We have about 20 or more chipmunks in a population explosion this year. They've made an extension of one of their existing tunnel complexes right through a new Iris bed. Where they used to tunnel in garden bed up against outer garage wall I'm afraid voles are now using their tunnels and making more. There are spring blooming bulbs all along that wall and I have a sinking feeling I'm going to have to carefully try and find out what's still intact and what may have been nibbled. I really can't tell what holes are from chipmunks and which from voles. I raised that bed for better drainage and something is continually tunneling right into the root zones of a number of new plants. Guess that's voles. "How to" articles say to set up mouse traps along burrows but can't see anything but holes. What the slugs aren't eating above ground I fear the voles are taking care of below ground. Kimcoco, if I were you I'd take special precautions when planting your first bulbs this fall. I went overboard my first attempt last fall but at least I had flowers. I'm pretty sure I posted this on bulb forum but I wouldn't want you to lose money, time and expectation of flowers if I didn't mention it here. I used Repels All spray on ALL bulbs before planting letting them dry on newspaper after spraying. Next step is controversial with some, but I wrapped bulbs in light layer of fine steel wool. Unlike some people I like my little squirrel pals since finding way to protect bird feeders from them. They didn't get tangled in steel wool since I sprayed ground over bulb plantings with more Repels All...maybe they don't like the smell since I didn't have any digging in bulb plantings. For most threatened bulbs, Tulips, I took a further step and put them in bulb cages. You can use chicken wire to rig up same arrangement which is cheaper than buying bulb cages. Don't know what your soil is like in Wisconsin but I had to spend days chopping through hard clay, roots and invasive vines followed by amend soil to 24" to even get these bulbs in the ground. After all that work I was intent on doing whatever I could do to keep bulbs intact and then sprayed the heck out of them with Deer/Rabbit repellant every week once they showed the first bits of greenery above ground. Like I've said before...I spent more on repellant sprays than bulbs. And I've got another 140+ bulbs ordered for planting this fall. I should have my head examined but don't know what's intact below ground with moles, voles and chipmunk activity observed since late spring. Sorry if bulb discussion is OT for annual forum but when they get eaten or damaged they're rendered an "annual" planting!

The following message was copied from a post by Greg, it is very helpful: -------------------------------------------------- Here's one way to add a picture to your post: Go to an online photo sharing site, I use Photobucket: www.photobucket.com. Sign-up and follow the simple instructions. Once you're a member create a new album and call it what you want. Once that's done go to the button in the center that says "Upload Images and Videos," which will bring-up a small window where you can find your pictures on your computer. Once you find the picture you want to post click on it and it will upload to Photobucket. Now that it's in Photobucket you can put it in your post wherever you want it. All you have to do now is to hold your cursor over your picture in Photobucket and another small window will drop down that will have different codes, click on HTML Code to highlight it and hit CTRL C on your keyboard to copy the picture, then go to your post here on GW where you want to put it and hit CTRL V. Preview your message and you'll see your picture.

G.M., It is just the weather and there is not much you can do but wait for more sun and heat. I miss the sunshine. I don't miss the heat quite as much because I know that before long the heat will arrive and it will be miserable....and all the more miserable because we have had such a mild/cool April and May. Only this week has my garden begun to show some growth after just sitting there since the heavy rains began. I was so relieved that the soil had finally dried out enough to allow the roots to breathe and grow and now we have rain again...it is like being on a roller coaster....and this roller coaster ride is not fun! My morning glories, moonflowers, scarlet runner beans, black-eyed susan vines and purple hyacinth beans have finally begun to grow a little, but the growth is slow and not at all vigorous like it normally is. I suspect these plants will just crawl along at slow speed until our daytime highs start hitting the upper 80s to lower 90s and then they will explode. Your cardinal flower should do the same. I have some cardinal flower volunteers in the corn bed and they are only a couple of inches tall even though they have been there about a month. My sweet potato vines are slow to grow also, but then again they are heat lovers and they will go crazy once it warms up. I have put their containers on the concrete patio by the garage hoping the extra heat from the concrete will speed them up but I don't think it is working. They are making some new leaves, but they aren't gaining much length yet. They need the heat and sunshine too. You must feed your plants something they can take up quickly (I'll explain how I arrived at this conclusion in the next paragraph) so they will GROW which means some sort of water soluable food like Miracle Grow or Peters or whatever. If you want to