{"id":102374,"date":"2023-04-29T21:44:36","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T01:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=102374"},"modified":"2023-04-29T21:53:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-30T01:53:11","slug":"whats-up-april-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=102374","title":{"rendered":"what’s up (April 2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Waiting, longing, wracked with anticipation for the garden to jump into growth is an entirely new experience for me, born and raised in the eternal sunshine of zone 10. When the slow emergence of spring in zone 8b begins — lord have mercy it’s exciting! It feels like there needs to be some sort of authoritative summation on the state of the garden, on life, on the disgraceful behavior of our species…but that feels too much like homework. So instead, here’s a brief roundup of what the camera found today, at the ass end of April, on the Oregon coast, after what I’m told was an exceptionally rough winter. (There was snow! A blanket of it swaddled the garden for a week!<\/em>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_6861\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Phlomis monocephala<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What looks good when the garden is just starting to stir in April? In my garden, in one word, phlomis<\/em>. Unscathed, fully clothed, holding it together all winter. I didn’t expect phlomis could deal with this much rain, hail and snow, but see for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_6779\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Phlomis monocephala is planted slightly under the eaves in the rocked area; P. anatolica and aurea are in the main garden borders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6858\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Phlomis anatolica ‘Lloyd’s Variety’ with that other great, unchangeable winter stalwart Carex testacea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6853\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Phlomis aurea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And for mainlining the life force, jumpstarting slumbering rods and cones, another easy answer: tulips in pots. In colors you’ll never find locally available. (You must rouse yourself in July and order then for the best selection.) They’re the perfect aperitif for opening the growing season, especially for me because I don’t plan for much strong color for summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_6838\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
‘Orange Princess’ — grit your teeth and order despite the name<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6839\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
‘Orange Princess,’ ‘Slawa,’ lower right, tall in the back ‘Amber Glow,’ purple is probably ‘Queen of the Night’ <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"52069331866_ca73c7348e_c\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
And you’ll need to look back at the garden in March 2022…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6842\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
because gradually planting has encroached into the wide open rocked area by a couple feet — a barrel band, to be exact. In the above barrel band, lower right Hebe parviflora angustifolia, Sedum ‘Capo Blanco,<\/em> upper left Kniphofia hirsuta, upper right Bulbine abyssinica. Dasylirion texanum is in the concrete tube. Sprawling behind the tube, Marrubium supinum looked presentable all winter. Spikes are Libertia ‘Amazing Grace’ and Libertia ‘Nelson Dwarf.’ I’ve gone libertia mad — not shown is L. chilensis. The empty band in the distant left is awaiting arrival of another phlomis. I need all the phlomis!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6821\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
looking the other way, east<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6828\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
detail from the band plantings, Crambe maritima<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6841\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Eryngium paniculatum is another of those plants much appreciated for looking impeccable all winter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6825\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Eryngium varifolium<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6806\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
in the center stock tank, zone 9er Anisodontea ‘Strybing Beauty’ won big in a cold zone 8b winter. If you don’t like pink, you’ll dismiss it outright, and I don’t seek out pink myself — but I know of no other plant that performs like this. Bees were visiting it all winter. Battered by winds, a main trunk split — but that didn’t stop it either. Another form I hear is equally good is ‘El Rayo’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6832\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Thalictrum ‘Elin’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thalictrum — I’ve daydreamed about growing thalictrum for many years, in a good, moisture-retentive soil. Early emergence of delicate ferny leaves followed by a massive rush of growth to head height. ‘Elin’ was planted last year, two ‘Black Stockings’ were added in March. Yellow-flowered Thalictrum lucidum will arrive in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_6851\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Thalictrum ‘Black Stockings’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6854\"<\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The euphorbias bring a strong early presence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_6792\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Euphorbia characias supsp. wulfenii with ‘Vulcan’ wallflowers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6800\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Euphorbia cyparissias is irresistible to me, bright and early — but it is incredibly invasive!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6794\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Euphorbia stygiana was struck flaccid from cold so many times I thought it couldn’t possibly recover, yet here it is<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6791\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
And geum is another that holds onto a robust rosette of leaves all winter in cold, wet soil then is quick off the mark in April<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6849\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"IMG_6813\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Mukgenia ‘Nova Flame’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And always shopping for more. I bumped into this bigeneric cross of bergenia and mukdenia last week with the sempervivum-like flowers and couldn’t think of a reason not to buy it. There is no reason, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_6904\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
ethereal, starry Lychnis flos-cuculi ‘Petit Henri’ is said to bloom all summer, also brought home last week<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Light snow again mid April. Yesterday spiked into the high 80s, at least 20 degrees over the norm, but we’ve climbed back down into the 60sF with the possibility of rain tomorrow…and some more in May but then drier days ahead…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Waiting, longing, wracked with anticipation for the garden to jump into growth is an entirely new experience for me, born and raised in the eternal sunshine of zone 10. When the slow emergence of spring in zone 8b begins — … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[550,5119],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-qDc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102374"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102374"}],"version-history":[{"count":62,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102437,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102374\/revisions\/102437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}