# Spring rules



## KyushuCalanthe (Apr 25, 2011)

Lovely time of year around the yard.

First, the backyard. Spanish moss, a long way from home, but it doesn't seem to be complaining.







And the side yard by the office. Sedum and oxalis.






Then there's the street-side wisteria.






Lucky me can also play behind a neighbor's house in a place I call "the woodland garden". This really white flushing hosta is always startling. I think it is the form known in the west as 'White Feather'.






Continuing with the white theme is American bloodroot 'Multiplex' doing its thing.






Or how about this coffee relative, a native of the local forests, _Ophiorrhiza japonica_, easy to grow here at least.






Still not impressed? I like this multi-petaled unnamed Hellebore I got on sale a couple years back as a seedling, more green than white, but nice. 






This blue form of _Anemone nemorosa_ brightens the woodland orchid bed early in the season.






Continuing with the blue theme is a woodland native gentian, _Gentiana zolleringeri_, a common roadside "weed".






All this and spring ain't over yet.


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## NYEric (Apr 25, 2011)

Wow for that hosta! Thanx for sharing.
When I first looked I mistakenly thought the was a post from biothan. I'm surprised to see the moss alive in a place w/ such varied temperature swings!


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## paphioboy (Apr 25, 2011)

Beautiful...  My season here is the direct opposite of yours now. I'm amazed plants can photosynthesise without green leaves (the hosta)...


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## Heather (Apr 25, 2011)

Very interesting Hosta. I just *love* multiplex!


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## Shiva (Apr 25, 2011)

A white Hosta? That's news to me. I also love the Wisteria, something I haven't be able to grow here. Quite a nice place you have.


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## Hera (Apr 25, 2011)

Everything is beautiful, I'm partial to the Hosta. Thanks for the look at spring. Its not gotten very far here.


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## Marc (Apr 25, 2011)

I like the bloodroot and the hosta a lot. I have a nice shadow section in the backyard were I have about 5 different types of hosta.


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## Dido (Apr 25, 2011)

Nice pict thanks for share


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## ohio-guy (Apr 25, 2011)

I think this hosta will green up some as the season progresses. But wow, it certainly is striking at this point isn't it? There are a couple cultivars like that.


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## W. Beetus (Apr 25, 2011)

Great pictures! I like the bloodroot a lot!


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## etex (Apr 25, 2011)

Awesome plants and blooms! Thanks for giving us a peak!


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## SlipperFan (Apr 25, 2011)

I'm definitely impressed!

I bought a couple of those white hostas a couple years ago. They didn't do so well last year, so I'm hoping they are sill alive.


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## Heather (Apr 25, 2011)

ohio-guy said:


> I think this hosta will green up some as the season progresses. But wow, it certainly is striking at this point isn't it? There are a couple cultivars like that.



So is this true? Will they turn more towards the fairly common variegated ones or more yellow/limey overall or what?

I was taken in the other day by an article in the most recent issue of Martha Stewart's magazine (don't laugh, her iPad version has made me never want to buy another print magazine again, it is so well done!) where she does a white garden which includes a lot of the spring ephemerals, including bloodroot, trillium, some lovely white tree wisterias, variegated hostas, etc. and coupled with the photos here, and the fact that I am missing my New England wilds, AND that most of my orchids now are white and variegated, it has all gotten me thinking about ideas for the future! I dislike common hostas, but they would be at home in a garden like that!


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## Yoyo_Jo (Apr 25, 2011)

Beautiful photos of spring! :clap:


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## JeanLux (Apr 26, 2011)

Great pics of your yard plantation Tom!!!! Interesting gentian 'weed'  !!!! 
As Eric, I wonder if the spanish moss could spend winter outside at your place? Jean


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## KyushuCalanthe (Apr 26, 2011)

Glad you all enjoyed the pics. It is a fun time, but also terribly busy for me between my school and the gardens.