do it organically use Alaska fish fertilizer from Wal-Mart or liquid seaweed. They will not make your plants show as much growth as Miracle Grow will, though. Any sort of slow release fertilizer is being leached out of the soil with all this rain and isn't helping the plants. Why feed the plants a water-soluable fertilizer? I worried and fretted over my veg garden for the last month as NOTHING was growing. I had put down all kinds of organic fertilizers and soil amendments before the heavy rains of course. After carefully studying my plants, their rate of growth (or non-growth actually), the appearance of their leaves, etc., I concluded that they were starving for nutrition which means either the heavy rains leached all the nutrients out of the soil OR the roots were too wet to take up the nutrients from the soil OR both. It took me a long time to reach this conclusion, because I know the soil has lots of compost, manure, greensand, lava sand and organic plant foods in it. However, the foliage and lack of plant growth was screaming 'nutrient deficiency' at me and I couldn't deny it. Even though I hate using Miracle Grow in the veggie garden because it often causes too much growth which leads to more disease/pests, I went ahead and fed the plants all-purpose Miracle Grow this week, except for the tomato plants which got Miracle Grow tomato food. I poured some food onto the root zones of each plant using a watering can so I could control how much each plant got. I foliar fed the foliage with a spray feeder. My plants responded by putting out new growth in about 36 to 48 hours. For me to break my own self-imposed no-Miracle-Grow rule, you know that I was feeling desperate to get the garden growing. I also gave Miracle Grow to the containerized plants and they needed it even more than those in the ground since they are watered often and that watering leaches out nutrients. You can put any kind of slow-release pelletized fertilizer on top of the soil in your containers and gently press it down into the soil surface. As you water it will dissolve and feed the plants. However, since containers are watered often, some of it will leach out and you will have to feed them periodically all summer. If really heavy rain falls, the pelletized fertilizers break down more quickly than they are supposed to under 'normal' conditions and you have to replace them more often. I have been applying Espoma plant food to my containers but I am not sure it is helping as much as it should. In a way I think weather that is too wet, too cool and too cloudy is much more challenging than weather that is too dry, too warm and too sunny. If your daylilies haven't been thinned in 3 or 4 years they may need to be divided. They don't bloom well if they are too crowded...but it could just be the weather. Does their foliage look a nice, healthy green? I'm with you on the squash. I have flowers galore and no fruit forming. I haven't even tried to hand-pollinate yet. I keep thinking that 'any day now' it will warm up and the plants will begin to function more normally. Well, any day now....but clearly not today! I can't remember a year with less sun....except maybe for May and June of 2004 when all we had was rain and clouds. There are a few plants that seem happy in spite of the weather. In our yard, the cannas and four o-clocks are doing really well and so are the daturas, verbena bonariensis, larkspur, poppies, begonias, and especially all the nasturtiums, which are blooming like mad and keeping the hummers buzzing about quite madly. My roses are putting out new leaves but haven't formed new buds yet. They don't look nearly as good as they did at this time last year....or last month! I have tomato plants in odd places too. Some volunteers came up near the chicken coop, probably from tomatoes fed to the chickens. I also have 3 or 4 plants in the compost pile. Usually I have pumpkins in the compost pile, but this year it is tomatoes. Your planters sound lovely. In these conditions I have found that plants in my containers are growing better than plants in the ground. It is probably because they have better drainage. I've never planted moss but your spike moss sounds lovely. I do have a slimey green moss growing in the gravel driveway, though, thanks to all the rain. Oh, and I know it seems counter-intuitive to feed a water-soluable fertilier to plants that are too wet, so consider this: your plants aren't taking up nutrients from the soil because (a) the rain has leached away the usable nutrients or (b) the water is saturating the roots and they can't take up anything but water. By giving them a water-soluable food that they can take up into their roots and through the foliage, you are giving them something they can absorb within 24 hours of being fed. Hopefully they can absorb the food before rain washes it out of the soil too. It IS counter-intuitive, but the new growth of my plants this week tells me that I gave them what they needed. Hang in there.....it won't rain forever, and as soon as the rain stops and the sun reappears, we'll have lots of lush growth which will then struggle to adjust to June's heat and sun. Dawn

