2025 Virtual Garden Tour - welcome

Happy New Year everyone!

These photos are from a neighbour's garden and mine.
1. Jasminum nudiflorum
2. Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise'
3. Common snowdrops
4. Viola
5. Salvia rosmarinus
6. Helleborus hybridus
7. For contrast, this is a photo just sent to me by a friend from her friend in Vienna
- January 1st, 2025.

 

The hellobore looks like it's a tinged Helleborus niger.

 

It was tagged as Helleborus x hybridus (H. x orientalis) but I can't remember which cultivar.

For what it's worth, H. niger and H. x nigercors in my garden struggle to thrive but this one is very robust.

 

You may recall my lament in the 2024 thread about rodents digging up my Crocus bulbs. Well, I discovered today it's not just Crocus bulbs they're after, they also have a liking for lily bulbs. Here's a 1 gallon pot I'd planted up with 3 small bulbs of Lilium 'Fairy Morning' and they found a tasty meal!!!!!

So far the rodents have yet to discover this Helleborus 'Mahogany Snow' that has been in bloom for about 2 weeks. Wish they'd go after the Galanthus, they're plentiful enough..

 

It appears as if the rats have graduated to lily bulbs now! Don't know how recent this is, haven't looked at this bed for a few days, BUT, couple of days ago I caught a healthy looking adult rat in one of the snap traps I'd set out. I suspect there's more to go after though, they don't live solitary.
On a happier note, the first of the snowdrops are opening up!

 

Here's one of the culprits, making itself quite at home in one of our raised planters. Looks like a healthy specimen, undoubtedly because of all that good food it's been finding there: crocus and lily bulbs! It was in no particular hurry to scamper either. I've set out additional traps with not only lily corms but also peanuts and peanut butter. I got one overnight in the front yard and that one served as a food source for the rest of the clan upon its demise.
On a cheerier note, look at what I spotted on Chatham Street in Richmond. this afternoon...

 

'Whitcomb' cherry. These usually put out some early flowers, with peak bloom around February 16 in the West End, possibly around the same time in Richmond. This year, I'd expect everything to bloom early unless we get some freezing weather. IIRC, last year, the early flowers bloomed and then we got hit with the extreme cold spell, so most 'Whitcomb' cherries never got to shine.
We'd be really happy if you'd post photos of the tree and blossoms when they're in full bloom; post them as a reply at
https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/richmond.37705/page-22
I see in that thread that they were posted in full bloom in 2022 on March 20.

 

With the rodent issues we've been having I've been wondering why the buggers didn't bother with the Iris reticulata I have in a number of spots. With a bit of digging it would appear as if their bulbs are poisonous to cats and dogs and presumably rats as well. I do have a fair number of patches of Galanthus and they're poisonous as are the daffodils, so those are safe. I knew they had a liking for lily bulbs based on the digging of those I'd seen in years prior and some -but not all- are poisonous to cats and presumably to rats. The rats would appear to be going after various Oriental hybrids but they're leaving mature tiger lilies -Lilium lancifolium- alone, too deep for a quick dig I suppose but they dispatched the bulbils I'd planted up in 1-gallon pots with reckless abandon. The last one I caught was right next to a very large lily bulb of a mature 'Yelloween' which is referred to sometimes as a lily tree since it can easily get to 6ft in height and have upwards of 25 flowers so you can well imagine the size of bulb needed to support that growth. While there was evidence of digging around the bulb it wasn't dug deep enough for it to start nibbling on the bulb. So far over this bout I've trapped 3 of them but I know there's more, plenty more. Thus far they've been going after peanuts and peanut butter as bait but tonight I'll be upgrading them to sliced wiener, change things up.

 

If you could somehow cage the bulbs in wire, would the rats still destroy the above-ground growth? Varmints have eaten the tops of my lilies in previous years and I've assumed it was rabbits since the bulbs were left alone.
Margot

 

Margot, I don't think I've had issues with above ground growth of lilies being consumed by rats, they'd go dig at the stem to get down to the bulb. For wire to survive any length of time in ground I'd have to use stainless steel, which can get pricey very quickly. Having said that, when I plant some more crocus this fall I will put them in a 'box' I'll construct out of 1/2" mesh building wire and see how that goes. Two nights of baiting with wieners has not resulted in any further shrinking of the population but neither have I seen any recent digging to get at favourite bulbs, which is good. Tonight I'll try a mix of peanuts and wieners and see what gives...

