Spring Garden Update

I spent most of yesterday afternoon deadheading spent tulips, hyacinths and daffodils to allow the energy to go in to the bulb instead of making seeds.

I’ve finished a lot on my spring list: moved blood grass, divided and potted everything on the list, finished pruning shrubs, finished trimming roses and moved (¾ of) the mulch.

I’ll start the first batch of compost tea this afternoon and make a trip to Hickory Grove in Catasauqua for some annuals to plant in May. If we get more frosty nights like last night I’ll be stashing them in the garage overnight.

There is so much in bloom right now.


Pink azalea


White rhododendron


White lilac


Bleeding Heart


The blooming trees are especially beautiful this year. The redbuds and dogwoods are full of flowers,


After the rain Tuesday, my world is green again.

(Pennsylvania bats white nose syndrome update– Morning Call story 4/29/08 http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-white.6383696apr29,0,6811063.story )

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Garden Awakening

The garden explodes in spring.

There is a lot happening in the garden right now. I’ve managed to divide the liriope, daylily, and coreopsis. About half of the cleanup is done.

The daffodils,

mini iris,

glories of snow,

hellebores are blooming and

I have a load of mulch in the driveway.

As lemon thyme, bleeding heart, mums, coreopsis, lupine, columbine turn green, I’ve got a lot of mulch to move.

Dicentra - Bleeding Heart

There is a huge difference between ever-blooming ('luxuriant') and the May blooming (spectabilis) dicentra in my garden - in size, shape and bloom.



Dicentra 'luxuriant' blooms reliably all summer with the greatest blush in May. Planted in 1995 the plant is now 1 ½ feet tall by 2 ½ feet wide. This small plant with cut-leafed blue-green foliage blooms in the shade reliably all summer. The flowers are smaller and not quite as well defined as spectabilis.







The one I call the “old fashion bleeding heart”, Dicentra spectabilis 'pink', was planted in 2002 and has a lovely form and flower. The plant is about 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide and blooms in May. It grows in the shade of a dogwood and dies back in August. I cut it back as each stem or leaves begin to yellow, but it has come back reliably each year.




Both plants are easy to grow. The Dicentra ‘luxuriant’ needs no care at all and, if space is at a premium, will stay within bounds. The “old fashioned” bleeding heart is a large plant, but the attractive spring show of arching stems and definite, heart-shaped flowers is spectacular.