will fill in the empty gravel between stepping stones.

Signs of Spring

The alpine garden is always host to the first emerging plants in my yard. I am expanding this section of my garden currently, and there are many new plants that were put in last year that are emerging. From top to bottom:

1. Aquilegia jonesii (Jone's columbine) is a rare alpine species that grows to only 4" in diameter and 2-3" tall but covers itself with large soft violet-blue flowers in the spring. Always one of the earliest plants to emerge in my garden, the blusish lacy leaves are a welcome sight.

2. Pulsatilla patens (prairie crocus) is a native plant in my area and new to the garden as of last year. It is supposedly among the earliest spring flowers and so far it is living up to its reputation.

3. Sempervivum spp. (hens and chicks) is an evergreen and as such is always among the first visible greenery in the garden after the snow melts. I love these plants because they come in so many different forms and they are easy to grow. I added many new ones to my expanding rockery garden last year and many more will come this year.

4. Lewisia rediviva (bitterroot) is a native plant for my area and another new addition to the garden as of last year. It is a bit of a collectors plant, but I think it belongs in everyone's rock garden. Soon its enormous pink flowers will make this foliage invisible. Above and below the plant in the photo you can see seedlings of Corydalis aurea (golden corydalis), the offspring of a plant I rescued last summer.

5. Species tulips are in my opinion undervalued and I actually like them more than the more common hybrids. They are fantastic rockery plants and I added a couple new species to the rock garden last year to join the existing T. tarda. Pictured is Tulipa pulchella, which will soon have pink flowers.

EDIT: I had forgotten that Pulsatilla patens flowers before the leaves emerge; therefore that plant won't be among the first spring flowers in my garden this year, because it is already producing leaves! Hopefully next year we'll see some flowers.

Some of my early started bulbs (top) and vegetable seeds (bottom) are spending the afternoon outside in the warm sunlight, in my cluttered potting area. This year I am expanding my vegetable garden, and I am bringing in lots of new perennials for the new flower beds.

Spring Clean-up

It has been mostly quite warm the past week, with above average temperatures (although we went from afternoon thundershowers the other day to morning snow yesterday), and with the snow melted and the ground thawed, I've been doing some spring clean-up around the yard, and starting work on the landscaping that I started in the fall. By the end of May I plan to have the yard completely revamped, with a new pond, and a new alpine/rockery garden. Once it's all finished, there will be little lawn left, most of it replaced with native plants and low maintenance perennials, although as one might expect from me there will be no shortage of exotic and unusual plants.

Pictured above, the main Cypripedium bed may look barren right now, but in 6 weeks time it will be full of orchids about to bloom. I can't wait!