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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, April 6, 2018

A Friday Quickie

Let's take a quick look at part of my garden.  Why so quick?  Well because it's raining.  What is it that April showers bring?  Wet gardeners, that's what.  Although we here in the PNW have moss-covered webbed feet, electronics haven't yet adapted to  the rain quite as much.  

Spring is a time for happy surprises like this Senecio candicans 'Angel Wings'  which is sold as a "temperennial."  When they're dry (that'll happen around July 5th) the leaves are silvery white and soft as a baby's behind.  I got this before our big freezes, left it out in it's pot and surprisingly it survived beautifully. 

Acer  in the distance is starting to leaf out and will soon hide the house across the alley again.  Hooray.

Maybe it's time to divide this clump as it was larger in years past. 



Brugmansia just liberated from the greenhouse.

Good old 'President Roosevelt' is providing color while Skimmia Japonica adds fragrance.   

Enter smell-o-rama -  Escallonia illinita, buried somewhere in the shrubbery is pouring out the fragrance of curry.  With the camellia showering the ground with vibrant color, it feels a bit like the garden's own celebration of Holi.  Podophyllum delavayi is popping up to say hello.


 It's magnolia time!

Cordyline 

Somebody had better clean up this mess soon. 



Since you're all wet and cold now, come sit by the fire and warm yourself a bit. I wonder if the canna in here made it through the winter?
Happy weekend all.

22 comments:

  1. All that fresh dripping wet greenery is gorgeous. I went to a Trillium talk a few years ago and the speaker said that you need to divide your Trilliums periodically to keep them producing. So far I've usually just taken them from the edges, esp. with my Grandiflorum. Too scary to dig into the middle of big mama.

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  2. Nothing like rain to give the garden a certain pretty glow :) love the fire pit!

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  3. Looking lovely Peter, hope you had a great spring break week.

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  4. Oh, I do like the look of that Senecio, do you remember where you got it? Your garden is looking so good. I think I need to give my Trilliums a touch of compost. They never seem to get any bigger, in fact, I could swear they are getting smaller.

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    1. I got that Senecio at Metropolitan Market when I was there buying flowers to take to a dinner party in January.

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  5. Nice views of your garden and what better place than your blog for prioritizing your list! That beaded sphere is so cool.

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  6. A little rain can't hold spring back! I'm not sure I can remember seeing a Camellia so loaded with flowers. I ordered that same Senecio from Annie's last weekend - it should reach me next week. I hope you have a drier weekend to work in the garden, Peter!

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  7. The Camellias and Magnolias -- oh my! Oh, and everything else! (We are still cold here in the Midwest and crabby about it. It's getting ridiculous now, but it means we really need amazing plant-filled posts like this one. ;-) ) Thanks for the "warm" fire, too. That's nifty.

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  8. Oh Peter, I like your spring garden, I especially love to see the Camelias and Magnolias. Unfortunately it's difficult to cultivate them in my area. Maybe Magnolias, but not Camelias.

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  9. So much color in your garden. I always see something new when you show overall photos. Fun to see... I hope you have fun this weekend too.

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  10. Thanks for the intro to that senecio -- aka Sea Cabbage! I'm on the hunt now. Your garden looks happily saturated to the bone and ready to pop.

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  11. Since the sun came back this afternoon, we were out working without getting wet, but getting pretty tired! Looks like we'll have a storm mandated rest on Saturday.

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  12. Your garden looks so lush, though I know you must be tired of the rain! Such a lovely patch of trillium in bloom. And that magnolia! I love your paths, too. I don't think I had noticed them before.

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  13. These glimpses into your garden make me want to take a leisurely stroll through it.

    Thank you for sharing ~ FlowerLady

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  14. I love the idea of a plant that has a strong fragrance of currie.

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  15. Your spring garden is looking superb. Plants that like heat can do badly in the rain, but the senecio looks very happy. Temperennial is a new term for me. I think it hasn't reached this far south yet.

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  16. Hello Peter ! .. well what can I say other than I am very jealous of you and this nice little stroll through the garden .. we are still FRIGID here and it is going to be that way for a while yet .. so all i can do is drool with gardens such as yours making headway .. I too love the idea of the curry scent ! I used to have an annual that was called a curry plant, now I might just have to try and find that again because you PLANTED that idea in my head ! LOL .. the garden is lovely as usual :-)

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  17. Rain in spring rebirths the nature and your garden is wet but pretty, Peter. What the red flame canna! Love it!

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  18. Well, the rain brings out the colors. Sorry about the wetness.

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  19. We have endless rain and webbed feet too, but the magnolias haven't popped yet, it is lovely to see yours and your gorgeous camellias. Your spring garden us fabulous.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.