More Planting.

4-4-11 We have had a bit more rain, hardly measurable, but more on call for tomorrow. The snow is once again gone. The days have been in the sixties and Spring is back on track.

Saturday I planted those perennials near patio by the back door: four foxglove, Digitalis x mertonensis; three variegated Jacob’s ladder, Polemonium ‘Brise d’Anjou’ USPP9781; two forget-me-not, Myosotis sylvatica ‘Victoria Blue’; and three bellflower, Campanula glomerata ‘Superba’. All of them tolerate partial sun, a pre-requisite for growing in this yard.

The pollinators are out too. I saw swarms of fresh bugs Saturday and today.

Saturday night we heard Rossini’s “Le Comte Ory” at the Met. The featured singers were Juan Diego Flórez, Joyce DiDonato and Diana Damrau. The penultimate scene has the Comte, a man disguised as a nun played by a man, in bed with the countess played by a woman and the Comte’s page a man played by a woman all in bed together. Needless to say it’s a comedy.

Today I went back to The Farm and bought two more cherry trees, Yoshino cherries, Prunus x yedoensis, and planted them in the same area as the other cherries and dogwoods. Unfortunately, I managed to cut the sprinkler system, so that needs repairing. I also got some shade tolerant ground covers, lamium and sweet woodruff to try.

New blooms: forsythia, squill.


Siberian squill, Scilla siberica. This is a hyacinth-family bulb, standing tall at two inches.

A closer look at the flower, there should be six petals, I think two are stuck together at 5 o'clock. Something has taken a bite or two out of this one, probably as a bud before it opened. You can see the dark blue pollen-bearing anthers, there are four but should be six, the filaments that supported the anthers are there. The purple stigma in the center leads to the ovary.

A crocus cluster sheltering under an ash tree.

Close-up. Can you ID the same organs as above?