Designing with Natives: Spring Bloomers

This is a simple yet serendipitous pairing: Camassia (C. scilloides) with prairie smoke (Geum triflorum).

The camassia (in the background) has the classic "bare ankles" problem: its flowers are on stalks above a little clump of wimpy basal foliage that just lays there. But put prairie smoke around it and the ferny leaves and interesting flowers/seed heads will perfectly cover the blank spots!


You can see the prairie smoke a little better here. These plants only get to about 10-12" tall, so it's like the camassia is just a head taller than the prairie smoke.


I wish I had planted these closer together, and hopefully the prairie smoke will need dividing in a year or so and then I can surround some of the camassias farther back with more of them. I also like the mix of the icy blue and rich pink flowers. These photos are from a couple weeks ago and now the Geum is moving into the "smoke" phase. But what a nice coincidence this pairing has been in my south border! If you're in the temperate zones 4-ish to 8-ish, give this duo a try!

On the Verge

Some may say this is a late spring, but compared to last year I think it's fabulous. At this time last year I barely had a few irises and tulips peeking out of the ground, but this year the daffodils are already in bud!


Peonies are showing their hot pink shoots, and my great blue lobelia (L. siphilitica) has formed its mat of early green growth.

A number of columbines are gracefully unfurling themselves...

...including this tiny little guy! (Sorry it's so blurry.) This is one of last year's seedlings that has so far survived.


Here is one of my favorite examples of the resiliency of plants in the face of my stupidity:

I laugh out loud every year when I see this tulip bravely pushing through the oregano plant that I plunked on top of it three years ago, obviously in the summertime when the tulip had long been dormant and forgotten. This is a perfect reason to utilize plant tags!

I've noticed a number of natives in the back gardens also coming to life, including wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides), nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum) and prairie smoke (Geum triflorum). My trout lilies, 'City of Haarlem' hyacinths and 'El Cid' tulips are, for the most part, conspicuous in their absence, and my 'Ruffled Velvet' Siberian irises are nowhere to be found! I am positively aggravated about that last one, but I'm hoping they're just late starters. Has anyone had experience with Siberian irises coming up later than bearded irises (which are robustly growing in the front garden, as seen in the top photo)?

Ominously, we're expecting a late winter snowstorm this weekend and I'm concerned about all the fresh young growth that could get killed. The columbine seedlings are a particular worry. But that's life in a Midwestern garden! I already have a number of seedlings to replace any that might not make it this spring, which is the best insurance policy!