Category Archives: perrennials

evergreens, months 01-03: winter, perrennials, urban deer

Flower Count – day 7 – hellebore

03/27/2012 svseekins 8 Comments

It’s sometimes called the Winter Rose, but isn’t actually a rose relation. The flowers really do remind me of the wild rose, but mostly it gets that name because it blooms in winter, some even by Christmas!

Typically the Christmas bloomers have boring white flowers that slowly age into interesting light green flowers before setting seed. We gifted Mum with one of those hellebore this past Christmas & it’s still looking great on her balcony.

Helebore - Blackthorn strain - evergreen in February border — photo by SVSeekins

There aren’t any Christmas blooming hellebore varieties in our garden. At that time of year our hellebore are just happy evergreen perennials that the deer leave alone. I think they’re wonderful just filling in the borders so winter doesn’t look completely desolate.

These come from the new hybrid varieties that have appeared in nurseries over the past couple years. The hellebore suppliers have presented blooms in pinks and even dark colours that seem almost black. Those types seem to flower later in the winter.

Hellebore - February promise — photo by SVSeekins

By February our hellebore are starting to show promise. That’s my cue to get out there & do a bit of pruning.

The new bud stems shoot up from the centre of the plant, pushing last year’s stems over a bit. It’s those older stems we need to check out closely. Some get a bit of gunk on them & that could infect the new growth. It’s wise to remove any with those issues. This sample below shows it even better…

Hellebore Pink Frost - early February buds & old growth — photo by SVSeekins

That poor hellebore really was looking worse for wear. I cut away all infected old stems, knowing that the new growth would arrive in hardly any time at all. Here’s what it looked like shortly after its trim:

Hellebore Pink Frost - late February flowers after pruning — photo by SVSeekins

Hellebore - creamy buds in February — photo by SVSeekins

Another variety was showing buds in February at about this same time. I checked closely but didn’t find any issues on the leafs, so it didn’t get trimmed back at all. My intention is to let it alone unless it starts to look poorly.

In the meantime I’m really enjoying the fat double blooms it’s producing, even though they’re that boring creamy white colour.

Hellebore - Mardi Gras double & hand — photo by SVSeekins

I’ve heard that hellebore will slowly spread through the garden, & that’s fine by me! To add some extra encouragement, my plan is to collect their seed pods & help out a bit with the distribution.

It’s just a delight to have a good show of blooms so early in the year! That’s why I’ve kept a couple in big pots by the back door. I seem to need that promise of the flowers & warmth that will arrive in a couple more months if only I can hold out that long.

Helebore - full bloom in march — photo by SVSeekins

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boulevard garden, months 01-03: winter, perrennials, projects

Flower Count – day 6 – euphorbia

03/07/2012 svseekins 17 Comments

Euphorbia is a new plant for me. I dipped my toe in that pool a couple of years ago, but had little success. Then I began noticing more & different euphorbia in other gardens & those looked great.

Deciding I hadn’t tried hard enough, last summer I stuck my whole foot into the euphorbia pool. I moved the past year’s trial plant to a new site (in hopes it would perk up), and I bought a different cultivar at the garden shop. That made 2.

Then I admired the euphorbia at SK’s garden. She says they grow like crazy & promptly dug some up for me.

Cousin SM also gave me a gift from her garden.

When I admired some euphorbia a drought tolerant landscape down the street, the resident assured me they’re tough as nails, and immediately offered to share some of her extras. Wow.

Now I have 5 test patches going.

This winter it’s already paying off. The transplant from down the street has survived – – and doesn’t this look suspiciously like blooms on the ends of the branches?

It’s called Euphorbia ‘myrsinites’. The easier common name is Donkey Tail Spurge. I think it’s pretty funky looking.

It lives at the base of a boulevard tree that sticks out into the street corner. I figure this might be a good place for it, since this spurge won’t grow too high to impede the view of any drivers trying to pull into traffic. I also have my fingers crossed that it’ll survive with far less water than it had last summer (transplants need watering until they’re established).

The garden shop cultivar is also looking encouraging. The bright tips look like flowers to me. Even if they’re really something else, I’m going to count them as flowers anyway. It’s called Euphorbia ‘purpurea’, or more commonly Purple Wood Spurge.

euphorbia - gift from SK — photo by SVSeekins

The gifts from SK have something groovy dangling on their tips also. I don’t know if it’s a flower – but I like it.

Does it sound like I’m getting desperate to find blooms for Victoria’s Flower Count? Maybe. But just getting outside at this time of year has given me a boost, and a fresh perspective. These hen’s & chicks look so decorative, I’m half way to declaring them in bloom, too. 🙂

winter Hens & Chicks — photo by SVSeekins

Yet I digress – Sorry.

I have my fingers crossed for the euphorbia Cousin SM gave me. She warned me that it would look like it died off completely, so I’m not too worried.

The 5th sample of euphorbia is alive, but looking dormant. It’s still early in the year, so I thrilled to have anything happening in the garden at all.

An internet search told me that poinsettia, rubber trees & cactus looking plants are actually euphorbia too. I’d thought I was just stepping into a pool of plants called euphorbia. Now I realize it’s a sea! The range is a bit mind-boggling

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evergreens, months 01-03: winter, perrennials, urban deer

Flower Count – day 2 – bergenia

03/02/2012 svseekins 2 Comments

In some ways I should like bergenia more than I do. It has good traits that usually rank high in my books.

bergenia - pig squeak — photo by SVSeekins

Evergreen
Winter flowering
Drought tolerant
Low maintenance
Inexpensive
Hardy to zone 4
Shade tolerant

I do celebrate the blooms when they arrive.

This year I realised that the deer celebrate those blooms, too. Hmmmm. No wonder the bloom time seemed so short. Deer don’t seem to snack on the fleshy leafs, so the patches survive.

bergenia - elephant ears — photo by SVSeekins

Elephant ears is a common name for this plant. Kinda makes sense because of the large, rounded plant material.

Pig Squeak is another nick name. Apparently it makes a noise when rubbing the turgid leafs, but I’ve never noticed.

In other gardens I’ve been impressed with a occasional lovely display of colourful foliage, or strikingly large blooms. Perhaps those were other cultivars than the one in our yard.

In mid-summer the patches look kind of ratty, and I don’t really care for that. C doesn’t like them much either, so we don’t pay them much attention.

I reckon bergenia does a fair job as a ground cover in really tough spots of the yard. For now they’re safe. There are higher priority areas around the garden. That is until I somehow find some horticultural treasure that would suit that space better.

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