Finally it was 20C this weekend. Finally the snow is gone.
We've had too much snow this year. Really, I like snow, but my kids had more then 10 snow days off from school this winter - so many that they just expected a snow-day-a-week all winter. It started in December already (I never heard of a snow day in December) -- we had three in a row, and the next week another three. Okay, they were mostly legit.
It's been a tough summer, hot for the East Coast, but it's the lack of rain that really strains the garden.
Anemones are amongst some of the showiest plants we have for the garden; and thankfully, the tuberous rooted species are some of the easiest to grow.
The plants in genus Dionysia are some of the most demanding in cultural requirements that few people attempt to grow them.
Of all the shrubs that can be put in a rock garden, Daphnes are at the top of everyone's list.
The last two weeks in the garden have been all blue, the mystical colour that everyone wants...and the gentians haven't even started to open. A plant people are reluctant to grow is the blue corydalis. I remember the days when my dad badly wanted blue corydalis (years and years ago), and as a rough rule of thumb he had to kill it 3 times or so before he had success. My guess is it has nothing to do with how he grew it becuase they are still given the same treatment - most likely it's just the species. Now we have seedlings of varying shades of blue scattered all over the garden.
This one's actually named: Corydalis turcz. 'Gorin', not some bastard child of the garden. To the left and below are most likely straight c. turczaninovii.
All leaves have such a fresh texture. Even though it's flower, flower everywhere in the alpine gardens right now, the leaves are doing their best to compete. Here's a taste of what is happening in the garden right now.
Arenaria sp. Wallowa Mt. - the perfect mat. Nobody ever asks if it has flowers. Now and then it has some white flower-blips, but nothing showy enough to take a picture of. Even without flowers, it is the perfect companion plant with its seemingly perfect subtle texture.
The heated greenhouse is almost empty.