Chickadee Gardens in March

Spring is here! Actually it feels as though it's been here for a few weeks on the West Coast (apologies to anyone still covered in snow). It is time to document plant happenings at Chickadee Gardens, be it early or on-time. Here is a rundown of blossoms, emerging growth, bulbs and grasses coming up, leaves, twigs, and everything in between.

Our Loropetalum chinense or Chinese fringe flower is on fire this year! It got badly damaged when the crape myrtle lost a jumbo-sized branch and smashed into it, causing a huge portion to break off. We thought it was a goner, but as you can see it rebounded with gusto.

Would it really be spring without tulips from our dear friends in The Netherlands? Thank you, Stella and Walter!

Love the foliage on this! A NOID hellebore gifted to me from Amy Campion, a fellow garden blogger who, by the way, recently posted about how to germinate milkweed or Asclepias speciosa seeds. You can read about that post here. Plant some milkweed for the monarch butterflies! OK, moving along…

Native Ribes sanguineum glowing in the afternoon sunshine. The bumble bees and hummingbirds have been all over this one. I feel it's a couple of weeks early this year.

Here it is again in a wider shot. The Styrax japonicus or Japanese snowbell tree to the right is leafing out early. It started in February. Underneath you can see the NOID hellebore and just under the red hummingbird feeder Echinacea purpurea is barely emerging (behind the metal cat). It also started in February.

The tall skinny tree is Viburnum opulus, a native tree with wonderful fall color and berries eaten up by birds. Purchased at Bosky Dell Natives in Oregon City. It's a fast-grower! Below it is a Hydrangea macrophylla 'Mariesii Variegata', a lacecap variety with variegated leaves that has beautiful blue flowers in the summer. Purchased at Joy Creek Nursery. Both are early in leafing out this year, I think. Anyone else think so? Clematis armandii on the fence in the background.

 

The Clematis armandii 'Snowdrift' had a banner year, blooming a full three weeks early.

Podophyllum pleianthum popping out of the ground, its mushroom-like growth also came a bit early.

A week later, its umbrellas have unfurled and are rapidly growing.
The above shot was taken March 15th, this was taken March 23rd.

In the shade garden, Corydalis lutea on the left has yellow blooms and Dicentra formosa on the right, a native woodland beauty has white blossoms.  The corydalis is nearly evergreen while the dicentra, deciduous, seemed on time for its spring-time emergence.

Libertia ixioides 'Goldfinger', evergreen.

Narcissus bulbocodium 'Golden Bells'. New from the Yard, Garden and Patio show this year so no idea if it's late or early. I do know that the slugs love it.

 

It seems the nasturtium fairy has visited my garden this year. Nasturtium 'Spitfire' from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds seen here. Already coming up! I stuck a few seeds in the ground a couple of weeks ago thinking it was waaaay to early to sow nasturtium seeds but it was one of those freaky super sunny February days and I was inspired. I love the outline on the margins.

Sedum confusum happily spilling over. Didn't skip a beat. This sedum really impresses me, it has stayed bright chartreuse for two straight years, no damage from weather and doesn't mind the rain.

Heuchera 'Marmalade' putting on lots of new growth. I have noticed an abundance of cutworms near them this spring, probably due to the mild winter. Much cutworm hunting has been going on around these parts to be sure. This heuchera is my favorite, handles sun or shade and is quite vigorous. In general, I'm not a huge heuchera fan but these won me over.

FRONT GARDEN

Moving around to the front, more lovely tulips from our Dutch friends. So orange! We love them!

Fresh spring growth on a native Spiraea betulifolia. This bud will open up to a cluster of beautiful tiny white flowers.

Corydalis flexuosa 'O'byrne Blue' from Xera Plants, a new purchase earlier this spring. I think I'm going to like this new addition to the shade garden.

My beloved Polypodium scouleri. The fresh new fronds means it's a happy camper. Native fern, too. Evergreen and small, one of many in the garden.

More fresh spring growth! This lovely native vine is Lonicera ciliosa or orange honeysuckle. Deciduous vine, a bit on the tricky side but I'm having good luck with this finally. I have two vines, this one is in pretty much full morning sun and looks pretty good.

Saxafraga x geum 'Denata', evergreen.

 

Rhododendron pachysanthum.

The ever lovely Vaccinium ovatum, evergreen huckleberry showing some new growth.

Here's a fun flower, Anemone nemorosa 'Green Finger', a great find from Joy Creek Nursery. I feel like this one is pretty much on time. It's slowly been spreading over the past three years. It goes dormant in the summer.

Another note-worthy native, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi or kinnickinnick. Sweet little blossoms! A drought tolerant ground cover once established.

Erodium chrysanthum emerging fresh and green. From Xera Plants. Sweet yellow flowers. Easy, drought tolerant.

The bare crape myrtle, some Hakenochloa macra coming up, Geranium macrorrhizum and friends.

NOID lilac in the front hell strip with some promising buds.

Sparkler sedge.

Astelia nivicola 'Red Gem' from Citus Nursery.

Loropetalum chinense looking sizzling with a carpet of native Oxalis oregana at its feet.

That wraps up a look around the garden this March. After sorting through photographs from last year and also reading through my garden journal, it's true that, yes, the clematis is a full three weeks early in its bloom, the daphne has come and gone a couple of weeks early and the daffodils are already completely done. People on the East Coast are just now digging out of a horrific winter, so it begs the question, what the corn is going on? Just a freaky year or is this another step in the ladder of climate change? The winter of 2013-2014 for us was horrible, we lost so many plants in two major deep freezes, so it could just be as simple as a mild winter for us this year. We have enjoyed the lovely  weather, to be sure, as have the plants. After last year's losses, we'll take this year's warmth, thank you very much.

That's what's happening out in our neck of the woods, how about you? What do you think of the weather patterns?

Thank you for reading and until next time, happy gardening wherever you are and may your weather be mild and spring really and truly be upon you.