It's amazing how quickly plants grow - there's something new to see every day.
Here at my farm, the trees are budding and various flowers are bursting with color and energy - Chionodoxa, Puschkinia, Anemone, corydalis, primrose, Cornus mas the cornelian cherry tree, and of course the daffodils. All the beds are coming alive just days before Easter.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Chionodoxa, known as glory-of-the-snow, is a small genus of bulbous perennial flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, often included in Scilla. Planted beneath trees or directly in the lawn, they multiply quickly and appear in early spring.
Chionodoxa spread in two different ways. Over time, “daughter” bulbs form alongside the original bulbs, but the blossoms also produce seeds.
They also come in dainty pink. The flowers have six-petaled clustered pale flowers with white centers atop dark stems and sparse, narrow foliage.
These darker blue flowers are Siberian squill. Native to southwestern Russia, the Caucasus, and Turkey, these plants grow to about four to eight inches tall and spread out and bloom profusely this time of year.
Also known as scilla, it is a perennial with two to four strap-shaped leaves that appear at the same time as the nodding, bell-shaped flowers.
Puschkinia is a genus of four known species of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae. It is native to the Caucasus and the Middle East. Puschkinia grows so beautifully in clumps – I have several areas filled with these delicate small flowers.
Each Puschkinia plant produces a single flower stalk covered in a cluster of small bluish white flowers. The flowers feature delicate blue stripes down each petal and a pleasant light fragrance.
This is Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica alba. All Puschkinia varieties take time to mature, but if it’s happy where it’s planted and left undisturbed, it naturalizes by bulb offsets called bulbils or baby bulbs.
Corydalis has bright, colorful flowers above mounds of delicate foliage. Of the 400 or so species of corydalis with differing colors, these are dark pink flowers growing outside my studio.
Corydalis also comes in this pink-purple color. It is native to the woodland areas of North America, so it grows best in sun-dappled shade and moist, well-drained soil.
Many of the crocuses are also still blooming beautifully. This crocus flower produces several upright, cup-like, purple and white striped blooms on stems rising to four to six inches above basal, grass-like leaves.
These dark purple croci are growing outside my Basket House. They look great planted in bunches. Choose a planting site where there is well-draining soil.
Here are a few of the many peonies just waking up from their winter slumber. These are tree peony buds growing in a bed under dappled shade outside my Summer House. Tree peonies are deciduous sub-shrubs that bloom for a week to 10 days in mid to late spring with big, fragrant peony flowers.
This is a hyacinth. Hyacinths are native to Turkey, Syria and Lebanon and come in shades of blue, purple, white, pink, or apricot. Do not confuse them with grape hyacinth, Muscari, which are smaller, hardier, and native to Europe and Asia. While they’re not directly related, the plants have similar features and care needs.
The “wildflower” Anemone produces pretty low-growing periwinkle blooms in early- to mid-spring. I have these daisy-like flowers growing behind my Winter House courtyard under a tall hornbeam hedge.
These Anemones are darker purple in color. Anemones are easy to grow and unappealing to most animals, including deer, rabbits, and rodents.
Outside my Summer House is this Cornus mas, commonly known as cornelian cherry – a deciduous shrub or small tree that is native to central and southern Europe into western Asia. It typically grows over time to 15 to 25 feet tall with a spread to 12 to 20 feet wide. Yellow flowers on short stalks bloom in early spring before the leaves emerge in dense, showy, rounded clusters.
Here is a primrose, with its dark green leaves and umbrels of colorful bright yellow flowers. Primroses thrive in partial shade.
Sedum does really well growing between the crevices in stone walls. We planted this sedum several years ago. Sedum has fleshy, water-storing leaves and is drought tolerant. I am so happy with how well they do here in the stone wall along my Winter House terrace parterre. Patches of bold red show through in early spring every year. These plants are also known as stonecrops.
More and more daffodils are opening every day. I plant early, mid and late-season blooming varieties so that sections of beautiful flowers can be seen throughout the season. Here are three perfect daffodil blooms…
… And just wait, there are so many more to come. Look at the foliage – so green and plentiful. I cannot wait to share photos of the swaths of daffodil flowers blooming along the border that stretches down one side of my farm.
And just like clockwork, this time every year my outdoor grounds crew begins the process of removing all the burlap around the farm, exposing the lush green boxwood that has been covered all winter long.
Every autumn for as long as I’ve been gardening I’ve covered all my boxwood shrubs and outdoor ornamental urns to protect them from the season’s heavy snowfall, freezing temperatures, and damaging winds. Then, every spring when the ground begins to thaw, it’s all removed and stored away. The entire process is a big undertaking; however, knowing my plants are protected in the cold is a great comfort. And seeing all the healthy, intact shrubbery and foliage at the start of a new season is an even greater delight.
Enjoy these photos.
During winter, all the boxwood shrubs and hedges are covered in this natural colored fabric. Fortunately, the weather here has been pretty mild these last couple of weeks – perfect timing to start our burlap removal project.
This is the biggest stretch of burlap-covered boxwood at the farm, the Boxwood Allée, which runs from outside my stable all the way down to the intersection leading into the woodland.
At one end, the boxwood also runs perpendicular to the allée carriage road – all of it is covered in burlap for the duration of the cold season.
