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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.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Knock, Knock. Who's There?


Marcus Welby.  
Marcus Welby Who?

It Marcus Welby spring.
(sung to the tune of "It Might as Well be Spring"
From Rogers and Hammerstein's State Fair

If you're too young to remember Marcus Welby or State Fair, I'm extremely jealous of you and as soon as you get close enough, I'll beat you with my cane!

Anyway, spring is making herself known in my garden.  Here are a few signs of her arrival:

Maples and others leafing out

Hostas, some pushing up their noses and others unfurling leaves.


Muscari macrocarpum 'Golden Fragrance'

Daffodil 'British Gamble' is even better in person.  This is the first time I've grown this one and am delighted with it!

You perhaps remember this magnolia tree from a week ago.

There are a couple more magnolias adding to the show.

'Judy' 


Magnolia 'Black Tulip,' a new addition last spring.  You can sort of see the red rhododendron  behind the yew bottom right.  I keep threatening to get rid of it but it blooms now, in the summer and again in the fall. 


The first of the new tulips are starting to show color. 

Daffodils too.  Calla foliage is pretty far along for this time of year. 


The color echoes of the pink and pink and orange tulips with Rheum palmatum atrosanguineum  (common name is That damned Rhubarb that collapses on everything and then dies in the middle of the summer leaving a huge hole in the bed.) are lovely.



Tulip 'Fire of Love' grown as much for foliage (which the slugs also seem to  love) as for flower, is popping out of the ground. There is a nice sluggo mulch around these now. 

Not a subtle plant in any way, Rhododendron 'President Roosavelt' has beautifully variegated evergreen foliage and these fabulous flowers.  Hey, if you're going to grow a rhododendron (that isn't a species)  isn't flashy a good thing?  Someone should really pull some of those damned Dicentra formosa (lovely thug) before taking pictures!

As you can see, weevils like it too.  Th only thing this plant doesn't have is fragrance.  That's o.k. the Skimmia japonica is taking care of that. 

Trillium  in a sea of another beautiful  native thug, Oxalis oregana.  Evergreen and delicate looking, this Oxalis takes the driest shade in stride and is perfect for growing there.  It'll get put to the test when some gets moved into the bamboo grove.  The copious bamboo litter may just do it in.

More tulips.  These are supposed to turn orange as they age.  

Out of control Camellia 'Scentsation' has a "delicate fragrance."  That's Latin for you can smell it if you stuff the flower directly into your nostrils. A bit painful but it's the only way.  Someon needs to do some serious pruning!


Fatsia Japonica 'Variegata'  putting out a flush of new growth.  Monrovia is marketing this under the trademarked name 'Camouflage.'  Monrovia is also now selling plants at Lowe's.  Just saw several big green pots of Stachyurus salicifolius with Mr. Hinkley's image on them there over the weekend.   I'm calling these Nerd plants on the Dan Lowe.  (On the down-low, a slang expression.)

Meconopsis sheldonii emerging from dormancy.

Someone has some work to do but if he waits long enough, the greenery will cover everything.

The church in the background which makes a lovely focal point until the deciduous trees in the parking strip obscure it, is still for sale.  It would make a fabulous restaurant.  Previously a Synagogue, it would be a great place to revive a former Tacoma business, a coffee house called The Temple of the Bean. How about K'nesset Bagels and Kosher Deli?  Seattle's Matzo Mama's  perhaps could open a second location.  It's difficult to find a real bagel in the wild west!  If none of that works, I really miss having a Mexican restaurant across the street - Mitzveh Mexican?  Another M word is McMenamins who would also be great neighbors!

For those of you who still have snow on the ground, you have my sincerest sympathy.  Have you considered moving here?  Happy spring!

35 comments:

  1. I love looking at things in bloggers' garden photos that they don't mention, to see what I can identify (difficult with your warmer zone plants...) In your Tulip 'Fire of Love' photo are those Persicaria seedlings, or something else?

    (Seedling ID is one of my favorite spring games.)

