Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Be Patient!

With the late spring we've been having, some of the foliage in my garden is just now emerging.

I have one bed filled with hostas.  Some of them have come out, the rest have not.  I am waiting, a bit anxiously, to see if they will emerge.  I suppose the ground is just not yet warm enough for them.


This elephant's ear looks like it's going to pop right out of the ground!


Also coming up out of the ground are the cannas.  I love these red leaves.  I have to wait patiently for them to emerge.  It's always tempting to plant something in bare spots, until I realize those spots aren't bare after all!


The gold barberries are always slow to put on new leaves.  I've learned to wait for them.  The first year I had them, I thought they were all dead.  Thankfully, I didn't rip them all up!  It's always good to be patient.


I patiently waited for my oak leaf hydrangea to form leaves this spring, too.  I worried that it might have also died, as I planted it late last year.  I hope this year it settles in and puts on a lot of new growth.


No need to be patient with giant liriope.  It stays evergreen.


But I'll wait patiently to see if my peony ever blooms.  So far, the foliage look great!


And the lilies are showing off, even without blooms.


But I'm extra excited about the new plants added to my garden:

A new edgeworthia is just now leafing out.


And a new hakone grass is thrilling to see, even as small as it is.  I hope one day it will be big and beautiful.


I just have to be patient.

I'm joining Pam at Digging for Foliage Follow-Up.



46 comments:

  1. I have some of my Hosta coming up but not all also. I miss having Cannas. Love the red leaves on that.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. I hope the rest of my hostas come up. I just planted them last year, so I'm naturally a bit more nervous that they are taking their time to emerge!

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  2. I've been looking at your pictures with baited breath Holley - I'm patiently waiting, I inspect the bare patches on a daily basis now!!
    Look at your peony foliage - there should be signs of the tiniest buds now or pretty soon. I think I gave you the tip about keeping them well watered at this stage to encourage any buds to fatten up! I found a rather large (for this time of year) bud on one of mine yesterday!
    Like you I have a new Hakone grass - it still looks dead!! I will enjoy yours even if I can't enjoy my own!

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    1. No buds on the peony. :( Thanks for the tip at keeping them well watered now. Well, if they don't bloom this year, maybe next! I am thrilled about my hakone grass, even though it's very tiny (bought online). Even as small as it is, it really shines! Good luck with yours!

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  3. We need patience by the barrow load ! Lovely to see all those fresh new leaves emerging, especially your Hostas. No sign of snacking from slugs yet, hope it stays that way !

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    1. I do love to see the hostas coming up. Things that die completely down below the ground always makes me a little bit nervous!

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  4. New foliage is always so beautiful and hopeful-looking--such fresh colors and shapes! Patience is a two-edged sword this time of year, I think. Some of the things I'm waiting patiently for have probably died, and if I wait too long to replace them they'll need twice as much water to establish in summer heat. On the other hand, they might NOT be dead. (Patience and dithering--they go hand in hand!) Your edgeworthia is adorable.

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    1. I know how you feel. I am feeling the same way about my hosta area. Are they going to come up? Should I replace them? Should I just wait for them? How much longer should I wait? Oh, my - the decisions we gardeners are faced with! :)

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  5. Patience is a virtue but looks like its not long to wait now, so much growth showing already!

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    1. You're right - I think things are really going to start growing in spurts now! We are forecasted to have one more cold night (and hopefully no more), and after that I can put out all the plants I've been keeping in my garage!

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  6. I agree with you that gardeners must be patient. Our plants are going to do as they please and there's no rushing them. I'm the same way about the bare spots...I think I need to plant something and then remember that there's already something there waiting to come up!! I love all the colors of your foliage!!

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    1. I look around in spring, then I think of a thousand plants I can put in these bare spots. Thankfully, most of the time, something comes up before I've rushed out to buy something!

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  7. Patience pays.

    I share your enthusiasm for the oak-leaf hydrangea and also the lilies, but of which are enlivening my garden.

    Good luck with the peony!

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    1. I've been told I'll need lots of luck with the peony in Texas! But, you know how we gardeners are - we have to try it for ourselves!

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  8. I've always said that I have the patience of a gnat (i.e. none). My current garden is slowly bending me to its will and teaching me that patience will be rewarded (eventually). Thanks for the post!

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    1. Yes, patience is one lesson the garden teaches us - over and over and over again! It gets a bit frustrating after a while! ;)

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  9. If your peony blooms, I am going to plant one. I saw peonies one year in boxes at of all places, Tallahassee, FL. Maybe they'll offer them again.

    The only Hosta I can rely on is Royal Standard and it is never the giant size you see in blogs from up north. I'm planting gingers instead. Meems (Hoe and Shovel) had a great tutorial today on Alpinias.