AUGUST***** Pennsylvania - salvias, especially red ones; black-eyed susans (though the rudbeckia goldstrum are done); chelone; zinnias; marigolds; moonflower; a few ratty-looking nasturtiums; one persistent "Happy Returns" daylily which is happily returning!; blue mist shrub, beautiful and effortless; "Clara Curtis" chrysanthemum; ornamental grasses; boltonia 'Nana'; Heliopsis; Phlox paniculata; Chelone; Centranthus; balloon flower; Gaura; Stokesia; Coreopsis; the Sedum and Solidago are close to starting; Nepeta and Yarrow are just starting to rebloom; Lantana, Pentas; mini petunias; alyssum; Cleome; Brazilian Verbena; Ageratum 'Blue Horizon'; Cosmos; Portulaca; Dahlias; Morning Glory; Daylily "Rosie Returns"; Hosta plantaginea; Begonia grandis; Anemone 'September Charm' Maryland - Japanese anenome; Lobelia cardinalis; Cannas; Naked lady lilies; four o' clocks; hardy hibiscus; helianthus; morning glories; rosemary Washington, DC - Caryopteris; Hibiscus 'Lord Baltimore'; cannas; castor beans; Verbena bonariensis; Asclepias curassavica; Asclepias tuberosa has already bloomed and it should do even better next year; Catmint; Begonia grandis; Pineapple sage; Achimenes (a.k.a. magic flowers, widow's tears, among others) outdoors this year. They definitely love the heat. Among the best are 'Purple King' with big deep purple flowers--blooming continuously since late June; Achimenes cettoana is smaller growing and took a bit longer to get going, but has been covered with smaller luish-purple flowers for several weeks. SEPTEMBER***** Maryland - Garlic chives -- oh, dear, more seeds! Sunflowers, Gaura from madgardnr--this drought baby won't stop! Coneflowers, Figs - (they're flowers!) Tomatoes & cukes, Balloon flowers (pruned after 1st bloom), Aster tartaricus 'Jin Dai', Heteropappas 'Blue Knoll', Allium senscens glauca, Kirengeshoma palmata, Trycirtis hirta 'Miyazaki', Cimicifuga Racemosa (C.Simplex will bloom later in the fall), Clematis (an un-named white that goes all summer), Grasses!! But still waiting for Pennistum Moudry to bloom. Sanquisorba, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, Perennial Begonia (Begonia Grandis), Salvia guaranitica 'Argentina Skies', Sedums, many types (pinched early and often to prevent summer blooming), Nippon Daisy is in full bud. A few summer bloomers still making an effort: Rudbeckia Hirta, Verbena bonariensis,Ground Cover roses, Nepata, Agastache,Buddleia, Coreopsis,Scutellaria biacalensis. And lots of annuals are still going strong. Species nicotianas, zinnias, pentas, Ceratotheca triloba, Ricinus communis. Artichokes (1 at least) seem to be firing up for a second season, too. Anemone Japonica, Roses Butterfly Bush, Liriope, Pyracantha 'Mohave' (w/berries). Hmmm...Rosemary "Hardy Hill" ("Hill Hardy?") just starting. Many Roses, Butterfly Bush (Buddleia), Sedum "Autumn Joy", Mist flower (Eupatorium coelestinum), Mirabilis jalapa (Four O'Clock), Cleome hasslerana, Crepe Myrtle, Anemone, White Wood Aster, Unidentified lilac-color aster, Marigolds, Eggplants, Scarlet runner beans, Purple, green white bush beans, Garden Phlox, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, Passiflora caerulea, Datura "Blackcurrant Swirl" finally starting, Agastache Foeniculum. Plus lots of (other) annuals that have been blooming nonstop all summer. Washington, DC - Annuals: Ceratotheca triloba (one of my favorites!), Celosia spicata 'Flamingo Purple', Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue', Cannas (various cultivars), Datura (unknown species, marginally a perennial), Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt', Rehmannia angulata (annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial), Dolichos lablab Perennials: Begonia grandis, Caryopteris (unknown cultivar), Hibiscus 'Lord Baltimore', Persicaria 'Red Dragon' (not very showy, but cute little white flowers), Verbena bonariensis. Unexpectedly, Spigelia marilandica is putting out a second flush of bloom! Pennsylvania - Boltonia 'snowbank' and 'nana', Obedient Plant, Chelone, Russian Sage, Japanese Anemones, Sedums are just starting. 'Clara Curtis' chrysanthemum. Phlox paniculata are going strong. Purple Dome Aster is in bud. Roses are blooming their hearts out. Annuals that are going strong include: Salvia, several varieties, Alyssum, Portulaca, Cleome, Zinnias, Morning Glory, Ageratum, Pentas New Jersey - Golden Rain Tree (Koelreuteria paniculata), Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) OCTOBER********** Pennsylvania - "Medallion" rose is blooming, also Japanese anemones, mums, "Black-Eyed Stella" daylily, asters, gerbera daisies, "Burgundy" gaillardia and coreopsis. Scentimental rose and knockouts are going strong. The pineapple mint is flowering bright red and the mums are in full swing. After tonight's 28 degree frost though things will change. Hollyhocks are still blooming. Double anemones are blooming, so is geranium Nimbus, still have blossoms on Coreopsis ?Limerock Ruby?, lots and lots of johnny jump ups, the autumn crocus are just in their full glory, plenty of purple and rose chrysanthemums, a few pinks here and there, a very pretty sedum with blue foliage and lovely rose pink blooms, buddelia still hanging in there, coneflowers still blooming, too. Roses still blooming are: Buff Beauty, Frederic Mistral, Abraham Darby, Angel Face, Mary Rose must have 30 blooms on her, Sombrieul has 10 to 20 blooms, a couple on Graham Thomas and Tamora, Darlow's Enigma, and the fabulous Brilliant Pink Iceberg never has fewer than 20 blooms on her since May. Four or five different clematis are blooming onesy-twoseys Maryland - "Gruss an Aachen" rose has 12 buds. Salvia Involucrata 'rose leaf sage' is the color of the fuschia zinnias in the same garden. Picked up a cutting at the Baltimore Conservatory plant sale this spring, and the plant is now at least 4'high by 2' wide. I never imagined the flowers would be so beautiful. Lovely surprise. The Nippon Daisy (shrublike) is in full bloom, having it's best (third) year yet. Climbing aster Acarolinianis is just getting started. Blooming is white wood aster, aster 'Alma Potschke', plumbago, hardy begonia, japanese anemone, toad lilies, lobelia cardinalis, eupatoriam purpureum, obedient plant and New York aster. Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is still going and hyacinth bean vine (lablab) is still going and going and going... I've even had a few blooms on my clematis tanganutica. I also have camellia bushes in bud and they should pop in a couple of weeks. Cyclamen hederifolium is pumping out blooms! Started a few weeks ago. Oddly, my Digitalis lutea are throwing up bloom spikes (spring bloomer). Aster tataricus 'Jindai" is in full bloom. What's really happening out there is that the plants have finally received adequate water during the past month, and are spreading! I was out planting bulbs today, and found offshoots and stoloniferous spreading everywhere I tried to poke in a bulb. Foxglove is also blooming, although it is almost finished now. The blue monkshood is in full flower and the cleome is in its final flush. Two or three salvias are still at it and the alpine strawberries look like they are going for one more little crop. Aster oblongifolius Raydon's Favorite doesn't begin to bloom until October and is still at its peak. A great easy care plant but a bit of a thug. Neighbors are always wowed. New Jersey - Camellia sasanqua 'Sparkling Burgundy', C. s. 'Pink Butterfly', Impatiens omeiana(perennial!), Salvia suaveolens, Cestrum parquii, a perennial which flowers midsummer-frost. Fall blooming Crocus. Salvias including Van Houtei, Indigo Spires. Hedychium coronarium. Washington, DC - Most true perennials have stopped blooming, with a few exceptions: Begonia grandis, Hosta sp. (not sure which, small narrow dark green leaves and tall spikes of purple flowers), Persicaria 'Red Dragon' (tiny white flowers not terribly exciting, but the plant is still putting out new foliage, which is much more dramatically colored with the cooler weather). Many annuals or tender perennials still have flowers: Asclepias curassavica, Begonia sutherlandii, Cannas, Ceratotheca triloba, Datura sp. (metel?) (having removed all fruits as they form), Morning glories, Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' (but nearly finished), Verbena bonariensis (first year in my garden, not sure if it will be a reliable perennial or not) NOVEMBER****** Maryland - Still have cyclamen, salvia greggii, autumn crocus, pansies. Rosemary, pineapple sage, cosmos, Japanese anemone and blooming roses, chrysanthemum Sheffield, Clerodendrum bungii, ?Stella? daylily, pervoskia, fall anemone. The Cimicifuga racemosa are in full bloom and smell wonderful (though I have to walk into the middle of the garden to smell them :-). Cimicifuga simplex is covered with racemes and just starting to open. (Frost always came too early in NH, so I never saw C. simplex bloom in that garden.) Salvia involucrata 'Rose leaf sage' still blooming and untouched by frost, (love that fuschia!), as is the S. guaranitica. I plant 30 or 40 Argeratum "Blue Horizon" (2 feet tall and branches madly) every year in a garden that's becoming too full of perennials to accommodate them...but I can't stop. They deal with lack of rain, too much rain, are not susceptible to early frosts and take drought and sun and just bloom! I've cut nearly everything else in that garden down, and the ageratums are going to keep blooming 'til Christmas. Pictures I've seen in catalogues never do these justice. They have larger leaves and are much more graceful and a deeper blue (not purple) that the pics show. Great annual. Nicotiana sylvestris are still putting out fresh blooms in the shady areas. These came back from last year and I'm curious to see if they'll go one more winter. My Cyclamen is still blooming, and the leaves are coming up ten inches away from the flowers, so this has more than doubled in size since spring planting. I want more and am going to try some from seed this winter. I think I need to find room for a Camellia or two :-) Butterfly bush is still going strong (bloom height must be above the first freeze); whereas, mums starting to blow. Circium japonicum, Echinacea, Saffron Crocus, Spiderwort, Tomatoes (like they'll have time to set fruit!). Spring Swap goodies: Asters, Gaura ?Apple Blossom? from Madgrdner--this is a great plant! White Salvia - from First Kim (gee, that name bothers me. LOL) A few blues I can't identify (DH removed tags--GRRRRR!) Craziest one? My neighbor's lilac is blooming! No kidding! Narrow-leaved sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius). This attention-getting late season perennial grows 6-8 feet tall and doesn't start blooming until mid-October, then produces a "tidal wave" of flowers that can persist for six weeks. The stems tend to lean over neighboring plants when in bloom, although I've read that a stronger branching structure can be produced by cutting the plant back in early summer (before it has grown to giant size). To add to the above, my aster carolinianus - climbing aster is blooming it's head off, camellias in full bloom and New England aster just stopped a couple of days ago. Still some blossoms on my Lonicera sempervirens 'Blanche Sandman' and sporatic blooms as well on Lonicera sempervirens f. sulphurea 'John Clayton'. Elaeagnus! I can still catch a whiff of this