Sunshine therapy

Such a beautiful day, I had to post my pics right away, lest the "rainy day blues" taint my blog for too long! I think many many people were finding excuses to be outside basking today. Sunshine therapy, so good.

Here's Leopard's Bane/Doronicum orientale--a little stunted this year with the cold, but still high enough to crest the Hosta 'Krossa Regal.'

Doronicum is the earliest yellow daisy and prefers light shade--it leaps out in spring then goes dormant soon after blooming. Apparently, it also discourages leopards, which can be convenient.

Seems like English bluebells are in a lot of shots these days. Kind of like those blokes that jump into other people's pictures...

An evening view, below, of all things green and growing in Jim & Rojeanne's Old Apple Tree garden. [Check out the circle of sky, mirroring the pathway. I did not plan that. O, the wonders of photography.]

One of the green-and-growing things is this patch of rose whips, snipped from the mother rose in Sue and Hugh's garden and sunk in the soil last fall. I set up a quick wigwam so they wouldn't get lost over the winter...and excavated them from amongst the English bluebells (funny that) to see how they're getting along...

And look! They're setting buds already! Now that's a rose.


Here's the old momma rose--pic from last year--a single crimson red with a name that may have disappeared in the halls of time. However, the point being: if you see a rose you love, ask for a whip and stick it in the ground (preferably in fall). Et Voila.

This pic (below) is the Mexican Mock Orange/Choisya ternata, which is almost as perfect as it can get this year. Usually, choisyas suffer somewhat over the winter and die back a bit, but this sea-level garden is a choisya-friendly micro-climate. I have to cut the stair-side back hard right after it blooms or it would engulf the stairs by midsummer. If you prune promptly, the plant will set new growth and an even bloom for the next year.

Bella bella.