Eric, Spanish moss likely was native to the south end of the Delmarva Peninsula when that area was covered in swampland. Nowadays it is found as far north as The Dismal Swamp near Norfolk, Virginia. Jean's suggestion that it might live up your way is very likely a bit optimistic I think though. I think the key issue is high average humidity and an average temperature above the freezing mark. It can take down to the high teens at least, but not on a continuous basis. The climate here is quite moderate and the temperature swings are not that great really with the absolute coldest at perhaps 23 F and hottest around 97 F. It rarely gets below 30 degrees or above 94 however.

Heather, the hosta does indeed turn light green in summer and also flowers nicely. It is of course most interesting right out of the box with those yellow/white leaves. As an interesting side note, this year I've got some white flushing Cycas revoluta sometimes called the "golden cycad". They too flush yellow/white and light green by late summer.


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## JeanLux (Apr 26, 2011)

Thanks Tom!!! It is not able to endure luxembourg winter outside; this has been tested here !! Jean


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## KyushuCalanthe (Apr 26, 2011)

Here's a clump of Cyp. formosanum that started from just a single growth 5 years ago. It currently has 10 growths and 9 flowers. Once these get going they expand nicely.






Sorry about the "soccer goal" background. Gotta keep the critters out.


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## paphioboy (Apr 26, 2011)

Amazing clump of cyps!   You gotta have 11 of them to make a soccer team..


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## Marc (Apr 26, 2011)

Never seen this cyp before but I'm impressed, thanks for sharing!


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## SlipperKing (Apr 26, 2011)

Dang! I wish I had woods like that!


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## Erythrone (Apr 26, 2011)

Fabulous Cyps!!


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## NYEric (Apr 26, 2011)

Thanx for the info, I have spanish moss growing in my apt, is that weird? Love the cyps.


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## Dido (Apr 27, 2011)

Nice Formosanum plant, 
would like to have such one in my garden.


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## biothanasis (Apr 29, 2011)

WOnderful flowers and excellent clump of cyps!!! :clap:


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## SlipperFan (Apr 29, 2011)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> Here's a clump of Cyp. formosanum that started from just a single growth 5 years ago. It currently has 10 growths and 9 flowers. Once these get going they expand nicely.



WOW -- and a beautiful photo, besides.


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 1, 2011)

paphioboy said:


> You gotta have 11 of them to make a soccer team..



You got me on that one :rollhappy: Maybe next year I'll have two teams!



SlipperKing said:


> Dang! I wish I had woods like that!



Me too! This is a neighbor's backyard that he has so graciously allowed me to have a garden in. That is an opportunity that is pretty fantastic since I am a foreigner and live on the verge of the largest urban center in southern Japan. As my girlfriend likes to say, "you are so lucky". Let's hope that luck holds out...



NYEric said:


> Thanx for the info, I have spanish moss growing in my apt, is that weird? Love the cyps.



Without question Eric, you are weird. Are you growing it on the stove? :rollhappy:



SlipperFan said:


> WOW -- and a beautiful photo, besides.



Dot, to be honest I was a bit taken back by how nicely they grew this year. The trick with _C. formosanum_ and _C. japonicum_ is to plant them and then LEAVE THEM ALONE. The first couple seasons they will grow, but flower a bit poorly. By the third year they begin to pick up steam and by the fourth or fifth year they take off. All things equal, this specimen might more than double its stems again this year. If memory serves (that is a bit dicey as time goes on :rollhappy this plant's history with me goes like this:

1st season - one growth, no flowers
2nd season - two growths, two flowers
3rd season - three growths, two flowers (plant moved in the fall)
4th season - 5 growths, five flowers
5th season - 10 growths, 9 flowers
6th season - more I hope!

It should be said that _C. formosanum_ is a much easier plant to grow than _C. japonicum_. Once I get some good shots of _C. japonicum_, I'll post a separate thread on these.


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## SlipperFan (May 1, 2011)

You have such patience, Tom!!!


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