in the garden. Great fragrance. New York/Connecticut - Osmanthus, Disanthus and Hamamelis virginiana are all at their blooming peak right now! New Jersey - Salvia 'Indigo Spires', Spilanthes (stolonifera)?, Verbena 'Snow Flurry', Cestrum parqui(hardy here), Camellia sasanqua 'Sparkling Burgundy' 'Seventh Desire','Pink Butterfly', 'Sekkugeke', 'Leslie Ann', 'Shishigashira', 'Little Slam'(just starting) Camellia oleifera, Camellia 'Mason Farm', 'Snow flurry ', Camellia sinensis, shrub and groundcover roses. Washington, DC - Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt'--still going strong, in fact looking better than it did all summer. Lobularia maritima (sweet alyssum), Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'--still a few flowers, Persicaria 'Red Dragon'--tiny white flowers, but any are appreciated right now, and the foliage looks fabulous (cool weather really brings out the color). I'll have to go check, but I believe there are still a few flowers on Verbena bonariensis and Lantana 'Miss Huff'. The blue monkshood is in fullest bloom, aster are now just past their peak in the middle of November. Pennsylvania - Camellias and Galanthus reginae-olgae are in flower now. Delaware - My Camellia still hasn't flowered, due to the cold and snow we got a couple weeks ago. However, the flower buds haven't dropped off, so maybe there's hope. DECEMBER***** Pointsettias JANUARY****** Ice FEBRUARY****** and Snow MARCH 2003 ******* The end of one of the harshest winters in the Mid-Atlantic for many years. *Posted by ChrisMD 7 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 4, 03 at 7:46 Saw the first crocus today, Cream Beauty. * Posted by: Blueangel Md 7 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 4, 03 at 8:17 I have helleborus blooming as well my Arnold Promise witchhazel. * Posted by: KidHorn 7a MD (My Page) on Tue, Mar 4, 03 at 10:06 Nothing. I think the ground is too cold. I think the daffs and hyacinths will come up later than usual this year. Good thing. Last year they came up early and were hit with temps in the teens in late March. Killed a lot of blooms. * Posted by: Nannie6 z6PA (My Page) on Tue, Mar 4, 03 at 10:16 Nothing yet. Still a lot of snow covering everything. But today is the second day in a row that the sun has been bright and it's wonderful! So, again, I walked (rather trudged and slid) all around, looking and dreaming. * Posted by: aka_Peggy Md6b (My Page) on Tue, Mar 4, 03 at 13:22 I have some daffodils planted against a brick wall with a south facing exposure. They started to emerge a couple of weeks ago. Everything else is still covered in snow. No blooms for awhile here. * Posted by: mary11 6B/7 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 4, 03 at 14:18 I am starting to see dead grass where some of the snow has finally melted away -- everything is relative this year, I guess... * Posted by: steve_NJ z7A NJ (My Page) on Tue, Mar 4, 03 at 22:09 Hamamelis 'Jelena', Hamamelis-yellow, 1 daffodil bud, Wintersweet. * Posted by: robin_DC (My Page) on Wed, Mar 5, 03 at 14:28 Oddly enough, this morning I saw some green sticking out from the snow and cleared it away to discover what appear to be dianthus, with a few buds, buds but no blooms. Other than that, everything is later than usual. Daffodils, tulips, and crocus stems are just starting to emerge from the ground. * Posted by: carol23 z6PA (My Page) on Thu, Mar 6, 03 at 7:09 Helleborus foetidus, some winter aconite, and a couple of snowdrops in bud. * Posted by: hscott z7 maryland (My Page) on Thu, Mar 6, 03 at 13:33 my ground is still frozen under snow in Baltimore * Posted by: ToddMM z7aMD (My Page) on Thu, Mar 6, 03 at 14:19 I discovered buds of an early double-bloom daffodil and about-to-break buds of snowdrops this morning. They had come up under the snow. * Posted by: Vgkg 7-Va Tidewater (My Page) on Fri, Mar 7, 03 at 8:58 Old daffodils are now blooming at my home near Richmond. That one day of 70F got em' going. The daff bulbs I planted last fall are breaking ground now too but the tulips are still hiding. vgkg * Posted by: Daylily 7 (My Page) on Sat, Mar 8, 03 at 11:29 NOTHING! Except the plants in the greenhouse, brugmansias, abutilons and a few others. * Posted by: beth_b_Kodiak MD 7 (My Page) on Sat, Mar 8, 03 at 15:19 Iris reticulata and species crocous have been blooming for almost a week on southern Delmarva. A few pussy willow are peeking out and today, the red maple buds have exploded. * Posted by: Nannie6 z6PA (My Page) on Sun, Mar 9, 03 at 17:01 The snow is melting some and I saw bare ground AND some daffodils coming up. A welcome sight! That's about it. Lots of snow still here. But, I did see two robins yesterday! * Posted by: Cynthia z7 MD (My Page) on Sun, Mar 9, 03 at 18:18 This is like thawing a 30 pound turkey! My entire yard is still -in spite of 50+ temps this week-end solid snow. At the edge of the property near the road there's a patch of snow melt in the front garden and I see Eranthis blooming!!! Also think there may be species tulips and crocus starting to poke through in the same area. * Posted by: gardenwitch 7 Va (My Page) on Mon, Mar 10, 03 at 8:55 Some Minature Daffodils , Crocus, Hellebores are in bloom and the Pulmonaria is setting buds .My Camillia got frost bud blasted and I don't know if my Dahpne will bloom or not. Yesterday was 70 but today highs of 40 are predicted and maybe snow later in the week . Ahhh spring!!! * Posted by: madsquopper 6b No. VA (My Page) on Mon, Mar 10, 03 at 14:13 A few of