{"id":102438,"date":"2023-05-09T17:40:43","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T21:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=102438"},"modified":"2023-05-09T17:40:43","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T21:40:43","slug":"covering-the-ground-in-early-spring-zone-8b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=102438","title":{"rendered":"covering the ground in early spring zone 8b"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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every morning Billie and I inspect the garden, each with a different agenda of course<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dead or alive? Since April I’ve circled the garden carefully every morning, spine at a right angle to the ground, and posed that question to the plants…or the empty space I remember growing plants. Looking for signs of life in Salvia uliginosa (no-show as yet\/dead); Salvia nutans (growth from one clump out of two); Aloe cooperi (strong growth from one plant, new nubbins from a second plant.). I inspect the garden daily both for signs of survival and also for what makes an early presence in spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aloe cooperi, a grass aloe, showing new growth, second winter, zone 8 hardy but iffy as far as all the rain. No blooms last summer and most likely none this year. Just had to have an aloe! Another hardy aloe. A. boylei, came thru in a stock tank. Plant on left with blue flowers is Wolfenia x schwarzii with evergreen leaves in winter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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the dog fennel last summer. The shrub Rhamnus alaternus ‘Variegatus’ is looking a little peaked this spring and may not be a good fit for the excessive winter rain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There’s visible growth on veronicastrum, on eupatorium. But one of my favorite plants from last year, the dog fennel Eupatorium capillifolium ‘Elegant Feather,’ is so far a no-show. Too early or dead? Canna ‘Cleopatra’ is showing growth. I had no idea if planting this last fall was sane. I left the dahlias in the ground more out of neglect than planning, and surprisingly two are showing growth. All the Sideritis oroteneriffae in the ground perished, but one planted in a bottomless container slightly under the eaves is producing new growth at the base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dianthus barbatus ‘Oeschberg’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At least this year there is some growth to inspect. Last year, the first spring in this Oregon garden, was an agonizing time without much to look at in May. Since then I’ve focused on early growth from mostly herbaceous, sun-loving plants after a cold, wet (rain forest wet!) zone 8b winter. I’ve sown biennials like sweet william and hesperis for their early presence. It’s a vast subject, to get a wet 8b garden in sun up on its legs in early spring, so if you have any suggestions I’m all ears! I’ve been adding bulbs but avoiding peonies and early flowering shrubs for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Italian buckthorn this spring. The grass behind it is Anemanthele lessoniana, which looks decent all winter but because it shouldn’t be cut to the ground looks a little shabby by spring. I’ve been thinning out the old growth. Carex testacea in foreground is flawlesss. The phormium came through the winter OK, and Eryngium ‘Big Blue’ has strong spring growth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sanguisorbas are a strong early presence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Not afraid of orange, both in wallflowers and geum. Other early silver leaves come from several clumps of Lychnis coronaria, a sterile strain called ‘Gardener’s World’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The wallflowers, erysimum, thrive here and ignite the May garden. The large-leaved lamb’s ears is scruffy all winter but rights itself early for some gorgeous clumps. Foreground left is a miscanthus, late to bulk up, but behind the wallflower is a treasure, an Oregon native, cool season grass Deschampsia cespitosa in the very good form ‘Goldtau.’ I’m also growing quite a few clumps of the older variegated variety ‘Northern Lights’ which is easier to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Milium effusum ‘Aureum’ is an electric presence in April\/May<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Festuca arundinacea ‘Glow Sticks’ found local last year kept its leaves in winter. Didn’t bloom last spring — will I see glow sticks this year? The open space behind the grass is waiting to be filled by melianthus and an Aralia ‘Sun King’ — a good place for spring bulbs while waiting for these two to make size. The heat wave projected for this weekend should kick the melianthus into gear.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Out of three ‘Goodwin Creek Grey’ lavenders, one pulled through, all planted in the gravel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Teucrium ‘Summer Sunshine,’ planted in fall 2021, made it through two winters but just now showing the chartreuse coloring<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Salvia argentea after one winter — really had my doubts about this one surviving<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One of several clumps of Oregon sunshine, Eriophyllum lanatum, nearly evergreen, bulking up to an artemisia-like lacy clump before bloom. With early-appearing dark-leaved lysimachia (bought unlabeled). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Asarina procumbens, the creeping snapdragon, thins out a bit in winter but still evergreen, thickening and flowering early. Filling in the graveled area under the tetrapanax and restio rhodocoma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Iris ‘Gerald Darby’ planted near a downspout. Everything else is kept in pots here because the ground is just sooo wet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Closest to the garage gets the least amount of sun. Aruncus aethusifolius is center, Eurybia divaricata upper left. Lots of early stuff here not pictured — Gillenia trifoliata, Angelica pupurea ‘Stricta,’ tricyrtis, Filipendula ‘Red Umbrellas,’ Anemone ‘Dainty Swan,’ Potentilla lineata, astrantia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Eurybia divaricata<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Astrantia ‘Star of Fire’ planted last week<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Peucedanum ostruthium ‘Daphnis’ aka Peuce Masterwort planted last week is a lookalike for dangerous bishop’s weed but is in fact a well-mannered umbel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Also planted this spring. Loved the leaf color of Arctostaphylos ‘Pajaro Hybrid,’ a standout among the arctos at the Wonder Garden’s spring manzanita sale — volunteers hard first choosing rights! Approx 200 plants sold out in a half hour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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view early this morning east of my neighbor’s flowering fruit trees. The double pink (a cherry?) is in bloom all over town. The single white is lovely.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dead or alive? Since April I’ve circled the garden carefully every morning, spine at a right angle to the ground, and posed that question to the plants…or the empty space I remember growing plants. Looking for signs of life in … 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-qEe","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102438"}],"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=102438"}],"version-history":[{"count":73,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102512,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102438\/revisions\/102512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}