What a difference a month makes for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. In my zone 6b garden, the garden is slowly waking up. Winter aconite (Eranthis) started blooming last week in the Front Border.
In addition to the Galanthus elwesii snowdrops that I photographed a few weeks ago, these Galanthus nivalis are also now in bloom in the Front Border.
Also, these double snowdrops Plena Flora are blooming in the Egg Garden.
Crocus tommasinianus just started blooming in the Front Border.
The Witchhazel Primavera is growing next to the Fort.
The Witchhzael Arnold’s Promise is now in full bloom next to the playground.
Finally, just today, my son found this purple hellebore poking up on Goldberry Hill.
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Check out all of the bloom day posts from around the world over at May Dreams Garden.
Month: March 2009
How to Prune Hydrangeas and Roses
As a clarification to yesterday’s post on pruning shrubs, you only want to cut back the hydrangeas that grow on new wood. If you cut back the hydrangeas that grow on old wood, you’ll be cutting off this year’s flowers.
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For information on pruning hydrangeas that grow on old wood, check out this post:
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For those of you who asked about pruning roses, check out these posts:
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How and When to Prune Caryopteris, Spirea, Butterfly Bush, Pee Gee Hydrangea, Annabelle Hydrangea, Smokebush, Elderberry
After the “in like a lion” March first snow, we were blessed with “out like a lamb” seventy-degree spring weather this weekend. The whole family spent every waking minute outside and I took the opportunity to do some of my late winter shrub pruning. In my zone (6b), early March is the perfect time to prune the shrubs that are grown either for (i) flowers that bloom on new wood or (ii) foliage that is more vibrant on new wood.
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Some of the shrubs that I grow for flowers that bloom on new wood include caryopteris, spirea (pictured below), butterfly bush, pee gee hydrangea (pictured below) and annabelle hydrgangea. Some of the shrubs that I grow for foliage that is more vibrant on new wood includes smokebush (pictured below) and elderberry (or sambucas). As you can see in the pictures below, you can really cut these shrubs back significantly and by doing so, you will be rewarded with a greater number of blooms on your flowering shrubs and more vibrant color for your foliage shrubs.
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Does pruning these shrubs really make a difference? Yes! Last year, I cut back only some of the spirea and the difference between the pruned and unpruned was quite noticeable.
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Spirea before pruning
Spirea after pruning
Pee gee hydrangea after pruning
Smokebush after pruningThe First Tree to Flower in the Garden: Witchhazel (Arnold’s Promise) Blooming in Late February/Early March in New Jersey (Zone 6b)
I’ve wanted a witchhazel for a few years now and, after planting my first one last spring, am now enjoying my first blooms. I planted a small specimen of Arnold’s promise (the name is from Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum in Massachusetts), a common and widely available witchhazel (my specimen is from Forestfarm Plant Nursery). The flowers are unique and have a strong fragrance. In addition, they get bonus points for blooming while the rest of the garden is still asleep. The picture was taken this weekend before today’s heavy snow.
Heirloom Gardener 
