Lady's slipper, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
At the wrong end of the year I am thinking about spring ephemerals and wildflowers.
Because my terrace's garden is so small I tend to favour plants that will deliver as much bang for the buck as possible, and beautiful spring flowers have a brief, brief season which is perfect for a layered shade garden where summer bloomers, slower to emerge, can take over, but they are more of a challenge in pots.
Or are they? I do have violets, and perhaps I could think about some trout lilies next year. But why do I not have Dicentra eximia? Fringed bleeding heart? It keeps blooming.
Time to re-think.
NYC Wildlfower Week's May spring bonanza is always a good reminder of what we have growing in our own woods and fields, even here in New York City. Perhaps, by the time spring rolls round, I'll have my own native plants to show off.
(And, no, I don't think the lady's slipper will make the cut!)
Those bleeding hearts are amazing. I didn't know about them. I have the usual, excuse the pun, garden variety kind in my garden.
ReplyDeleteThe lady slippers grow wild in the woods here. Every spring they take my breath away.
Marie, I'm thinking of spring too! what to have in my new container garden.....your posts have inspired me to buy 6 chrysanthemum plants, which are proudly on display right now!.....and my neighbor and I are already talking about what to plant.....my garden is under my stairs, we're at the back of a barbershop! but has plenty of sun and a white wall....
ReplyDeleteMarie, I'm thinking of spring too! what to have in my new container garden.....your posts have inspired me to buy 6 chrysanthemum plants, which are proudly on display right now!.....and my neighbor and I are already talking about what to plant.....my garden is under my stairs, we're at the back of a barbershop! but has plenty of sun and a white wall....
ReplyDeleteI've started some spring shopping... have you looked into Lianne (viola odorata)? I got one in the mail a few weeks ago. it supposedly reblooms periodically throughout the season. I've also just gotten in several fragrant narcissus and such to put in my pots for early spring color. I'm like you, and perhaps you recall since I've posted a few times but I imagine not, with the small space/balcony. I also look for big bang for the space. I am leaning more toward things which either go dormant and are small for the space (like the bulbs) and/or are fragrant or especially showy.
ReplyDeleteMy mother, a wonderful wildflower enthusiast, always said that lady slippers shouldn't/couldn't be moved or controlled. She considered them gifts.The large wooded area of her yard was filled with them; the ONLY things she didn't try to control, plant or otherwise!
ReplyDeleteOkay, where do folks here order and buy their plants? I'm looking for some new sources other than the nursery down the street from me that carries the same old stuff.
ReplyDelete