The Most Exciting Day of the Gardening Year

Hah! Winter, you've overstayed your welcome, it's time to pack your bags and hit the road. You've punished us all enough, and your grip is now broken. The snowdrops are finally blooming.

Galanthus elwesii

I'm certain that had they not been covered with snow, other snowdrops would have been blooming before today. The one in the photo sprouted later than others that were buried by snow earlier in the week. This isn't the latest that a snowdrop has first spread its petals (in 2008, that didn't happen until March 5th), but it's more than two weeks later than last year. The witch hazel (Hammamelis) is ready to bloom also, with color showing in the buds, waiting for a warm day.

But if all that wasn't exciting enough, check this out:

yes, leaf buds have formed on the Clematises and it's nearly time to prune them. So off you go Winter, I understand that there is an opportunity opening up very soon for you in Australia. Don't let the door hit you on your way out.

Even if there are more blizzards to come before the snow is finally gone, I won't care because I have flowers in bloom in my garden.

Have you seen any signs of spring coming to your garden?

Houseplant Census Results

'Lydia' Tulips in full bloom with 'Blue Jacket' Hyacinth

The numbers are in, the plants counted, the numbers crunched, the results analyzed from The Great Houseplant Census of 2010. I wish to emphasize that this is all very unscientific, and I have rounded numbers, so this is just a general idea. Also, I relied on the honor system; I didn't go to anyone's house and count up the plants. I had to exclude the data from Mr. Subjunctive at Plants Are the Strangest People (no offense meant), because his count of 800 would have seriously skewed the results. I'm sorry, Mr. Subjunctive, but your plant collection is an aberration. (And I mean that in the best possible way.)

And now, drumroll please, the results:

The average number of houseplants is 34. The median number is 79, and the mode is as follows:

• 13 people had fewer than 5 plants
• 12 people had between 11 and 19 plants
• 9 people had between 20 and 30 plants

And now for the really interesting data: for 4th place 7 people reported having over 90 plants. The rest fall somewhere in between. I guess that means once people have more than 30 plants, they just keep getting more and more. So for all of you with between 30 and 90 plants, quit trying to fight it and just go out and buy some more now and get it over with.

Aside from Mr. Subjunctive, the gardener with most plants is, not surprisingly, Kylee of Our Little Acre with 157. I wish I had a prize to send you, but having that many houseplants is its own reward. Second place goes to the late entry of Christine Guth, who has 142. A surprising third goes to someone who claims not be a houseplant person, Kim from A Study in Contrasts, with only 30 less than Kylee. What else do Kim and Kylee have in common? They both garden in Ohio. The data indicates that gardeners in the North tend to have more houseplants than those in the South. Bucking that trend is Annie in Austin with over 40 plants, including one of the oldest, a 36 year old Jade plant. The oldest plant award (if there were one) would go to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for her 38 year old passalong night-blooming cereus.

So what does this mean for me, with my fewer than average number of houseplants? All I can say is that when I told VIS (Very Indulgent Spouse) the average number, he just said "That's a lot of plants."

Thanks to everyone who participated. I hope you all had as much fun as I did.

Picture This - Winter Light

I decided to take advantage of the Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) and sculpture in the front garden for my entry in this month's Picture This photo contest at Gardening Gone Wild. I was intrigued by the ripples on the surface of the snow as well as the shadows. I must admit, it's getting more difficult to become inspired by winter. I've had enough of it for the year, but I don't think it's had enough yet.

Crabapple Conundrum

I have a confession to make. I hate pruning the crabapple tree. It's such a confusing mess of branches, growing every which way. For example, in the photo below, do I remove that branch that is heading straight up?

Or is that taking out too much? Should I leave part of it, the side shoot?

And then there is this mess of crossing branches.

It's hard to figure out where to start, and where to stop. There just isn't a strong element of structure here, unlike with other trees, where it's obvious what should go and what should stay. If I prune too much, there will be a plethora of watersprouts to contend with next year. Oh, cruel tree, where is your form?

* * *

My review of The Gardener's Color Palette is up at Carpe Geum. Stayed tuned for the results of the Great Houseplant Census of 2010.

Foliage Followup & GBBD combo

Fuschia I-lost-the-taggia and Oxalis

I'm late for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day (hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens) because I was waiting for the Fuschia to bloom. (All right, I confess, it was a bit more than that; I had a very busy weekend, and this week will be just as busy.) Waiting had an additional bonus, as the 'Lydia' Tulips I forced have started blooming.

I'm on time for Foliage Followup, hosted by Pam of Digging. I know people look down their collective noses at Thujas, but I really like them, especially a mixed hedge of them.

This is Thuja occidentalis 'Yellow Ribbon' with 'Elegantissima.' In the Midwest winter garden, every bit of color helps.