 

Yum - who could resist?

 

Must admit, rats are clever. Last night one had started to dig around a snowdrop and when it got deep enough to get close to the bulb it decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to go any further. Well, I wish it had gone a little further, like about 4 ft to the west and started to avail itself of the tasty peanut and peanut butter I had prepared. Alas, oh well, better luck tonight....

 

Well, February snow at the coast of BC

UBC -Vanc classes closed (technology helps the learning)

and this is a shared place to post photos and observations of gardens and the fauna who share with us

this topic was originally the inspiration of @Margot a few years back - thank you!

———
well, we basked in Canadian January sun locally (reports suggest Okanagan Jan driest in a century )

and managed to do some hardscape (a fence very damaged in windstorm Dec 14th, 2024)

today it’s ice snow

how is it elsewhere I wonder

be safe everyone pls
Looking forward to your news

 

This was a very dry January here in central Vancouver Island too but I don't know if it was record-breaking. Maybe @vitog can tell.

We sure did get a lot of snow the past few days . . . 9.5 inches where I live in Nanoose Bay but 14 inches in a friend's Ladysmith garden. Over in Sechelt, another friend reported 16 inches.

It will be interesting to see how the hellebores and snowdrops look when the temperatures warm up and the snow finally melts.

What fun to repair a fence in this weather!

 

When I saw this ceramic frog -we call it 'Jeremiah'- with its wig of snow I just HAD to go take a few pictures of it. Wasn't much else to see in the yard, snowdrops are now barely poking through the snow cover, the hellebores are all limp, as is the Doronicum orientale and the Iris reticulata are in a holding pattern. But I won't despair, it'll all be warming up soon....

 

You're quite the optimist. :) I like Jeremiah - looks almost judicial.

 

Happy to see all the snow's gone! I can see things popping up again, like this patch of Galanthus nivalis that was covered by that white stuff....

This small stand of Galanthus elwisii has a Dicentra formosa shooting up in front of it, see the red shoot?

The rats are still active! Look at the hole they dug, probably to get at either a lily or tulip bulb and of course you can see they helped themselves to some more crocus bulbs, don't seem too interested in the green growth or perhaps they just leave it there to annoy me as if to say 'See, got another bunch'!

At least the Hellebores would appear to be off their midnight snack list....

 

I was looking around the front yard this afternoon and was absolutely delighted to see my Galanthus nivalis "Flore Pleno' in flower. I'd planted around 10 or so late 2023 and was disappointed not to see them in flower last spring. Must admit I was somewhat surprised to see them where they were because I thought I planted elsewhere but never mind, they're blooming this year! I also spotted the first of the Iris reticulata in bloom, here it's 'Frozen Planet'. No doubt more will open up over the next few days with the milder temps here to stay for a while.

 

My wife and I were out and about this morning -such a lovely day- and there's a Whitcomb cherry on Chatham Street that's about to show its full spring glory. I've seen blossoms on this particular tree since January 19th but the mild weather over the past week or so.
This stand of Iris reticulata 'Frozen Planet' is nice and full, and there's evidence it has started to self-seed, which is great to see! I've seen 2 new ones in a location nearby where I know I didn't plant any last year! And I'm happy to say that in spite of the rodents' best efforts there are still a fair number of crocus around, they completely missed these popping up from a carpet of woolly thyme.

 

I got to looking at some pictures I took this time last year and was surprised/shocked at how far behind we are with plant growth this year compared to same day last year. That extended cold spell we had early February has certainly impacted things. For example, lat year I had the first of my daffodils open, this year they're still buds and not fat enough to show any signs of opening up any time soon. I can usually see signs of early breaking hostas by now with some showing pips up 3 inches tall, ready the begin unfurling, most haven't broken as yet.

This is one comparison, last year's and this year's....
Same here, this is a planter with Hosta 'Chinese Sunrise' in it, first pic is last year's and in this year's you're gonna be hard pressed to see any evidence of pips as yet. My peonies are no different, last year they were up and beginning to unfurl, this year they have barely broken ground... Oh well, that's how she goes I guess...

