Signs of spring 2011

stevelau1911 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:03 pm

Here's just a few of the signs of spring that I noticed since most of the snow has melted away today.

Elephant Garlic. These were planted last fall, but I didn't notice them until this latest warm-up

Crocus?, I'm not sure what this is but it is obviously growing

Zebra grass

F rufa. Most of them are starting to put out some leaf growth as shown by the lighter green color, no shoots yet

The most impressive plant I have is currently the gunnera manicata which has put out a nearly 1ft diameter corm which has noticeably pushed the leaf bag higher as it grows a bit with each thaw. I can't wait to see what this does by April.

bamboothew · **Posted:** Fri Mar 04, 2011 12:04 am

I have garlic coming up as well, and my hardy sugar cane, Saccharum arundinaceum, has begun active growth! Also, 4 of my five Arundo cultivars are shooting: Arundo donax species form, "Versicolor", "Peppermint Stick", and "Golden Chains." The variegated forms all started over a week ago and the species form started yesterday. Arundo formosona is the only one lagging behind now. Hopefully the shoots are tough enough to withstand any light frost we may have between now and spring...

Also, jonquils are in bloom all over the place around here

stevelau1911 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 04, 2011 5:30 pm

It gets pretty exciting once plants start budding because it only gets better from here on out. So far in the past week, about half the days have exceeded 32F, and there is supposed to be a noticeable warm-up in the following week which should get rid if the remaining 2-3 inches of snow still left.

Here's some more plant pictures.

Blueberries: Most of them already have swelling buds, and might produce some fruit this year.

Poppy: This flower is also one of the first to come up each year.

Day lily

Peony

Fargesia Rufa: These are always the first to shoot

bamboothew · **Posted:** Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:21 pm

I noticed yesterday that most of my Fallopia/Persicaria/Polygonum types are starting to shoot: "Freckles," "Red Dragon," "Variegata," "Painter's Pallette," and Polygonum aubertii--the only one of that clan still dormant in my yard now is Fallopia Japonica "Crimson Beauty."

Also noticed that my Pleioblastus fortuneii is leafing out, as well as an unidentified ground cover that looks like some sort of Pleio as well.

My Arundinaria appalachiana is also greening up some already, which is strange since the wild grove I got mine from still looks totally blond. I'm assuming this means that part of my yard has a good microclimate thing going on!

Tarzanus · **Posted:** Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:43 pm

Spring is coming to Central Europe too. It was full sun but only 6°C today. Nights are still at around -6°C, but in just a few days they should get above freezing.

Bees are working hard from early beginning, take a look at this bee's cargo.

And butterfly, what would we do without caterpillars gnawing on our favourite plants.

White snow got replaced with white flowers.

bamboothew · **Posted:** Sun Mar 13, 2011 8:00 pm

Noticed today that my Northern Sea Oats are shooting. Can't recall the latin name for this, Chassomethingium Latisomethingum I think

Anyway, It has really pretty shoots!

stevelau1911 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 13, 2011 10:20 pm

As long as it stays above freezing, plants will continue to emerge from their dormancy. Here's an update.

The garlic will need to be fertilized pretty soon since they've started growing since the snow melted last week. This one's growing so fast that it ripped its skin, and they will create 3ft tall stalks once they mature.

Looks like blueberry plants will start making fruit this year.

Tulips usually blossom by the first week of April.

The sempervivum frosty succulent plants are starting to look a lot fuller now that their roots can take in water. I transplanted these to a different spot since I needed to make room to plant my other sempervivum species.

bamboothew · **Posted:** Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:57 pm

Just noticed that my 4 year old rosemary plants are blooming for the first time. The little blue flowers look pretty neat! If anyone here hasn't tried growing rosemary, I would highly recommend it. It is very easy to grow and drought tolerant, growing into a 3 foot or so evergreen shrub. Very ornamental! Of course, it has the added benefit of being very pleasantly oderiiferous and delicious!

Alan_L · **Posted:** Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:11 pm

and disappointingly not reliable in zone 6. Even the 'Arp' Rosemary variety doesn't make it for me here, except maybe a small part of a protected plant. I keep trying every year though. Maybe I'll cover over one this year...

foxd · **Posted:** Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:48 pm

Alan_L wrote:

and disappointingly not reliable in zone 6. Even the 'Arp' Rosemary variety doesn't make it for me here, except maybe a small part of a protected plant. I keep trying every year though. Maybe I'll cover over one this year...

The last Rosemary I bought I didn't even bother to plant it outside. I kept it in a pot in the basement for the Winter. I didn't even know they bloomed. :shock:

Somthing else to look forward to seeing it bloom. (I hope to one day see the banana and pineapple plants bloom.)

I did discover that it is easy to root Rosemary cuttings and I now have a couple of small plants growing in plastic cups. Nice to know I can now backup my Rosemary.

As for Signs of Spring, I was noticing that shoots from the Solomon Seal are starting to emerge. I'm also seeing cautious growth from the Allegheny Vine.

bamboothew · **Posted:** Wed Mar 16, 2011 8:33 pm

My Miscanthus giganteus started shooting today, 2 shoots so far. No wonder the Chinese sometimes call it bamboo grass: both the old culms from last year and this year's new shoots look very much like bamboo! This plant excites me because it is very lush and has the capability of getting HUGE by "ornamental grass" standards, 14ft. Of course, we know that Moso is really ornamental grass

moriphen · **Posted:** Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:54 pm

Hostas are now up

bamboothew · **Posted:** Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:21 pm

moriphen wrote:

Hostas are now up

Mine too, and also the Wisteria sinensis started blooming in this area. Beautiful plant, but it is everywhere!

Also, some of my Opuntias are starting to bud!

bamboothew · **Posted:** Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:31 pm

Noticed today that one of my Musa bajoos is breaking ground. Also, there is growth on the chameleon plant. The chameleon plant is very interesting: after I planted it, it seemed to dissapear for 2 years, then last spring it came back--to take over the world, if I believed everything I read about it on gardening forums

needmore · **Posted:** Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:06 pm

Alan_L wrote:

and disappointingly not reliable in zone 6. Even the 'Arp' Rosemary variety doesn't make it for me here, except maybe a small part of a protected plant. I keep trying every year though. Maybe I'll cover over one this year...

I suspect that rosemary is one of those plants that can not tolerate wet cold, so it may help to treat it like a marginally hardy succlent in terms of soil/winter protection?

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Signs of spring 2011

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