Bleeding Heart

A perennial that's been unloved for a few seasons, it dies back in the summer and reemerges every spring.

Pholx Paniculata, "Orange Perfection" Blooms

Black-Eyed Susan Blooms

Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii "Goldstrum"

Despite battling an early-season bought of septoria leaf spot, these black-eyed susans began blooming this week. Transplanted a little less than two months ago, it was a slow-grower initially, but began quickly filling out over the past two weeks.

All Flowers and No Fruit, Squash Plant Slow Out of Gate

Like any expectant gardener, it's hard not to worry about the lack of fruit set on my summer squash. Oh, sure, give it time they say. She's just a late bloomer. Well, there might be something to that.

As Mr. Miodownik informed a bunch of sleepy-eyed 9th graders during biology, plants, just like mammals, reptiles, and celebrities, need both sexes to produce fruit. (ed. note: apologies to any readers with a background in the hard sciences for the extreme simplification. Yes, celebrities can, and often do, hatch from eggs, much like the lovable Mork did before meeting Mindy.)

Squash plants, being no exception to my generalization, often fail to bear fruit early on because its flowers tend to be of one sex. As the season progresses, male and female flowers appear, the lights go out, and a few glasses of Drambuie later, a vegetable is born.

Writes, Hunter Johnson, Jr. of UC Davis' Extension, "Gardeners often become concerned when many flowers appear early, but fruits fail to set. The reason for this is that all of the early flowers are males. Female flowers develop somewhat later and can be identified by the miniature fruit at the flower base. In hybrid varieties of summer squash, however, the first flowers to appear are usually females, and these will fail to develop unless there are male squash flowers -- and bees -- in the nearby area." Source: UC Davis, "Summer Squash"

Echinacea Blooms

Transplanted right before Memorial Day, the echinacea bloomed this week. In addition to attracting bees, butterflies and hobos are likewise drawn to the flowers.

More information on growing echinacea: Taunton Press, Greenbeam, Sooner Plant Farm, Ohio State.

Squash Flowers While Neighbors Check Locks on Doors

Started as a late-season transplant only 19 days ago, the squash plant has done its thing despite the cramped quarters and relative shade of the Grange.

Meanwhile, neighbors, fearful of an onslaught of squash, are beginning preparations that will quickly enable them to douse all the lights, lest they give the appearance that anyone's home when I come a-knockin' with a wagon of squash.

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Daylilly in Bloom

Daylilly, originally uploaded by tpl108.

Hemerocallis

So great, they gave it its own website, so pretty, I gave it a piece of my heart. Aw...

The Daylillies bloomed this week. Super-rugged plants they are, these daylillies have received nary a second of my time this season or last, and they are still doing well. (Maybe that's why they are doing well.)

More information on daylillies. American Hemerocallis Society's FAQ and U. Minn.

Spirea

Spirea, originally uploaded by tpl108.

Pelargonium

Pelargonium, originally uploaded by tpl108.

Pea Flower, Day 48

Pea Flower, originally uploaded by tpl108.

Peony Blooms in 49 Days

Peony, originally uploaded by tpl108.

Emerging back on April 20th, it finally bloomed yesterday, about a week or two after most peonies in the area. Unfortunately not labeled when planted, this is most likely the "Sarah Bernhardt" variety, taking its name from a famous Victorian-era actress prominent when this variety was hybridized in 1906.

Chives

Chives, originally uploaded by tpl108.

Lilac

Lilac, originally uploaded by tpl108.

Had no idea this shrub was anything special until it started to set flower buds a few weeks ago.

fothergilla gardenii (Witch Alder)

fothergilla gardenii, originally uploaded by tpl108.

The latest addition to the grange. This is one hep looking shurb. (That's right. I wrote shurb.)

More info: FDEP and Paghat

Transplanting and Propagating Geraniums

What most people call a geranium is really pelargonium. (Yo' momma so stupid she calls pelargonium . . . wait for it . . . geranium! Oh, snap! There it is.) Cruel taunts aside, the plant's fairly easy to keep alive through the winter.

Nicked two cuttings last October, put one in water and the other in potting soil, kept them near a window for the past six or seven months and here are the results. The geranium pelargonium grown in potting soil became gigantic, even put out some flowers. The one grown in water doesn't look so hot, but it still deserves a spot - albeit a less vaunted one - on my driveway. (It's the smaller one in the dark green container. Interestingly, the imitation faux terracotta plant is the remnants of last year's herb container. Only the creeping thyme survived the winter outside. )

Source: University of Nebraska

Boston in Bloom

Commonwealth Avenue, originally uploaded by tpl108.

This makes New England winters bearable.

rhododendron mucronulatem "cornell pink"

rhododendron mucronulatem "cornell pink", originally uploaded by tpl108.

A deciduous azalea-like rhododendron, it's incredibly hardy, tolerates full-sun to light shade, and puts out rich pink blossoms in the spring and has rusty colored leaves in the fall. This plant anchors the right bank of a newly planted bed behind the garage, which had previously been a dazzling collection of the great weeds and noxious plants of North America.

Sources: U of Minnesota, U Mass., U. Conn

Fooling Nature: Forcing Forsythia

Plants bloom in the spring as the weather warms up. For the most part, plants aren't as smart as my readers. They can be tricked into blooming months ahead of time. Suckers. A whole bunch of plants, from forsythia to fothergilla, can be forced to bloom. Forsythia is a good candidate. Cuttings can be taken relatively early and they are quick to bloom when brought inside.

"Mimic springtime and your branch will bloom"
Although forcing blooms requires little more than warm temperatures and water, the plants must be out of their dormancy phase. Forsythia's usually ready by mid-January.

On a relatively warm day when the branches aren't frozen solid, take a bunch of cuttings and bring them inside. Mash up the ends with a hammer or your forehead. This will help them suck up lots of water, which, it seems helps them bloom. Next, stick them in a warm place and stare. Within a week or two, you'll have flowers.

top row l to r: 1/25, 2/3; bottom row l to r: 2/8, 2/10

Sources: "Garden Geek," Iowa State Extension Service, About.com