About that Haberlia...

Yes, it's a gorgeous time of the year in trough land.  Each day when I get home from work I first rush to the driveway to see what's blooming, then later on I (reluctantly, sometimes) go in to see the family.

My new crush is this haberlia sp. Case (possibly haberlia ferninandi-cobourgi according to the Wrightman website, which I believe is synonymous with haberlia rhodopensis).  I bought it four years ago from Wrightman Alpines Nursery at the annual plant sale at Stonecrop Gardens in Cold Spring, NY.  I had never seen it for sale before and was excited to try it, as I told Harvey Wrightman as he rang me up that day.  He assured me that it was easy, as long as it was north-facing, planted vertically, and free draining, but he warned me that it was slow to come to blooming size.  Haberlias are gesneriads like African violets, but hardy, and evergreen, here in zone 6B.  They originally hail from limestone cliffs in Greece and Bulgaria.

I planted it between two larger-sized rocks, north-facing, in a trough...and waited until this year for it to bloom.  It's a gorgeous thing in bloom, and totally worth the wait.  Harvey passed away in 2016, but I still think about him, and his patience and generosity with a total stranger that day, every time I enjoy this haberlia.  

Thankfully his daughter Esther is still running the nursery, and coming to the Stonecrop sale every April.

The Drabas

I feel like I say it every year, but I'll take the yellow drabas over yellow forsythia any day.  Above is draba lasiocarpa.

Draba rigida is much tighter, of course.  This one grows across the street at Neighbor Ray's.

This is draba novolympica growing in tufa.  It must be happy; it set seed and had a baby below.

Draba siberica is a little weedy looking, but it sure is bright on a cloudy April day.

True Believers

Walking by one of my troughs the other day I wondered what the hell I saw out of the corner of my eye.  Turns out it was the new buds of pulsatilla pratensis 'Bohemica' covered in fine droplets of mist.  What a bizarre sight.

I'm in love with saxifraga 'Pluto' and I don't care who knows. 

Despite the April (ahem) snowfall, these guys believe that it's spring.

First Day of Spring

A nor'easter on the spring equinox?  The fourth one this month? Another foot of snow? 

...SIGH...

It's spring in my heart, at the very least.

I'm Sorry, Spring Has Been Postponed

I was hoping to get out into the garden this weekend and do a big spring cut-down and clean up, but nor'easter #2 had other ideas.  We got 8+ inches of heavy snow on Wednesday, cracking trees (damn Callery pears) and bringing down many branches.  We counted ourselves lucky not to lose power this time, uunlike nor'easter #1 ten days ago.  It was sobering to be out shoveling at the tail end of the storm and to hear the trees breaking around us in the neighborhood.  

I've been stuck inside doing garden pavilion drawings, reading about plants, and making notes about gardening.  The Tommy crocuses didn't seem to mind the snow as much as I did, blooming their heads off both before and after.

Nor'easter #3 is scheduled for tomorrow, with more snow predicted.

Winter Jasmine

I'd praise anything that blooms in February, but I love how the winter jasmine really lights up a gray, wet winter day.

Best $2 I ever spent at a plant sale.

Pretty, but Fleeting

We got about 6" of wet snow last night.  It was already melting by dawn.  It was quite pretty, but quite heavy.

It's exactly for wet snows like this that I do the turkey truss on some of the soft evergreens, otherwise the snow breaks them and leaves them misshapen.  I can live with the evergreen hostage look if the trees can survive the winter unscathed.