We remove the burlap once the temperatures are consistently above freezing and before Easter. All of the coverings are custom wrapped and sewn to fit each individual shrub, hedge, or bush. Chhiring starts by removing the wooden strips that help sandwich and secure the burlap at the base.
The strips are collected and stored for next year. We keep all the pieces grouped separately and neatly.
Next, the burlap is carefully pulled off the steel frames.
Here, Chhiring and Cesar pull a long section and begin to roll the burlap.
The burlap covers can be used for three seasons. Once they are no longer useable as covers, they are repurposed in the gardens to prevent weeds.
All the rolls of burlap must be kept dry when not in use. One of the few downsides to this fabric is that it will start to fray and disintegrate after time, especially if exposed to moisture. Here is one roll of fabric. It may not look it, but this roll is quite heavy.
It’s always so nice to see the boxwood once the burlap is removed. For the frames we use the same metal used to make hoop houses – strong industrial steel ground uprights and purlin pipes. These materials not only provide the necessary support frames for the burlap but also accommodate any plant growth.
Chhiring removes the fasteners called tension purlin brackets. They connect the center piping to the bow sections of the frame.
All the purlin brackets and pipes are saved from year to year.
After they are properly dismantled, each piece of framing is neatly stacked, so it can be picked up quickly and hauled away to storage. These pipes are made from rolled galvanized 16 gauge industrial tubing. The top pieces are 10-foot wide bow sections – these frames will last quite a while, I hope.
The next step is to remove the metal legs that hold up the hoop structures along the allée. There are many steps – taking down the burlap is a much faster process than putting the burlap up, but it’s still very time-consuming.
Here, the frames and legs are removed and all that’s left are the small wooden stakes that hold the legs in place.
The metal framing and pipes are all carefully loaded onto our dump truck and taken to a back storage area.
The boxwood hedges on both sides of my long and winding pergola have also been uncovered. The burlap removal reveals what we hope for every year – green, healthy boxwood. Soon, these beds will be filled with colorful alliums, lilies, camassia, and fritillaria.
This is the other side. All these boxwood shrubs were nurtured and grown here at the farm from small bare-root plants. I am so proud of how well they have developed.
This hedge is outside my Winter House. My outdoor grounds crew is moving quickly to get all the burlap off.
Some question whether covering the boxwood each winter really helps, but look how lush and intact the plantings are when exposed – I definitely feel it is worth the time and effort.
Earlier this year I incubated and hatched more than two dozen baby Silkie and Ayam Cemani chicks. Since then, the peeps have grown and moved into their new "nursery" coop where they can have access to the outdoors. All of them are alert, healthy, and very curious. They will remain in this enclosure until they are old enough to join the adult chickens.
Enjoy these photos.
I love raising all kinds of chickens. This Silkie peep hatched early last month right here in my stable feed room.
They grow quickly. Here, these chicks are about three weeks old.
The Silkie, also known as the Silky or Chinese silk chicken, is a breed of chicken named for its atypically fluffy, satin-like plumage.
This breed is very calm and friendly.
There are eight Silkie color varieties accepted by the American Poultry Association. They include black, blue, buff, gray, partridge, splash, and white.
All these chicks have clear eyes and are very alert – signs of good health.
Silkies have black eyes, dark beaks, combs, and wattles.
Underneath all that feathering, they also have black skin and bones and five toes instead of the typical four on each foot.
At this stage, the chicks are already communicating with each other. In general, chickens are quite vocal. They make around 30 different calls, expressing everything from “I am hungry” to “there’s a predator nearby.”
Chicks remain in my stable for a few weeks until they are big enough to go to the “nursery” coop. This was “move-in day.”
At first, they all stay together in one big flock.
This is a young Ayam Cemani already perching on the big ladder in the “nursery” coop. It is an uncommon and relatively modern breed of chicken from Indonesia. This breed has a dominant gene that causes hyperpigmentation, making it entirely black, including feathers, beak, and internal organs.
Ayam Cemani chickens are cold and hot weather hardy, low maintenance, tame and easy to handle.
Once the hens are old enough to lay eggs, they lay a surprisingly abundant amount of eggs – and, the eggs are bright cream in color.
In the back of the coop is a small ramp. The chicks are able to go in and out as they please during the day. At night the doors are all closed to keep them safe from predators.
Here is a group of Ayam Cemanis. While all the birds get along fine, “birds of a feather flock together.” Ayam means “chicken” in Indonesian. Cemani refers to the village on the island of Java where this breed originated. The breed was first described by Dutch colonial settlers and imported to Europe in 1998 by poultry breeder Jan Steverink. The roosters weigh about five pounds full grown, while the hens are about a pound less.
All the young chickens love being outside. They are now almost eight weeks old. Here are two white Silkies foraging. When determining their sex, female Silkies will keep their bodies more horizontally positioned, while males will stand more upright, keeping their chests forward and their necks elongated. Males will also hold their tail more upright, where females will keep it horizontal or slightly dipped toward the ground.
Because the Silkie’s feathers lack functioning barbicels, similar to down on other birds, they are unable to fly, but they can stretch and flap their wings.
Silkies are quite adaptable and playful, and even peck each other lightly to encourage playful interaction.
This pen is next to the peafowl enclosure. This “blue boy” loves saying hello to its young neighbors.
Chickens are not difficult to keep, but it does take time, commitment and a good understanding of animal husbandry to do it well.
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