By the way, Happy Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, Martedi Grasso, or Paczki Day!

Hearts and Flowers

Dicentra 'King of Hearts'

Why is it that Roses are associated with Valentine's Day, the day of hearts and flowers? Wouldn't Dicentras be a better choice, as the flowers are hearts? Who could resist these sweet hearts?

Dicentra 'Bountiful' with Phlox divaricata 'Clouds of Perfume' (hearts, flowers and perfume, the perfect Valentine gift)

Dicentra hybrids: Zone 3-9, part shade, medium moisture, blooms April through July or later depending on temperature and moisture

What do you think?

Happy Valentine's Day

Frosty Shake: Frigid Friday Follies

This is how high the snow is now piled up along the street and driveway; the low was -3F/-19C, with a high of 30F/-1C.

After blizzard conditions and an additional foot of snow on Tuesday into Wednesday, the kids were awakened Wednesday by a 4 a.m. earthquake. No, we haven't moved to California. The epicenter of this 3.8 quake was in Pingree Grove, Illinois, in Kane County, which is about 15 miles away. Although VIS and I slept through it, I must have felt it, because I dreamed about a wild party with loud music. While earthquakes in the suburbs of Chicago aren't unheard of (there was one in Lombard, exciting Lombard, back in the '80s), this was a previously unknown fault. Does the excitement never end?

Check This Out

Read my review of Grocery Gardening at Carpe Geum to learn whether you should Buy It, Read It, or Forget It.

I'm Lichen It

With the garden covered in snow, I have to really hunt to find color outdoors. This lichen on the Magnolia was all I found, but what a find. It's taken winter blahs to make me look closely to see the beauty that's been there all along.

Lichens are symbiotic organisms, made up of a fungus and either an alga (the singular of algae) or a cyanobacteria. The fungi obtain water and minerals, while the other parts provide energy through photosynthesis. Lichen can grow on bare rock and structures. While they contribute to weathering of rocks, they don't harm the trees on whose bark they live. Lichens can survive in harsh environments and provide a food source for some animals of the arctic tundra. There are different species of lichen, some of which have been used in medicine and as dyes. But that's not what's most of interest to the gardener. Lichens are an indicator of good air quality, as lichen is very sensitive to pollution. If you have lichen growing on your trees, rocks or other surfaces, that means you have pretty clean air, which is something to really like.

The Great Houseplant Census of 2010

Welcome to the Great Houseplant Census of 2010.* The impetus behind the census is that one evening, my Very Indulgent Spouse (VIS) looked around the kitchen and family room and commented, "Wow, you have a lot of houseplants." I denied it immediately, and reminded him of how I've been frequently guilty of the involuntary plantslaughter of houseplants. For contrast, I described to him Elizabeth Licata's "plant room." VIS asked how many plants she has, which got me wondering how many houseplants everyone has. It also made me realize that I had no idea how many indoor plants I have. And so, the plant census was born.

The definition of "houseplant" that I choose is very broad: any plant indoors now that is alive. This includes not only traditional houseplants, but plants brought inside for the winter, forced bulbs, holiday gift plants, seedlings and so on.

Despite my record of dead plants, I'm doing surprisingly well at keeping plants alive this winter. First, the saddest of the sad, the African Violets and a Kalanchoe.

The Kalachoe has been in the house for a year, the African Violets a few months (the other two African Violets look just as pathetic). Count so far, 4.

Here's a much happier group:

One very large Pelargonium given to me during the summer of 2008 by a friend who had it in her bathroom, but didn't want it anymore; one Coleus grown from a cutting taken last fall; two Oxalis which were divisions of a plant grown in a container outdoors last summer, one of which is in bloom (shock, amazement) one in bud; one Fuchsia grown in the garden last summer brought indoors and potted up. It also, amazingly, has buds. In the lantern is one of the sad little African Violets which has already been accounted for. So that's five more for a total of 9.

Next group:

One Amaryllis in full bloom, and two Cacti that VIS gave me 15 years ago. Yes, I can grow Cacti! Running total: an even dozen.

Finally, one pot of forced bulbs. I could count that as one, but the pot contains three 'Lydia' Tulips and one 'Blue Jacket' Hyacinth, so I'm counting that as a total of 4 plants.

Grand total = 15 indoor plants, a huge increase from the mere two I had two years ago.

So, how many indoor plants do you have?

*You can either just leave the number in a comment, or, you can post about your indoor plants. Consequently, I decided not to do Mr. Linky. Instead, leave a direct link in a comment. Here's how:

because typing the exact code into this post would automatically make it a link, I'm substituting ( ) for <> for demonstrative purposes. Type the following into the comment, using <> and substituting your relevant information.

(a

href="your url")link text(/a)

Click on preview to make sure it will work.