LOOK UP, LOOK DOWN, LOOK THROUGH

This time of year take advantage of mild afternoon walks in the woodland garden to look over the gates at the last blooms of  Prunus mume at the edge of the woodland and through the trunks of the trees bathed in the high brilliant light of spring before the leaves come out and shade the garden.  

Look up to see some of the tall trees blooming against the sky. Visit the nearby campus of UNC Chapel Hill in NC and take in the magnificent trunks of the old trees. 

It's an open parkland of a Woodland Garden and right next door is the Coker Arboretum with lots of understory trees blooming right now. 

Please don't forget to enjoy the display of fallen petals covering the ground which can be as beautiful as the flowers themselves blooming on the trees.  

Full open pale pink blossoms of Magnolia stellata 'Waterlily' above and deep magenta candle -like buds opening to strappy looking flowers of 

Magnolia 'Susan' below bloom at the edges of the woodland on the south and west sides respectively.

M. 'Susan' flowers saved from the 27 degree overnight temperatures. It's safe to cut a few branches to bring flowers of the trees inside to enjoy. 

Prunus Hally Jolivette  in the JC Raulston Arboretum Winter Garden and one of JC's personal favorites is a sweet little tree with petticoat - like dangling pairs of buds and flowers. 

Embrace the joys of the flowering Cherries, deciduous Magnolias, Dogwoods, and Redbuds that will be coming along shortly. 

GROOMING DETAILS OF THE GARDENS BECKON

It is now time, when the March weather with temperatures fluctuating from 40's in the morning to sometimes 70's by afternoon, to pay attention to the winter damaged leaves on perennials.  

Emerging leaves will soon be popping up. It is always a comforting sight to behold the fresh tender green shoots  without broken and brown leftovers of last season's leaves. Above is the first emerging shoots of Iris virginiana 'Contraband Girl' coming through the sad looking piled leaves of last season. I can cut these off with a simple scissors but this year they are easily pulled off by hand. 

To prepare for this day's cleanup I tuck my loose fitting pants (I like the flexibility that sweatpants afford while bending over to cut and pull) into heavy cotton socks, then grab my ACE HARDWARE tool belt with scissors and FELCO pruners, pull on lightweight ATLAS gardening gloves and am out the door to get the wheelbarrow. 

I'm starting in the driveway where I have Iris 'Eco Easter' draping over a container below a Dwarf Cryptomeria and also creeping along the edge of a raised bed. The leaves of this perennial are largely evergreen. This year's hard winter left them a bit raggedy so I am taking off damaged leaves being ever mindful of the newest tiny fresh leaf emerging, usually in the middle of the spray of leaves. ( picture on the left) 

Hellebore leaves being the largest stand out and the damage, as you can see, makes the garden look sloppy. I have a lot of Hellebores and a lot to groom. Below you can see that this row looks perfectly fine but if I leave them on the plants, by mid summer they too will look untidy. 

By March 15 hellebore leaves are splayed out flat on the ground and easy to trace back to the flowering stalks to cut off. There are two schools of thought about cutting last season's leaves of hellebores. First is to leave them on through the winter for an evergreen ground cover on the forest floor. The second is for those who are in smaller gardens and may also be hybridizers wanting to show off the flowering stalks that emerge from late January into March. The second method surely reduces Spring chores and showcases the differences in the colored calyxes to make selections for new introductions an easier task. I think both are viable alternatives for enjoying this incredible plant. 

The old fronds of my many ferns (Autumn, Christmas, Tongue and Holly) are ready for their annual trim. Above to the right are Autumn Fern fronds collapsed against a stacked stone wall. In the left image you can see how large ( basketball sized ) the crown is after cutting the fronds. This fern was planted while the wall was being built 10 years ago. I placed a frog sculpture and my scissors on the crown to show you it's size. Below you can see the before and after of cutting Holly Fern fronds. 

I always check the back of the fern fronds for the sori. These spores will eventually produce new ferns. So, I distribute the whole fronds throughout the Woodland  in hopes of new ferns popping up in a few years time. Yes, patience is a virtue that gardening has taught me. 

This is how one tiny Tongue Fern has traveled along the stacked stone over the years. 

Acorus 'Ogon' (dwarf and full sized) add an exciting yellow spray to the garden floor. I also use Liriope and Carex species to this effect. Liriope can take a trim right to ground level, but Carex and Acorus require a close look and light grooming touch if they are to survive. Below you can see how I only took the tips off damaged leaves, sort of like a shaggy cut of bangs. 

Dwarf conifers provide needed structure in my gardens but do capture fallen leaves and grooming them in spring takes only a swift brush over with my glove to reveal the pretty green needles. Below, I will take my pruners and hand clip the long growth to the left that is telling me that this Dwarf wants to revert to it's parent's original size. 

