May 2010 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Lvandelft]

The two Lucs and their lady wives are coming to the Aberdeen show next Saturday and to visit our garden. they're going to get a frightful shock when they see how the BD and I garden!! 

Apropos “frightful”. Luc, I hope you don’t have the same shoe measure as I have
I still see the frightful look in the BD’s eyes, when I walked into the garden three years ago

[WimB]

Some more plants which were flowering here today:

Anemone oppositifolia 'Yellow'
Armeria juniperifolia 'Drake's Deep Form'
Dactylorhiza maculata
Lewisia 'Ashwood Carousel' (2 x)
Potentilla pulvinaris
Sarracenia flava 'Heavy veined form' x oreophila.
Trillium luteum
Uvularia grandiflora
Uvularia grandiflora 'Gold Leaf Form'

[WimB]

And a few more:

Uvularia perfoliata
Veronica oltensis

[cohan]

Beautiful spring plants, all!  Absolutely wonderful photos, Olga!
While the weather outdoors still can't decide on snow or sun, Stuart's waterlilies in the greenhouse ponds are doing nicely:
1)  Nymphaea 'Attraction'
2, 3) 'Marliac Albida'
4, 5) An old 'Helvola' blossom and a new one
6) 'Crystal', a tropical.

From the garden:
1) Caltha palustris...  I loved seeing these in brilliant profusion in the wet places in the boreal forest of Northern Saskatchewan, but as we have not travelled anywhere lately, this plant in the acid bed will have to do.  Cohan, are they getting close to blooming in your area?
2) Veronica bombycina ssp. bolkardaghensis in the crevice garden... this would really look stunning against dark rock.
3) Chionodoxa 'Pink Giant'
4) And a few daffodils...

lori--you and your husband are wise to have some tropical colour to help take the edge off our short season1 but you are far ahead of me in the garden! the veronica is beautiful!
caltha here is just barely starting--i went out yesterday to pick a mother's day bouquet, as usual, and while there were tons of petasites, and i got a really nice willow--yellow stems and a lot of yellow pollen on tiny catkins-but i had to hunt to find exactly one caltha with open flowers--lots of buds in sunny places, just poking up a few leaves in shadier spots; likely if one could find a sunny place in a wet ditch with southern exposure they'd be farther ahead..

wim--lots of treasures in your garden!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Luc, I hope you are shockfree.... today there is rain and snow/sleet!

Thanks for the warning Maggi - just in time for us to pack our woollies - gloves and snowbots  

The two Lucs and their lady wives are coming to the Aberdeen show next Saturday and to visit our garden. they're going to get a frightful shock when they see how the BD and I garden!!  

Apropos “frightful”. Luc, I hope you don’t have the same shoe measure as I have
I still see the frightful look in the BD’s eyes, when I walked into the garden three years ago

Walking between Ian and Maggi's goodies in snowboots won't help Luit...     

[Lvandelft]

 

[Maggi Young]

I have an idea.... the visitors can hang out of an upstairs window and view the garden with binoculars 

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Please arrange for a strong safetyrope Maggi.. 

[Regelian]

A shot of the garden showing my favourite flowering tree, Paulownia tormentosa.  Needless to say, it grows like a weed.  This tree is 7 years old.

[Maggi Young]

Oh! That is a garden? I though for a moment it was a forest clearing ...... lovely Jamie, every bit of ground used.... lovely!

[ArnoldT]

In China, an old custom is to plant an Empress Tree when a baby girl is born. The fast-growing tree matures when she does. When she is eligible for marriage the tree is cut down and carved into wooden articles for her dowry. Carving the wood of Paulownia is an art form in Japan and China. In legend, it is said that the Phoenix will only land on the Empress Tree and only when a good ruler is in power. Several Asian string instruments are made from P. tomentosa, including the Japanese koto and Korean gayageum zithers.

[Graeme Strachan]

Just a gentle warning to wrap up well if you are visiting the Aberdeen Show on Saturday. This is the second day in a row we have had a little burst of "iffy" weather. The photos below show that there were a few hailstones at about 2.15pm today. However don't let that put you off coming to the show, (It's held inside after all) and according to the BBC weather forcast Aberdeen reached the giddy heights of 7 degrees today and in reality was basking in intermittent sunshine.

           Graeme Strachan

P.S. I look forward to serving you with a cup of soup and sandwich.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

 
Won't need these.... 

[TheOnionMan]

In China, an old custom is to plant an Empress Tree when a baby girl is born. The fast-growing tree matures when she does. When she is eligible for marriage the tree is cut down and carved into wooden articles for her dowry. Carving the wood of Paulownia is an art form in Japan and China. In legend, it is said that the Phoenix will only land on the Empress Tree and only when a good ruler is in power. Several Asian string instruments are made from P. tomentosa, including the Japanese koto and Korean gayageum zithers.

Arnold, very interesting.  Surprisingly this tree is hardy all the way up here in New England, even up to Maine, although not as lush growing as in the mid-Atlantic states where you are.  This tree is regarded as an aggressive invasive exotic in many US States, and is now spreading in 25 States.  It is unlikely to become invasive this far north, but whenever I visit my inlaws down in your neck of the woods, when I get to the New Jersey turnpike and into Delaware and Maryland, it is apparent that this tree is out of control in these more temperate climate states, colonizing the roadsides for endless miles.  Maybe we should practice similar rituals, and start cutting down Paulownia trees for various symbolic reasons.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PATO2
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/printree.shtml

[Regelian]

McMark,
the wood of this tree is a major source of furniture wood in Japan and Asia, where it is caller kiri.  Ultra light, flexible, easy to work.  I could well imagine it becoming popular for dressers and bureaus.  I used to have a lot of furniture built of it, mainly from Japan.  It has a fine surface when sanded, as well.  And it's growing on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike.  What are people waiting for?

Maggie,

I have a small garden and no space is wasted.  Everything is chock full, but I love it.  My German friends call it the jungle paradise.  This is the land of manicured lawns and barkmulched rhodi beds with petunia and begonia inbetween.

Here is another shot, to the right of the snakebark maple in the first shot, showing the pond and the woodland behind it.