 

Things are moving along, in spite of the cool weather. Trilliums are popping up and the first signs of buds are evident.
This Helleborus seedling came from a friend a few years ago. Nothing terribly special, but I like it for the little colour it provides late winter. It's very similar in colour to a seedling I got from my brother years ago but it breaks much later. This one typically breaks in February, my brother's is late if I don't see it in bloom by Christmas. Parentage of either is unknown, one I refer to as Helleborus 'Langley' and the other as Helleborus 'Richmond', obviously for where they originated.
About two weeks later than last year but I'm finally enjoying the brightness Daffodils bring to the garden.
While the neighbourhood rats have feasted on my crocus in various parts of the front garden beds they missed quite a number, thank goodness!

 

My Corydalis solida is in full bloom! This here is 'Purple Heart'. It is in bloom earlier than last year but it was a new arrival last year....
The first of the Trilliums are starting to open up. This I believe is Trillium ovatum, the T. luteum I have is much later to break and flower, I'll be surprised if I see it break before month's end.
The rodents have been quite inactive until last night. They went digging up some tulips as you can see but I was rather surprised to see they'd only dug them up and not eaten them. Count my blessings I suppose...
We do have quite the number of Viola odorata around, they are what I'd call enthusiastic seeders and have spread themselves all around the front and back yards. If we feel they're encroaching a little too much they're easily yanked out and composted. They are however a welcome sight to us this time of year along with the primulas..

 

Things are progressing nicely with the first of the Muscari in bloom. It wasn't until I looked closely at the picture after downloading to my computer that I noticed the insect at the top of the largest flower.
Anenome coronaria has been in bloom for a few days with this purple showing up a couple of days ago. I've mostly seen reds...
Talking about Anenome, here's a familiar one: nemorosa, of which I have two forms, this white one which I believe the be the nominate one, as well as a bluish/purplish one I got as a surprise quite a few years ago now from DT as part of a hosta exchange; it was transferred as a very small cutting with one the plants and didn't make it's presence known until the following spring. I believe that one to be 'Bowles' Purple' and it flowers a bit later than the white one. I'm starting to see buds on it but flowers will be a few days off yet.
The first of the Bleeding Hearts is in flower, Lamprocapnos spectabilis and it's a little ahead of the Western Bleeding Heart, Dicentra formosa.
The Daffodils are continuing their welcomed display. With the rodent problem we've had with their consumption of tulip and crocus bulbs I can see us planting quite a few more varieties of Daffodils in the fall since they're poisonous to rats....

 

As you probably know already I grow a lot of hostas. Most of them in pots but a select few are at various spots in the garden. Here we have one of my Hosta 'Empress Wu' which has been in the ground for a few years now and seems to be making itself quite comfortable. This one shoot measures 1.5" and will be rather impressive once it's finished growing, I have no doubt. Below is is the whole clump from a few days ago and I had to make sure I kept my Chinese neighbour from seeing what would have been a tasty meal to him and his wife. You see, they spent a few years in Japan and are only too familiar with Giboshi at the local markets...


I transplanted a Japanese Maple (consensus seems to be it's an Acer palmatum 'Garnet ') back in '23 and in it's 3rd year in this new location it seems to settling in quite nicely. Lots of flowers and plenty of new growth on the older branches in the canopy, gratifying to see that our nurturing efforts seem to be paying off.
Above mentioned neighbour shared some Doronicum orientale with us last fall and it is such a welcome, cheery sight this time of year.
With the nice weather we've seen of the past few days I'm sure I'm not the only one to spend time in their garden. Let's see what you're up to, since mid-February the only contributions to this thread are from yours truly and I really don't want this to turn into my personal garden diary!

 

Well, it's getting into a bit of a lull period for flowers in my yard, but I can offer a couple different Pulmonaria. The pink one that I haven't gotten around to planting yet is "Shrimp on the barbie." The other were acquired from a compost heap so no idea on those. They are a hummingbird favourite.
The third picture is a Ribes, flowering beautifully this year and host to many flying creatures.