The Wearing of the Green is an Irish street ballad that dates back to the late 1700s, when wearing a shamrock in your hat was a symbol of supporting the rebellion. While the garden isn't exactly rebelling--its green is more a sign of the extremely mild winter we've had this year--it was still a little bit shocking to see so much green in my yard before St. Paddy's Day, even!
Some of the garden green was a little hidden at first glance. Check out the 'Frosted Curls' sedge in the photo above (upper right) and then look at how much of its frosty color is actually green:
'Frosted Curls' had a green-to-dead-leaves ratio of almost 40:60! Some years, I find just a few hints of green--enough to give me at least a smidgeon of hope that this sedge has enough life left to sprout again after its spring haircut.
I don't really ever worry about the hardy miscanthus family coming back year after year, but miscanthus is a warm season grass. So I was even more surprised by all of the green I discovered during this "haircut":
Most of the time, my Japenese anemone worry me with their late emergence in the garden. No worries this year:
'Red Rocks' penstemon has a reputation for being NOT hardy here, but don't tell that to the one that has been growing in my (admittedly very well draining) front garden for the last 3 years! It has never looked quite this good before, though:
Last but not least, I even found a surprising bloom today! The hellebores and snowdrops are already blooming like crazy, but I got a real surprise while I was cleaning up this area, beneath my Japanese maple:
This area is always colorful in the spring, with the mingling of green tulip leaves and winter purple on the silver lamium leaves. This year, though, the 'Purple Dragon' lamium decided to take things to the next level with a handful of tiny blooms:
I only counted 4 blooms, and none of them were close enough together for me to get them in the same photo. But still, it was a nice reward for a good four hours of yard work today! Did anyone else get a chance to go out and enjoy some lovely weather in the garden this weekend?
4 comments:
Yes, I lost 4 red rocks last year due to the heat. Loved them until then. I'm hoping my sedge comes back this year, as I've had trouble the last 4 years. Spring is definitely early here in south Kansas.
Greggo... you must have gotten all of our heat last summer! We had an unusually cool, wet one.
I think that we usually lose our Red Rocks over the winter instead of during the summer, though--they don't seem to like wet feet in the winter time, and most of the soil around here is heavy clay. (I think that I must have lucked out with a little spit of sand dune from Lake Erie here in my garden. :-)
You bet I got out this weekend. I am sore in spot I forgot I had. It is to be more of the beautiful weather we have been having this entire week. 20degrees above normal. I will take it. Our Magnolia is bloomin and we had our first tulip yesterday. It seems like spring is on Fast Forward this year. Your Anemones are farther ahead than mine though.
The surprises one finds in the garden are the best. Live for the unexpected pleasures offered. Will you be wearing a shamrock in your hat on Saturday? I think I would rather have a green beer.
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