This is one of the best times of the year where you can walk out into your gardens and see something new every day. A few weeks ago I was gone for three days and it felt like it was longer than that when I revisted my gardens. The redbuds were just starting to leaf out and the cute small red/pink flowers were dropping. The poppies were rapidly growing larger and started to form the beginning of the anticipated orange/red flowers. The cornflowers popped up everywhere......it's amazing how I started with one in the front of my house and now they are on the west and north sides of the house. Don't plant this one unless you don't mind them traveling all over your yard. Last fall I planted 100 Spanish Bluebells and was finally glad to see them bloom. They were much later than the Virginia Bluebells. Hope you enjoy the pictures of some of my favorites from the backyard.
Centaurea montana - Cornflower & Iberis sempervirens - Candytuft Snowflake
Solomon's Seal - a shared treasure from a friend and great to plant under a tree.
Picea abies 'Pendula' - Weeping Spruce: This I bought at Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery in Woodstock, IL on a field trip with other MATC students. It was a great addition to my conifer garden collection.
Weigela Shining Sensation & Allium
Epimedium x 'Rubrum' - Red-leaved Epimedium, Spanish Bluebells & Hostas
This is the B.J. Garden in honor of my two nephews. I never heard so much laughing & giggling when they discovered my hammock for the first time. They both take pigs to the County Fair so I was thrilled to find the cement flying pigs to add to the garden. I've also added some garden art with blue accents. My nieces have their own garden at my house and you guessed it......most of the plants are pink in that garden to remind us of the those trying years that Delaney would only wear the color pink.
Geum triflorum - Prairie Smoke: I know I posted a picture of this before but this plant is very photogenic! This native perennial with red fall color is a must have for your perennial garden. I would love to hear what's blooming in your gardens.
Last weekend I went on my first road trip with the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society to the Missouri Botanical Garden. I felt like I stepped into the next few months with the blooming roses, irises (1,500 of them), rhododendrons & azaleas (300), dogwoods (130), foxgloves, annuals and the warm weather. I was extremely impressed with the oldest botanical garden in continuous operation in the United States. Two of my favorite gardens were the English Woodland Garden with it's layers of plants and the Japanese Garden with it's many Japanese maples. Our group also toured the Shaw Nature Reserve, garden centers, shops & some private gardens and we did this all in three days! At the beginning of the trip I only knew one person and at the end I got to know many "plant loving" people.
Iris Collection
Metasequoia glyptostroboides - Dawn Redwood Tree
Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' - May Apple
View from the Japanese Garden
Platanus occidentalis - Sycamore Tree
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera' - Japanese Falsecypress
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, MN. This is a must visit for plant lovers. It is 1,137 acres of beautiful public gardens with 32 display & specialty gardens and more than 5,000 plant species and varieties. You can walk or drive the tour and we decided to do the two hour walking tour. Well as you guessed it, it took over three hours for our group and I am sure it didn't help that I had to take lots of pictures and we had a five year old with us.
As we entered the visitor center, we were greeted by the Great Hall of Orchids Exhibit. There were so many beautiful plants. Every time I see an orchid, it reminds me to purchase one soon for my home.
As we left the visitor center, we saw grape hyacinth and tulips nestled around a Redbud Tree - Cercis canadensis. The weather this year has given us the best show for Redbud trees in a long time.
Above is a garden that caught my attention from above. It is a knot garden with boxwood - Buxus, barberries - Berberis and lavender - Lavandula plants. I would love to see it when the lavender is blooming. This garden has inspired me to try a smaller version of this in my backyard.
It is not often when I come here that I get to see the crabapple trees - Malus sp. blooming. There were 16 species, 120 cultivars and 268 specimens and most were blooming! There were white, pink and red flowers.
This arboretum really deserves to be seen several times in the year. Last winter, we went snow shoeing there and enjoyed the winter landscape. Another favorite , especially of my niece was the maze garden. There were 1,600 shrubs specimens thoughtfully planted to create a challenging maze.
Next time you are in Minnesota make sure to visit this arboretum.
http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/default.aspx
