Whine Along With Me

Perry Como used to sing in the opening theme song from his 1955 to 1963 television show, brilliantly named The Perry Como Show the tune Dream Along With Me (I’m On My Way To A Star). My mother thought Perry was pretty darn dreamy too. I was very young, but remember watching his show and thinking he was a good singer. Yes, I was quite a precocious child.  This song came to mind as I have been in whine mode for the last several weeks about our unusually cold weather.  The whining is going to continue as long as this prolonged unseasonably cold spell drags on.  The Financier even remarked on it, something he seldom does, he is a real gem that way.  Officially winter has not even begun, that is the worrisome part.  One cure for whining is gazing at the archives of garden photos from this year and backward.  This shot of the deck bed taken on April 2, 2008 represents the kind of garden dreams we wish to see when eyes are closed.  Lavender and white Erica darlyensis ‘Mediterranean’ forms a tapestry with Spiraea x bumaldi  ‘Magic Carpet’ showing reds and golds amid blue flowering Muscari armeniacum.A more recent photo of the same bed, pre leaf cleanup of the paths, taken November 14, 2008 shows that some of the enchantment has faded. More noticeable in this picture are the two Blush Knockout roses with lighter blue/green foliage at each end of the middle of the bed with the center located  Magnolia ‘Jane’  budded for next year’s blooms but now leafless.Jane blooms early April here, and there are more buds showing promise for the coming spring.A highlight of the winter garden growing in this bed is the ring of Calluna vulgaris along the path edges. Some of these are the cultivar C. ‘Firefly’ which changes from golden foliage in warm temps to bright red when the cold comes. In good whining style, I shall mention that the red colors of this fine shrub came much earlier than normal this year.Back to the dreams of garden visions to be savored, the white name unknown tree peony comes to mind. A post about the short bloom time of this prized plant can be viewed here. Blooming in April, can you tell we were perusing the April files? , there is the promise of abundant flowers in buds showing now. One year after planting, this shot taken January 12, 2003 by our first digital camera shows how much growth has taken place since the initial planting. I drew the green circle to help you see the tiny stalk, protected by the concrete foo dog, still standing guard but nearly hidden by the foliage now.  Two flower buds are visible in this photo, the reddish teardrop shapes at the top and on the left just above the statue’s right ear.Not deemed blog worthy when taken, this April 3, 2008 photo looks mouth watering to me now in the depths of not yet winter. Daffodil Tahiti takes the front stage with blue flowering vinca minor at its feet. Assorted hellebore seedlings are in the next area, and more Spiraea x bumaldi ‘Magic Carpet’ is showing similar coloring in spring as it did in fall.  Mixed daffodils and tulips line the path edge of this top part of the daylily hill.  The heaths and heathers of the deck bed are visible in the distance along with the young blooming Magnolia ‘Jane’.  If there is a favorite time above others in the Fairegarden, April is it.  Right now the images on these photos will keep me dreaming of the future while whining about the present.
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Do feel free to whine about anything that pops into your mind, sort of garden related, or not, your choice. Whine along with me, I’m on my way to spring.
Frances