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    1. Really? Florida? Interesting! And I really think Royal Standard is one of the hostas I'm waiting on!

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  10. Patience is always nice, but sometimes learned the hard way by pulling out things that aren't really dead. I love the cannas. I use them in pots every year, but I haven't been able to keep one more than one year. Maybe its the weather. I am still waiting for my chocolate cosmos, chaste tree and one other fragrant white flocks that just may be waiting and just may not be coming back. I'l give them another month.

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    1. Keep waiting on your chaste tree! Mine still looks dead, except there is just the smallest amount of green just now starting to show!

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  11. Yes---we DO have to be patient... Sometimes I just get so excited, it's hard to WAIT... ha....

    We went to Biltmore today and saw TONS of gorgeous tulips. WOW...
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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    1. Oh, I need to go to Biltmore sometime! I can only imagine how beautiful their tulip display must be!

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  12. Lovely pictures! Unfurling plants are so nice, a promise of things to come, etc, but don't you just wish they'd hurry up and get their flowers on! (Especially peonies.) I'm enjoying the spring photos on your blog though since it's the opposite of what's happening here!

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    1. When autumn hits here, it's always a bit sad to me to see spring blooms on blogs below the equator, because I know as their spring comes, winter comes for us. But, then, it's nice to be able to see the flowers of summer on those same blogs when winter does finally come! Helps a bit with the winter blahs and gardening withdrawals!

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  13. I do hope your peony blooms. It looks promising! I too have to resist the urge to give up too soon and plant something, only to realize that something was there all along, just waiting to emerge. Oops.

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    1. Yes, and many times I see plants coming up from the same planting hole! Oops again!

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  14. Hi Holley! Snails and slugs have been patiently waiting to see my hostas popping up from the ground but fortunately I patiently took care of them...
    I totally agree with you about berberis, they leaf too late, they shall know they make us gardeners worry and willing to rip em off... I broke a piece of mine last spring to see if there was green inside... Luckily they recover very quickly!
    Alberto

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    1. The first year I had these, I was totally not expecting them to leaf out so late. I've never had any of the other barberries, so that's good information to know that they all act alike!

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  15. Oh wow - it all looks so fresh and new!! I love spring. I wish I could grow Hostas!!

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    1. I love spring, too. It's so much fun to see what's new coming out of the ground every day!

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  16. Hi Holley, I feel all gardening is about being patient! Things can not be rushed or pushed, it all happens at its own time (or not, aka plant has died :-(). You have quite some lovely and interesting foliage coming up. I am very surprised that you can grow hostas in your Texas heat. I love them and I am thinking if you can grow them maybe, just maybe I can grow them, too. Shall I dare to try it out?
    Christina

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    1. Try it! I try everything at least once! Mine do get a lot of water here, and are in almost full shade. I just love them. Except for the newer ones that I planted last year (the ones that have not yet emerged), these have been in that spot for several years. Good luck with yours!

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  17. I am surprised a lot of your hostas are not up yet. I feel like we are having an early spring in the northwest and all of my hostas are almost completely leafed out. If your peony is getting plenty of sun, it will bloom! I can't wait to see it.

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    1. I didn't realize anyone was getting an early spring! So glad to hear someone is! I hope my peony will bloom - keeping my fingers crossed!

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  18. I wish cannas were hardy here. Oh, we'll -I probably could not survived a Texas summer.

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  19. So many years recently I'm begging things to hold back....this year I'm wondering what is keeping them back!

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    1. It has been so hard, hasn't it! We look at the calendars - but they go by a different frame of time, one that we can't see. Truly amazing.

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  20. Snap! I have a new edgeworthia too, and new hakonechloa, though both these and the hostas are rather further behind than yours. Wonderful to see all that fresh foliage.

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    1. I am very excited about them both! Funny that you have the same new plants! Good luck to both of us! :)

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  21. This spring I have been creating a place for a shade garden - just so I can have hostas. Your peony is a bit further along than mine. I love this time of year.

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    1. Does your peony bloom? Ft. Worth is a bit colder than here, but I'm sooooo hoping to have success with mine!

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  22. Loving all your great foliage...mine is just emerging but all the green looks wonderful everywhere.

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    1. Yes, it's really starting to warm up here, and green up, too. I think spring will be arriving in leaps and bounds now!

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  23. Oooh, the promise of the pretty summer garden. Agree, patience is not easy in spring. I'm enjoying the extended cooler season, we'll be hot soon enough.

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    1. You're right! I'm afraid once it starts getting warm, it's going to get very hot very fast! I hope I'm wrong!

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