Gabriel's Garden Notes

Making the case for winter interest.

    As winter rages on bringing snow showers, sleet and day after day of gray skies your days could be brightened with a vast array of winter blooms.  Let this be the year that you take a walk around your landscape in winter and note spaces where you could add some winter and spring blooming bulbs.  What many don't know about bulbs is that they are inexpensive, low maintenance and with the number of varieties available can enhance any garden regardless of style.

    Bulbs like the crocus in the above photo can be purchased and planted in the fall. They are a relatively inexpensive investment initially and many naturalize (multiply) over time. In fact, you can purchase 100 crocus or naricissus bulbs for around $15.00!  Some of the fancier or more rare and prized varieties may cost a bit more but as you can see bulbs are not hard to fit into your garden budget. 

    Both crocus and naricissus are very low maintenance in that they really need no special care and do not need supplemental water during the dry summer months.  I don't generally plant tulips as they do not do well in the Puget Sound area as they prefer good drainage and hot dry summers.  If you really love tulips I would suggest you plant your favorite variety in a container so you can enjoy the blooms then easily lift and discard the bulbs after they are done blooming. 

    I prefer to purchase bulbs from one of the large bulb companies online.  This way I can peruse all the available varieties and can take care to come up with visually pleasing combinations.  In our wet rainy Northwest climate the large and douple cupped naricissus collect so much moisture that the flowers often end up face down in the mud so I recommend the smaller flowered varieties.  My favorite place to purchase bulbs is Van Engelen Inc, they offer planting recommendations, bloom time, good photo's and quality bulbs at a good price. A few of my favorite narcissus to plant are Jonquille, Tazetta, and Poeticus types.

    I hope I have convinced you that adding some bulbs to your garden will be well worth the small investment of time and money.  And as today is cold and rainy, why not start planning for next winter right now!

As always I will end by telling you that I am available for garden design and maintenance help and consultation.  Please contact me at gabbysgardening@gmail.com if you would like to inquire further.

 

 

Sweet Pea

Every year I love to plant to plant a new assortment of annual flowers to add color to my vegetable garden and shrub and perennial borders.

This year the Sweet Peas I planted in the center of one of the vegetable patches is the absolute highlight of my garden.  The flowers are white, purple, lilac, and burgandy.  I love to snip dozens of them and make small boquets to put in every room in the house.  Other easy annuals to try growing from seed include Calendula, Larkspur, Cosmo's, Nasturtium and Sunflowers.

Mahonia nervosa

As I have said before there is no such thing as a no maintenance garden, but there are plants that are virtually no maintenance.  One of my favorite plants that would fall in this category is Mahonia nervosa which is a low growing broadleaf evergreen variety of our native Oregon Grape.

Mahonia is fairly drought tolerant once established and does well in shade to partial shade.  It is stays a nice and tidy 2' by 2'.  It has small yellow flowers in late winter followed by small blue berries, which are quite sour but edible.  The leaves are a beautiful waxy green with shades of purple in fall and winter.

This photo taken in early January shows a planting of Mahonia and a semi-evergreen compact Blueberry.  This combination looks great all year long and has the added benefit of needing very little pruning or maintenance.   Other plants that would compliment are Deer Fern, Hellebore, and Epimedium.

Sarcococca

I felt so fortunate to get out and work in a few gardens today.  The sky may be gray, but no rain fell on me and I shed two layers as the temperture reached almost 50 degrees.  Signs of spring are already there if you look closely.  Today I saw emerging crocus and daffodils, Hellebore flowers beginning to bloom, and the red flowers of Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide'.  But today's title is Sarcococca isn't it.  Sarcococca is one of those great low maintenance broadleaf evergreen shrubs that is grown often because it loves what most plants hate, dry shade.  I don't usually notice this plant too much throughout the year, but right now, it is blooming.  It's blooms are not at all showy, they are small and white, but boy do they smell good.  It is almost overpowering in fact and not everyone likes this sweet fragrance.  It brings me so much joy I guess because I know it is just the beginning of all the great flowers and scents that will soon be here for all of us to enjoy.  I hope you have the time to get out and see what is happening in your own garden or take a stroll through the neighborhood to see if you can spot or sniff some fragrant Sarcococca.