4/20/24 Six on Saturday

First big news: Hummingbirds are back in my area! I have not seen one yet, but they have been reported as far north as Appleton and also in Madison. I had put my feeder up last weekend as they had been sighted in southern WI and also because birds like to drink water from the ant moat. Hopefully I will see some soon, but my backyard is not so attractive yet for hummers.

1. Weeping cherry is past its prime blooming season, but the bees were so busy this year that I wonder if I will get a lot of little fruits. Only time will tell. The leaves are coming in now and it is turning into an attractive little tree, after looking like an awkward teenager for a couple of years.

2. My second Liatris aspera has emerged, . One corm had green growth when it arrived, and the second emerged this week. Looks like green fingers reaching up out of the soil.

3. I had been watching my Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolis heterolepis) closely, as most of the clumps on campus had been growing green for a few weeks now, but not all. Finally, I see the fine green grass growing up through the dead remnants from last year. I opted to leave the grass as birds supposedly will pluck it for their nests, though I have not seen any plucking yet… I do love this grass it makes a fine and tidy clump and has airy seed heads that smell faintly of cilantro.

4. Here is the clump of New England Asters that happily appeared last year. I was not sure if it was a weed so I waited it out and had lovely purple flowers in Autumn that the bees were very pleased with. Probably from seeds I swiped from Centennial Gardens. Looks like it is getting a good start! My little moss patch behind is doing very well too, growing on a piece of nearly rotted wood. Some Shasta Daisy leaves there too. The Shasta daisies are fading, but I love them so I will have to think if I want to replace or try a different kind of daisy.

5. The violets are growing well, but no flowers yet. The tiny seedlings are more violets! They reseed profusely. I don’t let them stay in the veg garden, but they are welcome to grow round the edges. Host plant for various Fritillary butterflies.

We had frost warnings overnight. I was asked if I was worried for my garden, but only natives, kale, and chives are up. These are fine for a little light frost.

6. The Aquilegia canadensis did fine despite the chilly temperatures overnight. . I took this picture yesterday and today some plants looked a little droopy, but I do not think they sustained any damage. It was at or below freezing for about four hours overnight where they take the official readings for my area. My garden is still full of last year’s debris which helps insulate a bit. You can see a crown of cardinal flower behind the A canadensis, but it has not yet started putting on new growth.

Bonus image: The Golden Alexanders is growing well. Early leaves started out reddish, but now they are a healthy green and hopefully this one will bloom soon, as there is not much for pollinators at the moment. Fading muscari and weeping cherry about does it in my yard right now.

Bonus image: I collected a few stalks of rhubarb to make a little rhubarb sauce, which I will make today. The rhubarb looks great. I love it for how no fuss it is and for how delicious! Some people dislike it. You can barely find it in the stores in San Diego. I wanted to make koresh e rivas for my mom one year and went to several stores. Universally shown chard when I said it was a red stalk. Had to buy frozen. How sad is that? No more! I have plenty of rhubarb now!

OK, that’s eight, so I better stop now! We will have below freezing temps again overnight. The strong will survive! I have deep purple pansies that need to get planted into my pansy bowl for the front steps., but want alyssum as well, and that was not available as a plant, so maybe seeds… Tulips are ahead of last year, which is a shame for the graduates. It is popular to have a cap and gown picture at various iconic spaces on campus. They are heavily planted with tulips, but I do not anticipate there will be any tulips on campus by this time next month. I suppose the landscape crew have a plan. They can turn over a bed in no time.

Looking forward to a nice weekend for gardening. If you enjoy visiting gardens around the world from your armchair, visit Six on Saturday, hosted by Jim at Garden Ruminations. I learn something each week and get a lot of good ideas from the participants. You can join in the fun by posting six pictures from your garden. Have a great week everyone! I am off to the wilds of Lacrosse, WI for Radiological Emergency Preparedness training in anticipation of the upcoming drill and exercise, this year in support of Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant, which is in Minnesota, but on our border, so if anything goes south at the plant, it will likely have more of an impact on WI than MN, given the typical wind patterns.