the earliest yellow crocus are open, and the heathers, despite being covered by 2 feet of snow until this weekend, are starting to show some pink flowers. I unwrapped the camelia and it looks like the several hundred buds made it through winter OK and will open within the next few weeks. * Posted by: collectordi z7VA (My Page) on Wed, Mar 12, 03 at 0:24 I have snowdrops just starting to open and the buds on my hellebores look more beaten up but at about the same stage as they did when I last saw them before all the snow (when was that nice warm day- February or January?) Since its supposed to be warm again tomorrow I hope those buds will open. Last year I had flowers blooming on those hellebores from January to April! I've been wistfully looking at pictures from early March 2002 of my garden with crocus blooming. Yesterday I was lucky to see crocus leaves. * Posted by: Wolfe15136 z6 PA (My Page) on Thu, Mar 13, 03 at 12:12 just a few snowdrops and one single viola blossom. * Posted by: chicfox z6 NJ (My Page) on Sat, Mar 15, 03 at 12:29 I'm soooo excited!!! Today I saw tulips, tiger lilies, daffodils, irises peeking through the mulch.... ....just need to figure out how to get rid of those darn squirrels * Posted by: Springcherry 6/7 Philly,PA (My Page) on Mon, Mar 17, 03 at 10:19 Snowdrops just starting to bloom. Nothing else with buds, thou lots of green shoots are poking thru the mulch. I saw the snowdrops right before going to a memorial service -- a nice juxtaposition. * Posted by: Cecilia_MD7a 7a/Baltimore,MD (My Page) on Mon, Mar 17, 03 at 12:49 Snowdrops, Crocus, Hellebores. * Posted by: Kathy92757 z6 PA (My Page) on Mon, Mar 17, 03 at 17:12 Nothing is blooming here, but there is a lot of stuff poking up through the ground! * Posted by: Cynthia z7 MD (My Page) on Mon, Mar 17, 03 at 20:19 Well, everything except for the north iceberg has melted here ;-) Clearly I overplanted the winter aconite, and the garbage men will, after a long winter, finally have something to aim at again when return the cans to earth. I'm happy for them. Daffs and bulbs poking up everywhere, and while I garrote myself on the tree stanchions, myopic me can spot the minuscule nodes of the emerging perennials 12 feet away. Spring is 3 days away!! * Posted by: Nannie6 z6PA (My Page) on Tue, Mar 18, 03 at 0:06 Finally...some winter aconite. Bulbs poking up here, too. And my tree peony buds are looking good. With the snow gone, I see more rabbit damage and deer damage, too. A harsh winter for us all. * Posted by: Johnnieb Washington, DC (My Page) on Tue, Mar 18, 03 at 14:08 Snowdrops and several species crocus finally started blooming this past weekend. I think this is the latest I have ever seen them bloom. Just yesterday I saw the first open flowers on Iris hystrioides 'George'--very nice. Still buds only on my daffodils, and tulips have barely even begun to poke through the soil. One bonus: three pots of Sarcococca confusa, which I never got into the ground last fall and thought for sure were goners after freezing solid, are blooming on my back steps and filling my yard with a sweet fragrance. * Posted by: loghomelady z7 VA (My Page) on Tue, Mar 18, 03 at 20:57 Just returned from Cold/snowy Connecticut to find forsythias blooming, crocus & daffodils, the winter blooming jasmine and the star magnolia in my Blue Ridge Mtn yard. * Posted by: Kathy92757 z6 PA (My Page) on Wed, Mar 19, 03 at 6:19 My first crocus bloomed yesterday in one of my flower beds! Many other things are poking up, but I was so excited to see the crocus. * Posted by: handhelpers z6 PA (My Page) on Wed, Mar 19, 03 at 19:06 my snow drops are blooming!!! * Posted by: Connie_MD z7 MD (My Page) on Thu, Mar 20, 03 at 9:16 Snow drops, Helleborous Foetidus, Winter Aconite, Crocus blooming. Hyacinths and Daffodils poking up * Posted by: Cecilia_MD7a 7a/Baltimore,MD (My Page) on Fri, Mar 21, 03 at 12:41 All of a sudden, the mini daffodils and iris reticulata in my backyard have started blooming. * Posted by: nickel_KG z7 VA (My Page) on Fri, Mar 21, 03 at 21:14 Spring is definitely running late. My daughter's birthday is March 16, and we had only one daffodil of my earliest variety. Usually she gets a big vase of mid-season daffodil varieties.... * Posted by: steve_NJ z7A NJ (My Page) on Mon, Mar 24, 03 at 23:33 Daphne mezereum * Posted by: ChrisMD 7 (My Page) on Wed, Mar 26, 03 at 13:26 Today one of the Manchurian apricot trees is in full bloom. The others are still dark pink with buds. "Tete-a-Tete" daffodils have been out for the last week. * Posted by: Alfie_MD6 z6 MD (My Page) on Wed, Mar 26, 03 at 14:16 Viola odorata (next to the house). * Posted by: busyasabee 7MD (My Page) on Wed, Mar 26, 03 at 15:10 My Crocus and Daffs are blooming; Angelique tulips and hyacinths are peeking their heads through the mulch and the peach tree blossoms are getting ready to pop! * Posted by: cloudy_christine 6B SE PA (My Page) on Wed, Mar 26, 03 at 22:11 Chinese witch hazel, wintersweet, Narcissus minimus 'Little Gem,' Iris reticulata, anemone blanda, winter aconites and snowdrops. Helleborus foetidus, with H. orientalis and abchasicus just showing buds. * Posted by: Johnnieb Washington, DC (My Page) on Thu, Mar 27, 03 at 13:40 Forsythias are blooming in my neighborhood. Downtown, I see the ornamental plums (can't remember the species, but they have pale pink flowers followed by dark purple foliage) just coming into bloom. * Posted by: steve_NJ z7A NJ (My Page) on Fri, Mar 28, 03 at 21:34 Abeliophyllum, Prunus mume * Posted by: ChrisMD 7 (My Page) on Sun, Mar 30, 03 at 12:23 Snowing here today - the air is warm so the flakes are clumping together into fat feathers. APRIL 2003****** Maryland - Blue starflower, daffodils ?Minnow?, ?Ice Follies?, and ?Thalia?. Nanking cherries, various daffodils, and hyacinths. Pulmonaria 'Silver Lance', bloodroot (yep, first year w/ one little stem and bloom... ):o( grr..now to keep the squirrels out of the pot), forsythia, Snow Glories and hellebores. Daffodils 'Ice Follies' and 'Jet Fire' mixed (gardener's little joke and it actually looks good :-) Most years the Jet Fire bloom first...Forsythia, Forsythia, Forsythia and it's so darn....yellow. Hellebores, Pulmonaria, muscari, crocus. Very yellow in my garden just now - Leatherleaf Mahonia (usually blooms in Jan-Feb) is prime, my all yellow daffs, species tulips, pieris andromeda japonica, creamy hyacinths, and Glory in the Snow, (okay, a little blue). The Umbrella Magnolia is just beginning to pop at the top. And I just discovered a hybrid tulip growing in the thick ivy under my blue spruce. Squirrels! Don't you just love 'em. I'm seeing the Virginia bluebells starting to flower out this way. The red buds are coloring up well and the grape hyacinths have just burst open after last weeks rains. Also Claytonia virginiana spring beauties are abundant. Various azaleas, tulips, common lilacs, viburnum juddii, kerria, pulmonaria, grape hyacinth, epimedium, creeping phlox, various narcissi, vinca minor & major, spring snowflakes, candytuft (late this year!) and white money plant. Deutzia and wood hyacinths are just starting. As of today April 27 - My garden is blooming in shades of white, pink, purple and red. Angelique tulips, hyacinths, phlox, azaleas, Anemone sylvestris, Anemone coronaria ?Mr Fokker?, ?Firewitch? dianthus and late blooming narcissus. Violets and Dandelions (mowed them.) Iberis, species tulips, Ipheion (finally! I guess they bloom late the first year.) Geranium tuberosum, Lychsimachia atropurpurea has buds (!), brunnera, creeping phlox, pulmonarias (what a great plant), dogwoods, lilacs, azaleas are in bud but not blooming yet. The species tulips 'Lilac Wonder' opened up wide for the sun today and it's like looking into the sun. Johnny, find a magnifying glass, you'll see little nubbins on the Spigelia. Saxifrage virginiensis, (sp, too lazy to look up) and the viola "pedata." Armeria's, several alliums. Many tulips still going strong and some daffs as well. Azaleas, lilac, wisteria, tulips, pansies, and strawberries (oh, and dandelions). Virginia - Daffodils are on the wane here now but the tulips are just starting to bloom, a few have been found by the voles though. Old single apple tree is just blooming this morning, been in the 80's for 3 days now. Phlox divaricata and stolonifera, dicentra spectabilis and eximia, Pulmonaria, lilacs, dogwoods, some azaleas, tulips are fading, late daffodils are fading except one just started blooming I think it?s Cheerfulness, Brunnera Hadspen Cream, Tiarella, Lunaria, Iberis, Arabis, Iris Baby Blessed, primroses, pansies, violets, Corydalis, Myosotis, Virginia Bluebells are fading, Vinca, Muscari, Lamium, redbuds. It?s all just so gorgeous!! A few more that I forgot: variegated solomon's seal, Mazus reptans and holly. The holly blossoms don't look like much but they smell wonderful maybe better than the lilacs. ?White Cloud? dogwoods, redbud, viburnums, lilacs (purple and pink), heather. ox eye daisies, roses, iris, cross vine, jack in the pulpit, wood hyacinth, columbine, dianthus, sweetshrub, spirea, weigela, GOTTA LOVE SPRING! New Jersey - Magnolia stellata, Rhododendron mucronatum, Daphne odora (green and variegated), Edgeworthia papyrifera, Aubretia, Forsythia (4 varieties), Corylopsis sinensis, C. platypetala. Camellia japonica 'Professor Sargent'. Pennsylvania - Around the area - forsythia peaking, daffs waning, some deciduous azaleas are out, some cherries, saucer magnolias in full glory, redbuds, Bradford Pears, serviceberries. Ahh yes, and some early pierises are blooming with my P. japonica "Valley Rose" about to burst open all the way with its heavenly fragrance, if the sun would only come out already...LOL Washington, DC - What a late spring! Some late daffodils are still blooming, and all but the earliest tulips are still going strong. Iberis is in glorious full bloom. There might still be a flower or two on Asarum splendens (not that they're much to look at!). A tree peony is heavily budded and the first flower should open in a day or two but the herbaceous peonies are at least a week or two away from blooming. Some of my perennials aren't even up yet: Asclepias tuberosa, Spigelia marilandica, Hibiscus 'Lord Baltimore', Begonia grandis, Dryopteris marginalis, all either just beginning to grow, or not even showing above ground. How could I have forgotten violets? One of the weeds in my garden I tend not to pull... Tree peony just opened its first flower today--huge, double, pale pink. Very nice. One of the few things planted by the former owners that I actually like! Azaleas are in full bloom. Tulipa batalinii 'Bright Gem' just began to open today--I'm not sure why these bloom so late (last year too), perhaps because I planted the bulbs too deep. Dianthus gratinopolitanus (sp.?) cultivars and Aquilegia canadensis are heavily budded, and should be opening in another day or two. I just saw bearded irises blooming in a sunny yard down the street from me. (My own are on the north side of my house and not even in bud yet.) May 2003 ? the wettest May in many years, after one of the coldest winters!