Peony season 2010 has started in my garden

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:03:17 PDT
The 2010 peony season opened on Tuesday with (as usual here) the flowering
of Paeonia mascula. Nearby is a handsome plant of Dicentra spectabilis –
their colors are very similar. I should move in some Pulmonaria azurea for a
great color contrast.

Things are happening so quickly this year that I can’t keep up. Frits and
early tulips have been coming into bloom and shriveling two days later. Most
came and went before I got pictures. 

The garden is full of odd flower combinations this year for sure. We’ve had
several days this week when the temperatures not only reached 90º F (~ 32 C)
but remained there for hours. At 8:30 P.M. last night, the temperature was
86º F – and it did not cool down quickly. 

Storms are predicted for this evening as a cold front arrives. The daily
highs during the approaching weekend are expected to be about 30º F lower. 

I’m not positive, but I think I see the tip of an inflorescence on
Dracunculus vulgaris already. 

I don’t mow the front lawn here until the snowdrops and crocuses have
ripened their seed. As a result we typically have the shabbiest looking lawn
in the neighborhood while everyone who has been applying high nitrogen
fertilizers has a picture perfect lawn. The heat this year has made it worse
then ever – the lawn is dingy white this week with the flowers of weedy
Cardamine. I’m waiting for the lawn police to knock on the door (But
officer, I just wanted to get a good seed collection from my snowdrops…). 

Early roses are said to have started to bloom in one local garden – but not
here yet (although some which just arrived from a California nursery are in
advanced bud – very exciting stuff here). 

Jim McKenney
jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone
7; geez, Jane, multiscapidium? And the seven syllables of multiscapoideum
were so much more fun to pronounce (not that I really ever heard anyone do
it correctly). 
My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/
BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/
 
Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS 
Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ 
 
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