Tender tips of Tricyrtis hirta are popping through the stone terrace and will be a tempting snack for the few bunnies that will surely be back this year. A simple wire cage covering them will provide protection and support as they mature. 

This year with a busy designing schedule and aging body  I have decided to devote an hour a day to this labor of love.  And now the hour is up and the wheelbarrow is full. Be sure to leave 15 minutes on the end of your work period to clean up and be ready for the next phase of grooming your Gardens in Woodlands. 

PARTY TIME FOR HELLEBORES

It is always such a joy and relief when the Hellebores  show their full blossoms (really the colorful calyxes surrounding the true blossom in the center) after the cold and snow of February has passed.  

Guests to the Gardens in Woodlands are greeted with a spattering of Hellebores as they come down the gravel path  from the driveway into the front courtyard. 

After 20 years 12 hellebores that I originally planted in my Woodland Wall Garden have multiplied exponentially creating a wonderland of ground cover. 

As you can see  by the mermaid dancing in the Hellebores she is also having a joyous experience. 

I love walking along the woodland garden  paths and seeing repetition of blossom in clumps of color ( lavenders,  pinks,  whites and deep burgundies) that jump along and across the path.  These are Hellebores orientalis, Hellebores x hybrida and Hellebores foeditus.

I planted 'Kingston Cardinal' a double Hellebore cultivar to spice up the common species along the path. 

Stopping along the way one comes across a combination of Helleborus orientalis, last year's three foot stems of  Hydrangea  Annabelle topped with it's dried umbles of flowers and Edgeworthia chrysantha blooms towering over them. 

Another beautiful vision is the expanding spikes of  Corylopsis spicata blossoms framing the distant haze of blooms on Cornus Mas at the southern edge of the woodland.  

I have placed sculptures along  the path to  provide interest and directional changes where a side path might break off.  This concrete sculpture of a Renaissance farmer trains his gaze down the path to the house. 

There is a Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' blooming in the Fern Walk right now and it is supported by hardy Cyclamen coum , an Autumn Fern and some speciality Hellebores  purchased one by one over the years from Plant Delights Nursery. 

These cultivars greatly enhance the ever expanding seedling Hellebore collection making the garden experience that much more rich and diverse. 

At the far end of the Fern Walk the garden is showing a tidy patch of Trillium cuneatum. I have to carefully place a temporary cage of stems over the clump to fool the deer which would eat it down to the ground if found. 

Can you see Marcus, my wonderful German Shepherd, waiting at the other end of the path? He wants  to continue our walk through the  gardens in the woodland so I'll take my leave now. 

I hope you are enjoying spring as much as we are here in Apex, NC. 

CHANGEABLE FEBRUARY

I always have to remind myself that winter in Raleigh, NC is not over until February is gone. This year I just heard that the Jet Stream is always playing with the weather and this winter the dips have brought abundant cold, wind,  snow and ice to us. Ours is usually a gentle snow that is melted away within a week as the temperatures fluctuate between below 30' and even up to 50' throughout the month. In the meantime we enjoy and sometimes lament the changes we see in the gardens. The winds do a pretty good job of pruning the weak and dead tree branches. 

The dead wood in the trees can come down hard and ruin an older plant specimen in a heartbeat. The Tulip Poplar branch on the ground has bisected a 5 year old Daphne odora. 

Ill try gently tying the two halves together and wait for new growth later in April and cross fingers that it recovers. 

On the upside of the wind pruning. Every Feb. and March the gales that whip over my roof prune a 30 foot China Fir. I find the branchlets thrown as much as 40-50' away. Like the Sweet-gum tree if this plant were in the wrong place it would be an unwanted specimen.  I take about 15 minutes to gather up the branchlets with a rake and heavy pair of gloves and place them under the tree each year. The natural mulch  skirt looks pleasant to me and by mid summer the Vinca minor (Periwinkle) has crept up through and hidden all the brown. 

If the snowfall is a light dusting over my warmed rock terraces I get a white patchwork look for awhile. 

The deck looks more Zen  like than ever. I like the calm feeling this view gives me as a change from the cottage style planting in my other garden spaces. 

Now, the paths take center stage among the bare branches and evergreen plants .

February is always a time I like to cut budding branches and place them in the windowsill to enjoy the sight of the unfolding and scent of the flowers. 

I have an Edgeworthia chrysantha and a ' Jet Trail ' Quince in this little display. 

When all else fails to cheer up your gloomy February drag out some remembrances of the warm days in the garden. Old Mr. Sun ( he looks like a Mr. to me) is frowning on the icy sight he sees out the window to the right. The frogs, out of hybernation, remind me to keep up the yoga, and the chickens, painted by Kathleen Jardin, brighten up the display pecking in the golden sunshine of coming summer. I have a wonderful friend that told me the other day , " I want to remember this cold in the heat of summer." Maybe that mental trick will work for me when it's too hot to work in the garden.