Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Plant sale

 White dicentra (bleeding heart) will be among the perennials for sale on Saturday. Flowers, above, and gallon-size container, below.

Alden Township kicks off its farmers market this Saturday and we'll be there with a selection of perennials freshly dug from sillydoggarden. The market is in its second year at the town hall on Laine Road. 

Open from 10 a.m. to noon the first Saturday of each month through the growing season, it's a casual operation and hard to predict exactly who or what will be there -- but that's part of the charm. 

This Saturday you can count on white bleeding heart along with some catmint, shasta daisies, euphorbia and sedum. Hmmm ... maybe some phlox and some penstemon, too ...

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Weekend news of note

 The first magnolia blossom at sillydoggarden.

Two markers to document this weekend: 1. Hummingbirds have returned. They've been spotted working over the lungwort. 2. The magnolia has flowered. So what if it's only two flowers. You have to start somewhere.

The poor shrub has had a tough time settling in. It's a star magnolia, Magnolia stellata, probably 'Royal Star.' It's now four or five years old and we almost pulled it out after the first year. It died back completely after its first winter, but some new growth at the base persuaded us to give it another shot. Patience and persistence, again, pay off.