Through The Day, Backwards

In honor of the weirdness of the date today, February 29, we will be traveling back in time to the garden related events of yesterday, only they will be shown to you in reverse order.

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At the end of the daily walk around the garden, looking for changes showing spring’s beginnings, the sedum ‘Frosty Morn’ shows some all white new sprouts. Sweet!

A good explanation of how this extra day came about can be found in this New York Times article,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/opinion/29turney.html?th&emc=th

Carol at May Dreams gardens wrote about adding that extra day elsewhere in the year here.

Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’ has cool sprouts also.

Under the garage deck, primroses are blooming. Every year this bed has more of these late winter bloomers added from grocery purchases. Some don’t survive, but the ones that do are divided to make a fuller show. This is a good one with larger than usual flowers.

A new discovery , a white freckled hellebore.

Tulipa greigii ‘Oratorio’ has patterned leaves. These types of tulips were discovered last year and extend the season of enjoyment with their beautiful leaves. This one has bright red flowers, a bonus.

Tulipa ‘Silverstream’, a giant Darwin type has pink and white edging on its leaves. The flowers are yellow with red streaked tips.

Fritillaria raddeana just emerging. These were billed as a smaller F. imperialis with light yellow blooms. It will be exciting to see how these fare. So far the other fritts have not been bothered by the voles that live within the long wall at the back of the house where these are planted.

At the beginning of the outdoor walk we check on the rosemary topiary. It has wintered over well and even looks like there is new growth that needs trimming soon. The old glass shower door has protected it once again from the cold and wet of the season.

Going over the newly arrived Plant Delights Order , the abutilon ‘Fool’s Gold’ was shipped in bloom!

It was a little rumpled from the wrap of newspaper shreds.

But the fact it came with flowers was an unexpected and terrific surprise.

The canna ‘phaison’ was even more beautiful in person than on the catalog page.

Wrapped in plastic wrap, the root system was very large and healthy with two good growing stems.

Back into the main house, before going outside, Hazel was being silly with her tongue out while the camera is pointed at her. She loves this seat above the heat vent. I would too when the weather is cold outside.

Now this is the life, Kitty on our bed with the pillows at his back, feet up and slightly curled.

The early morning had a sparkly dusting of ice and snow mixed. It was cold and these just planted wallflowers ‘Pastel Patchwork’ looked a little limp. They later rebounded when the temps moderated in the afternoon.

This hellebore was not as droopy as most of the ones in full bloom. They too snapped out of it when the day became warmer, climbing into the mid forties.

We rise very early here at Faire Garden, usually around four thirty A.M. Looking out at the frosting on the ground, it was decided to try and photograph the glistening scenery with the night setting on the camera. That was a fizzle, the glitter just came out like white dots, but this shot of the moon showed an eerie cloud that was not seen as I was standing in the cold darkness. I especially love the tree tops showing. Don’t you think this looks like a good setting for a horror film? Any titles come to mind? How about “The Garden of the Killer Fog”?

Just goes to show that the mind of Faire Garden has a darker side. Hope you enjoyed the backwards time travel!

Frances

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