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    1. Good guess but those are Impatiens glandulifera which reseed rampantly. Thousands of seedlings and plants are pulled each year and create a huge amount off compostable material. Stupidly, I let a few stay each year because I love watching the bumble bees hoist their round bodies inside the pouches of the flowers and they fill in around other plants so well.

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  2. Ha, one of my 'Fire of Love' bulbs literally popped out of the ground, presumably from frost heaves. I had to pop it back in. I love your Daffodil 'British Gamble',' both the flower and its name. Do you remember where you got it? I took a British Gamble 34 years ago, so I think I need some of those. I've been trying to figure out where I can put some new trees (I'll have to take out some of my multiples of native shrubs). I hadn't considered Stachyurus, but now I might if I can find one at the local Lowes.

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    1. Funny about your bulb popping out! Don't forget Pernettya mucronata. 'British Gamble' came from Van Engelen bulbs and I agree, you need some especially because of the name!

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    2. Oh, Pernettya! That's the shrub with the fabulous berries that I admired in your garden last time, right?

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  3. We have an excuse for now knowing, were across the pond ;) exciting time in your garden with all those floral displays especially the Magnolias!

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    1. I will forgive you for not knowing but may still beat you with my cane anyway because you're so young, talented, and full of energy. Spring is a magical season!

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  4. McMenamins would be the best neighbor, imagine all those plants! Your garden is looking good this spring, lots of great stuff and pretty color.

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    1. They would be great neighbors! There's usually not so much color this time of year but I'm finding that I enjoy it and am glad that I planted bulbs in the fall.

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  5. This feels like a bloom-day bonus blog. A lot of bulb action (your tulips are ahead of mine) - are these from the massive planting you did in late autumn? I recently considered getting Magnolia stellata; now that I saw your "black tulip" I put my plan on hold.
    At first I thought the bloom on R. President Roosavelt was the R. Super flimmer, but apparently you have two variegated. Rhodies. Which do you like better?
    Your naming ideas for an eatery across the street are hilarious! I hope someone will be inspired!

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    1. I guess it is a bonus bloom-day post. There's just so much exciting stuff happening out there this year. Yes, this is the result of the fall bulb planting. "Black Tulip is gorgeous but then so is stellata. So many wonderful choices!
      Super Flimmer has the best/most pronounced variegation of all of the variegated rhododendrons and the flower is nice, simple lavender. You can see a picture of it here: http://bonneylassie.blogspot.com/2013/06/lake-tapps-rhododendron-garden-and.html The plant seems to be sturdy and upright growing. R. President Roosavelt has nicely variegated foliage but doesn't have as much of the cream color as R.Super Flimmer but it has those knockout bi colored flowers. R. President Roosavelt tends to lean over and can snap off at the base (dead, never to return again) Putting something around the base of the plant (bricks, rocks, etc.) to help support the base and keep leaning over in check is a good idea. There is nothing quite as breathtaking as Pres. Roosavelt in bloom unless it's the gorgeous foliage of R. Super Flimmer at any time of year. Do you have space for both? They only get to about three feet high in ten years.

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  6. I like that big blue robin's egg that has hatched!

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    1. Thanks, I made that a few years ago and have enjoyed it.

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  7. Your garden appears to be way ahead of mine in spring developments. I think this will be the year I add a Fatsia Japonica 'Variegata' to the garden...

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    1. Odd because you've had warmer weather there and Ptown is usually ahead of us. It's a great Fatsia and I know you've admired them for a while now. Glad that this will be the year!

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  8. I'll see you Marcus Welby and raise you Sluggo (Nancy's friend). We can use our canes for a friendly duel.
    I've pretty much given up on bulbs because of the gophers, but 'British Gamble' and 'Fire of Love' could go in pots, no?

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    1. Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill!
      Darned gophers! Both bulbs would be great in pots!

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  9. I was already sighing over 'British Gamble' but then you kept the flowers coming. Spring can be overwhelming...

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    1. You're right, overwhelming. So much happening in the garden right now!