***** Maryland - White and blue Dutch iris, sweet woodruff, pansies, Hershey Red azalea. Fuchsia azaleas everywhere! And the dogwoods are in their glory. Centaurea Montana (Mountain Bluet) are about to pop, some hardy geraniums have buds, wild buttercups are out (I allow them in selected spots 'cause the foliage is nice too), the half-dead Erodium pelargoniflorum is blooming anyway. Alliums have fat buds. I notice every year that the leaf tips are always browned before the flowers open on the alliums. These are A.Christophi and A.Giganteum and A. Idon'tknowsmalldrumsticktype. Lilac (fading), woodland squill, bridal wreath spirea (peak), woodland phlox (stonilifera), dianthus ?Firewitch?, ipheion, ?Otto Luykins? cherry laurel, ?Lancaster? perennial geranium, doublefile viburnum, ?Yaku Princess? rhodo, variegated solomon seal, lily of the valley and vinca (ho hum). Oh and a couple of generic azaleas. Azaleas, lilacs, roses. dianthus "Bath's Pink", the no-name Allwood dianthus that came from Walmart, Dianthus deltoides, Spanish bluebells Scilla hispanica, roses ?Nymphenburg? and ?GrussAnAachen?, Geranium maculatum, Geranium "Nimbus", Geranium "Max Frei", Centaurea montana, late azaleas, bishopweed, yellow Dutch iris (blues and whites bloomed earlier), Penstemon smallii putting up flowers, a rescue iris that has to be the ugliest iris in existence, several different colors of self-seeded trandescantia, pansies and petunias, honeysuckle bush. Just finished: sweet woodruff, camassia. Roses are really starting to hit full bloom now, iris winding down. Blueberries, blackberries, hybrid rugosa roses, alliums, catmint, rhododendron ?Home Depot?, culinary sage, clematis ?Nelly Moser? and "The President", bearded iris. My tall bearded iris are exploding! on the ground!!!! This rain has got to go!! Peonies are loving all of this rain, as are my Asian lilies, which are about 5' tall waiting for the sun. 5/22: Scutellaria baicalensis has been blooming a few weeks, Lysimachia atropurpurea (deepest burgandy against blue silver foliage), Allium karataviense in full bloom and starting to pass, Allium christophi just starting to open, Allium giganteum on their last legs, Aquilegia canadensis is fully blooming with a bunch of other cultivars, Trollius, Phlomis tuberosa has sent up giant scape (singular, hmm.) Salvia lyrata 'Burgandy Bliss' (If you call those blooms :-), the Campanula persicifolia and Adenophora would probably be blooming if the 3 foot stalks hadn't been 'pinched' (cleanly cut) but a bunny or woodchuck. And the stars: Rodgersia and Baptisia are both in bloom after 3 years of waiting!!!! May 27: roses ? ?Gertrude Jekyll? & ?Sheer Bliss?, foxgloves, phlox, Mexican evening primroses, alyssums, gypsophilia, ?Firewitch? dianthus, shasta daisy, anemone sylvestris, chives, sweet william, columbines that I started from seeds last year, and purple & yellow bearded irises I got from the fall swap. May 29th: Valerian (Valerian officinalis), peonies, and more roses. Virginia - My gardens are coming alive with color. I've got over 200 hybrid iris (most in bloom already), Iceland poppies, Oriental poppies, old fashioned yellow rose, bridal wreath spirea, pink spirea, variegated spirea, scotch broom, weigelia, blue sage, mayapples, bleeding heart, lily of the valley(pink & white), azalea (pink,red,purple & yellow), hyacinth, tulips, jasmine, Star-of-Bethlehem, amsonia, orange field poppies, lettuceleaf poppies(pink), columbine, redbuds, fruit trees, dogwoods, ground geraniums (cherise), ground phlox, ajuga, blue flax, baptisia, Viburnum(white), Solomon seal, prickly-pear cactus. Isn't gardening WONDERFUL? My false indigo is fabulous right now as are my rhododendrons! Roses haven't popped open yet, but buds are numerous and promising! Pennsylvania - In my garden in early to mid May (western PA): Blue flax, Centaurea montana, early clematis, iris, coral bells, allium, Snow in Summer, bleeding heart (Dicentra), rhododendron, forget me nots (Myosotis), Weigela variegata, the shrub Calycanthus floridus--with fruity-smelling flowers, rosa 'Therese Bugnet,' and honeysuckle 'Gold Flame', peonies (just starting), dianthus, beauty bushes, flax, irises, poppies any minute now, and still have one lonely tulip :), pansies from last year and some annuals I just put in pots. Bridal Wreath spirea, weigelas, azaleas, rhodies, lilacs, TB irises, and something else that I think is a kerria. Washington, DC - May 21st, in Washington DC: Snowball viburnum, privet, Chinese dogwood, climbing rose, azalea, mock orange. Aquilegia canadensis has been blooming its head off for two or three weeks. Dianthus gratiopolitanus 'Bath's Pink' and "Firewitch" have been in full bloom for at least 2 weeks. Chives have been blooming for about a week. Bearded iris and Siberian iris have just opened, within a day of each other. Peonies are either in bud or just beginning to bloom (and I think I will cut them all for indoors because several days of rain will ruin them). Neighbor on one side has roses blooming, neighbor on the other side some kind of bulb that I believe is Hyacinthoides (Spanish bluebells). Everything is so late this year! On top of the late spring, my property is on a north-facing hill which makes it even worse. Bearded irises across the street (facing south) were blooming two weeks ago. Bridal Wreath spirea, weigelas, azaleas, rhodies, lilacs, TB irises, and something else that I think is a kerria.