Dreaming of Spring

It is snowing again. Right now there are at least 9 inches with no sign of slowing this afternoon. Record cold temperatures are in the forecast for the next few days. We are miles away from spring and gratefully plants have not broken dormancy so the snow isn't too much of a curse (yet). But since I've been stuck inside working on a massive project to name my entire library of plant photographs from the last five years, I keep coming across colorful reminders of what is to come. Going through pretty garden photos is keeping me sane. 

I thought I would like to pretend as if it's March, snow free and above 40 degrees, and highlight a few spring woodland plants in my garden that will soon emerge. Call me impatient, but I need a little color today. Here are some cheerful scenes from the past few years of what I have to look forward to, hopefully as soon as this latest winter weather passes.

Pulmonarias have been beginning poking their heads up. This, from March a year or so ago, is Pulmonaria 'Benediction' with its reliably pretty blue flowers and spotted foliage.

This is the foliage of Pulmonaria 'Little Star' with more speckling on its leaves.

An immature but pretty Pulmonaria saccharata 'Argentifolia' has a lot of silver on its leaves. In time its leaves should get fairly large, creating a bright silver spot in my woodland garden.

Uvularia perfoliata, merrybells, is a North American native woodland plant. It is clump-forming and goes dormant in summer when super dry, but foliage on mine has persisted well into autumn. It reaches about 12" tall and has interesting "pierced" foliage by the stem, hence the species name.

Anemone nemorosa 'Flore Pleno', wood anemone, will spread to form colonies in time. It too goes dormant when temperatures rise.

Anemone 'Black and White' from Floret Farms is early to bloom. Right now its foliage is already up but there's a while yet before I see flowers.

Ribes sanguineum is our native flowering currant. It is primarily a dark pink color although it varies in shades of pink. Right now my many plants only have leaf buds, there is a long way to go before I see these beauties (and the hummingbirds claim them). They are multi-stemmed deciduous shrubs/small trees and are fairly easy going.

Another Ribes sanguineum with much paler flowers.  

A white flowered selection, R. 'White Icicle' is a favorite.

Ribes x gordonianum is a cross between Ribes odoratum (below) and R. sanguineum (above). Its flower color reads as coral from a distance, but upon closer inspection they are deep pink on the outer sides of the flowers and pale yellow within.

Ribes aureum, golden currant, blooms a little later than the sanguineum forms. Its flowers are clove scented, an absolute delight.

A favorite for sure is Jeffersonia diphylla, twinleaf. Check out those leaves! Native to eastern North America, it is an unusual clump forming perennial that goes dormant in summer in my garden.

Here is a blurry photo of the flower, I haven't been able to get a good one, it seems. Every spring when it emerges in a bit of gravel in my shade garden I am so happy. It's kind of delicate in the flowers will fall apart with the slightest breeze.

A rather common but cheerful Corydalis lutea has seeded in about three areas in my shade garden. As a matter of fact its foliage is trying to emerge right now, but this snow will certainly slow that down.

Brunnera foliage is up in my garden, but it will be a while before they look like this. So cheerful and easy, the forget-me-not flowers add a bright note to a lot of surrounding foliage in the woodland garden. This is Brunnera macrophylla 'Garden Candy Sea Heart'.

Dicentra formosa var. oregana ‘Langtrees’ is a native bleeding heart with white flowers and silverish foliage. It spreads politely, though not enough for my tastes as I really love this little plant.

Here is its cousin, Dicentra formosa in my local park. This is a spreader as reported by friends who have it in their gardens. Still, a sweet native I enjoy spying in the park.

The over-the-top flowers of Primula 'Gold Laced', although not really my color palette, are super cheerful and I do love them. Their foliage, as well as several other primulas, is emerging from their dormancy which is exciting.

It will be a long while for the epimediums to flower. Isn't this a pretty one? Epimedium 'Amber Queen' has rather large flowers on long wiry stems. A favorite for certain.

Erythronium revolutum, coast fawn lily, is another sweet native ephemeral woodland plant. It goes dormant in summer once its soil dries.

Thalictrum thalictroides, syn. Anemonella thalictroides is another of our East Coast natives preferring a slightly drier environment than many other woodland plants. It goes dormant in summer so its spring presence is extra special to me. 

A little native tiarella, this is Tiarella trifoliata, though sold to me as Tiarella trifoliata var. unifoliata. Experts can please weigh in, but my money's on trifoliata. It is quite small, spreads slowly but is a charming native plant I would love more of. I initially pictured a whole sea of this in my woodland garden, but sadly it hasn't spread as my imagination wished it to.

Maianthemum stellatum, another native plant in my local park. I have this in my woodland garden too, but it tends to get swallowed up by surrounding plants. If it receives enough summer water it persists for a long time, but I find it usually goes dormant in my garden by autumn.

Maianthemum racemosum, false Solomon's seal is a larger flowered version of M. stellatum. This native is also widespread in woodland settings here in the Pacific Northwest.

Continuing on in my local park, I don't know violets very well but I had Viola glabella for a long time in my garden (it disappeared....likely too dry) and I am thinking this is the same. If so, another native woodland perennial, this one spreads by seeds. It prefers very wet soil, its common name is streambank violet.

Lithophragma parviflorum, small-flowered prairie star as seen in my local park in April a couple of years ago. 

The quinces have big flower buds but are not showing any color yet. This Chaenomeles x superba 'Hollandia' is a favorite for its rich color. It's been very slow-growing, but worth it.

Pachyphragma macrophyllum should be blooming by now but it has a long way to go. It is usually the first flower to bloom in late winter. It is a lovely little perennial, seeding around much like Corydalis lutea does and has pretty much evergreen basal foliage.

Cardamine trifolia is evergreen and has by now grown into a nice-sized clump (for a demure little thing, that is). I look forward to these sweet white flowers soon. 

Ipheion uniflorum, a bulbous plant is also one of the first to bloom in late winter. I remember seeing these flowers as some of the first in the greenhouses at Joy Creek Nursery to bloom. The first time I saw them I got so excited, it still gives a thrill as I will always associate it with Joy Creek. While this little beauty has a long way before it flowers in my garden, at least I can look at photos from last year.

There's a snapshot of some woodland and shade garden flowers in my garden and also my local park. Thank you for indulging me in a little daydreaming; I believe it's good for the soul. Here's hoping for milder weather for us all and please, let it be spring soon! And please, do let me know what topics hold interest for you. If this nasty weather continues, there won't be many "around the garden" posts any time soon so I'm open to suggestions, thank you!

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. Thank you so much for reading and commenting, we do love hearing from the cool plant people all over the world and what you are up to! Happy gardening!