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  10. How great to have a church building in the borrowed view. Do you smell of newly opened blooms? My tulip magnolia smells like watermelon. Later on, my Oxalis will get rust. Just so many pretty things to see these days. New features opening daily.

    You're not so old.Have I told you that you and my son are the same age? When he was 20 and I was 40, I was twice his age. He likes to pretend that's still the case, which would make me pretty darn old now!

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    1. We have views of three churches (one is just a small nondescript building) from our house depending on which side of the house you're on. Oh yes, the fragrances of spring are definitely wafting around the garden!
      I usually don't feel at all old. When I realize that there are generations of people alive and in the workplace who would not recognize a rotary dial pay phone, manual typewriter, carbon paper, or a television without a remote control, I feel a bit long in the tooth. When I hear some of my twenty something coworkers talk about their lives, it sometimes sounds like a foreign language. Fortunately, they translate for me when I look particularly bewildered. I recently learned that froyo is frozen yogurt and what a Kardashian is and still don't understand.

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  11. Oh wow! Spring really has sprung in your neck of the woods, you are a long way ahead of us. Everything is looking wonderful in your garden. I have Black Tulip too and I love it. I have counted your flowers and it looks as if you have 16 which is most unfair as my tree is 6 years old and has not got nearly so many buds. Do you count your Magnolia flowers too, or is it just me?

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    1. I hadn't counted Magnolia flowers before because the one tree has too many to count and the other two are new additions. Now you've got me thinking that this is a good idea and have started me with the number of Black Tulip flowers for its first year in my garden. Like the counting of the swans, it will become an annual event.

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  12. Tell whoever that someone is who needs to prune that it isn't necessary: your spring is fabulous!

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    1. Thanks, Hoov! I'll tell him but he's a pretty cantankerous sort who seldom listens.

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  13. We spent much of this sunny day working in the yard. Our NPA Neighborhood garden group will be here Saturday morning, so everything needs to look spiffy.

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    1. I'm a bit envious of your getting to spend the day in the garden. Bet it looks marvelous as always!

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  14. I miss my Pres. Roosavelt rhodie. It had a weak root base and wasn't vigorous enough to combat the weevils. You know, beating me with your cane might make it difficult for me to give you that Hoya 'Minibell' I mentioned, or visiting nurseries together, for that matter.

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    1. Sorry to hear about your Pres. Roosavelt! You'll just have to try again. You can easily keep out of cane range as you yunguns move so much faster than we of the cane wielding set.

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  15. State Fair: Pamela Tiffen, Pat Boone, Bob Ewell--who played the mom ? I don't remember .. . It's at the bottom of my R&H list. Pretty sure it's Pat Boones fault. I like the stuff going on in your garden though !

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    1. I don't remember who played the mom either. I remember seeing the movie and being excited about the concept of a state fair which was totally foreign to me. Living in a picturesque rural setting, making plans for the fair and actually staying there in a trailer seemed like the most wonderful thing in the world. Didn't remember much more about the movie except the songs. Secretly, I've always wanted to be a farmer. (who breaks into song at the drop of a hat.)

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  16. There is a bit of snow Peter and I'd love to see new leaves and tulips, but ...Your magnolia is very pretty!

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  17. Well I had to look on IMDB because I could not stand not knowing who the Mom was--Alice Faye !! This might be an ultimate trivia question. Alice Faye. And Ann Margaret was in the movie too..Did not remember that . Bet she was a bad girl. I guess I'm going to have to spend some quality time on You Tube. I'd rather watch Carousel though.

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  18. What delightful views you've made! I love that first picture especially.

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  19. I didn't know you had a church temple or temple church in your back garden. Whatever you call it, it's is indeed a nice focal point. We had a mosque not far away for awhile, but not close enough to see. Actually it was just an old Victorian with speakers mounted on the turret where the call to prayer was broadcast. Between the muezzin and the howler monkeys at the zoo, it made the neighborhood seem much more exotic than it really was.

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