March(uary)

It's bleak out there, people!

I wanted to title this post Bleakuary, but well, that's just silly. Marchuary is much more civilized. 

I'll spare you the rather dull snow photos that inevitably come up every winter; they all look the same plus they read black and white. Blech. I want some color, please, and a 50-degree day would be swell. 

While the snow has melted (we had around 9" total that stuck around for 12 days), and also came back on Wednesday the 8th (another inch here), there is not much to see. As I just suffered frost burn trying to take photos of the garden (kidding, but not far off - we're something like 20 degrees below average lately), there are very few pics this round. But I managed a few. Plants are late! It's cold! Still when it's 109 degrees in August it is fun to look back on what I found interesting in early March (and complain about the heat). Here goes:

A blue shed and a bright Erica 'Kramer's Rote' are about as colorful as it goes around here. The Hebe 'Karo Golden Esk' adds a bit of a punch, too.

Birds have been hungry! All birds, including the birds of prey. We had this Cooper's hawk try to grab a few hummingbirds, unsuccessfully. He then perched here on the now dead Arbutus menziesii (sniff) and give me the evil eye for scaring him off from our hummingbird feeders.

Evil eye

One of the only plants that is actually doing something is this Ribes speciosum. I do realize this is not exactly the pinnacle of swoon-worthy photos, but it's what I have to work with.

Ribes sanguineum says no way am I coming out in this weather.

Here is the same plant taken March 16 last year. 

Helleborus foetidus flowers have courage.

Pulmonarias want to get going but have stalled. They've been at this stage for at least a month.

Even the hellebores are shy. Hellebores! The Christmas rose, right? How about the Saint Patrick's Day rose?

One of the most exciting things as far as color is concerned right now is Erica 'Rosalie'. It doesn't take much to get me fired up.

Same plant, photo taken January 31, 2021. This year the flowers are barely open and quite pale still. A full six weeks late this year.

The salix are just beginning to flower with their fuzzy gray blooms.

Not the best photo but this is the same tree, photo taken February 10, 2018. This is much more typical.

I think my daffodils are coming up. 

Same patch, exact same time, last year.

Rhamnus alaternus 'Variegata' once more leaning after a lot of snow. I know it will perk up in time but a longer term solution is that I have decided to plant something next to it to support it. Suggestions are welcome.

I do have a few astilbe plants in the garden, although I forget about them because they love water and hate my garden. But last year they bloomed nicely and I left the flowers. 

Physocarpus capitatus, our native Pacific ninebark does have cool winter interest.

Hooray! My first lemon from my Improved Meyer lemon tree who lives in the greenhouse.

The bird house gourd crop was prolific this year. I will make these into bird houses and sell some as well as donate many to my favorite cat charity in the autumn. They take nearly a full year to dry before you can process them, I've learned it's best just to leave them out here all winter and bring them into the garage around April.

The hebes have endured so much nasty weather in my garden. I can say with confidence which ones are totally hardy for me. This is one, Hebe 'Red Edge', is although it did lose a couple of branches last year in bad weather.

Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' shines its brightest this time of the year.

Phormium tenax ‘Atropurpureum’ not half bad considering the recent weather.

Let's check in on Oscar, the Agave parryi var. truncata that has so many pups at his feet that he's gone from facing south to facing upright. Those outer leaves were seriously mushy and damaged last April after that heavy wet freak snow storm. He is growing out of it from the center and will be a while before he's pristine (if ever), but that's ok. I'm ok with that. 

Agave neomexicana looks pretty good, but there is some blackening on its outermost leaves. I'm not too concerned, however, as the one at Joy Creek Nursery is gigantic and has been through decades of growth and storms and snow with very little damage. It has excellent drainage and is south facing, as is this one, which came from Joy Creek - the same plant.

Arctostaphylos 'Austin Griffiths' in one of the more lush scenes right now.

Closing out with Arctostaphylos 'Austin Griffiths' which by all accounts should be blooming. The buds are there, immature, tiny and staying closed awaiting warmer days. Plants are smart.

Just how late is our spring season here in northern Oregon? Sean Hogan and I were discussing this at Cistus Nursery the other day and he said something around two months behind. I'm sure that's true for many but not all plants. All of my Arctostaphylos certainly are and Sean is among the best of the arcto experts out there. Snows in California have surely wreaked havoc for many fine gardener friends there - I would honestly rather everything stay dormant until the cold weather passes than have a freak snow kill newly formed leaves and flowers.

 Yes, I am complaining about the weather - a little tongue and cheek but it's true. I try to reserve that for FM and the chickens and spare readers my silly woes. Truth be told, I know this will change quickly and we'll be hot and dry soon enough, but what gets under my skin more is that our shoulder seasons of spring and autumn seem abbreviated at best the past several years. So 60-degree April days with a light breeze out of the south are few and far between. We go from winter to summer and back again. And so it goes. But we garden on! Observing, enjoying, complaining and all. I lead a wonderfully dull life. Hooray for that.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we do love hearing from you!