March Surprise!

Aucuba japonica, Japanese aucuba

Last month, temperatures were in the 70s and 80s in Middle Tennessee.

(Of course, that was the week I was down in Florida visiting my Dad and my brother.)

Trees started budding and leafing, perennials started emerging early from their winter naps and I rushed to some local nurseries to stock up new plants for the garden.

Spring was in the air!

And then it wasn't.

Last night, the low bottomed out near 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Highs have been stuck in the 30s the past couple of days (more than 20 degrees below normal). We're supposed to dip down to around 20 again tonight before temperatures start recovering to more seasonal levels.

I wandered around the garden this afternoon and happily most of the plants - both new additions and established stalwarts - seem to be taking the cold snap in stride.

I don't have pics from today to share, but I did want to share images from last Saturday morning when we awoke to a sudden morning snow squall that had not been in the forecast. It melted hours after it fell, but it was beautiful while it lasted. Enjoy!

Camellia japonica

Cephalotaxus harringtonia 'Duke Gardens', Japanese plum yew (brand new addition to the garden)

Ribes aureum, clove currant, profiled just a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, the flowers have opened. I've found that clove currant has a delicious fragrance (can you guess what it smells like?), but only if I get right down and practically bury my nose in the flower. So far, both the blooms and the leaves seem pretty much impervious to snow or cold, which I guess it is to be expected from a deciduous shrub that leafs out so early.

Ilex vomitoria, dwarf yaupon holly (another brand new addition to the garden... I planted three different cultivars, two female 'Taylor's Rudolph' specimens and one male 'Schilling's Dwarf'. I think this is the male, but it's hard to tell with the snow obscuring any berries that might be at the center of the shrub.)

Juniperus virginiana 'Grey Owl', eastern red cedar

Hyacinthus orientalis (hyacinths)! My first year growing these beauties. Very impressed with their capacity to stand strong amid cold and snow. I think this is 'Peter Stuyvesant'.

More hyacinths :)  I think this cultivar is 'Miss Saigon'

Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Goshiki', false holly

Atlanta Trip Report #4 -- Smith-Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw, Georgia

Rosa floribunda "Scentimental"

The Smith-Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw have a bonsai exhibit, a Camellia Garden and a 19th Century historic home.

But my favorite parts of this garden were the woodland trails (one of which leads to a shady nook by a cooling waterfall), the conifer collection and the delightful rose garden.

Here are some of the nicest roses that caught my eye -- or stimulated my olfactory system:

Hybrid Tea Rose "Heirloom"
The color is a bit garish and the flowers may be packed too tightly together, but it sure did smell good.

Abraham Darby, a David Austin English Rose
To be honest, the blooms are a bit ... overwrought for my tastes.
Beautifully fragrant, though.
Dave's Garden reviewers report epic struggles and heartbreak with this one.
The review and comments are priceless at The Gardener of Good and Evil.

IMHO, the jewelry store can't hold a candle to this "Tiffany" Hybrid Tea Rose.
(My wife might disagree.)

"Pat Austin" English Rose

Heading into the woodland garden, we came across this young Bigleaf Magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla)

According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, Bigleaf Magnolia has the largest simple leaves (up to 30 inches long) of any tree indigenous to North America.

An unknown (but spectacular) purple rhododendron in full bloom on a shady woodland trail

Yep, it's another Cephalotaxus (Plum Yew)! What can I say? I'm smitten by the genre. This is Cephalotaxus harringtonia, the same species I have at home, but I've never heard of this cultivar - McCorkle.  I did find it online at one (wholesale?) nursery in Michigan called Spring Meadows. According to the listing there, McCorkle will grow about 5 feet high by 6 feet wide.

Close up on the delightful new growth in the foliage of Cephalotaxus harringtonia "McCorkle"

I was wowed by this bright, dense foliage of Chamaecyparis pisifera (a.k.a. Japanese Falsecypress or Sawara Cypress). The cultivar here was Filifera Aurea that the Missouri Botanical Garden says can grow slowly to 15-20 feet tall over many years

I decided to stand next to the tree to give you a better sense of its size. I'm approximately six-feet tall, so I'm guessing this tree was about 10-feet tall by 8-feet wide? It looks like it would be great for a privacy hedge, although the slow-growing quality means you'd need to buy a substantial tree to start or have a lot of time and patience.

This is the last of my four Atlanta trip reviews. (You can find links to the other reviews in the archive section of the sidebar.) I hope you enjoyed the journey! As always, I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions.