IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

The Little Bulbs they call them…

and thrilling they are despite their size. 

Of course, it requires some very nimble scampering about to get close enough to them to get a picture, or heaven forbid,

try to sniff the scent.

Here is a breathtaking little fritillaria michailovskyi under a hellebore. Look closely, it is wine red and gold.

And this, an irresistible tiny 1st year hellebore, tenderly Yellow

and A Double!

Yellow is more appealing in Hellebores than in Daffodils but this 

dwarf has plenty pizzzazzzz and could only do it by being yellow...

why it is named after sleepy Rip Van Winkle is beyond me.

One lonely species tulip ‘Persian Pearl’...

precious, isn't it?

One stands-on-its-own Muscari ‘Blue Magic’.

And talk about tiny…only a spring flower nut like me could be enthralled by this little liverwort. Those little things you see growing behind it are new stalks of moss ... that’s how petite is this Hepatica.

But you can forget about this one...

This is the “flower” of a just emerging Asarum.  Totally insignificant except for maybe the one day before the leaf rapidly covers it up...

When you see photos in catalogues of this, believe me....the people that go crazy for these are real fanatics.

It's the Asarum leaves, though, that make up for

the insignificant hidden 'flower'.

Excerpted from DIRTIER. 

This Flying Duck Orchid is a tropical fantasy, but isn’t it great?

And you know I have a weakness for ducks…

Ours are exceedingly hungry these days…as are the geese, seagulls and as always – the swans…as a matter of fact, the swans are more demanding than ever.  We do have the most adorable signs on our lane -- ‘Slow Down for Ducks’ they say, but somehow that doesn’t quite prepare you for a swan commandeering the street.

Now they hang out in the street like a carnival barker saying
“Come on in, hon”….”Give us some food.”

And of course, me and my Nature Trail Committee Girls – we always comply.

Excerpted from the latest issue of DiRTIER.

No April Fool This Year

It is the Real Thing.  Yes, we had a real winter  freezing cold, ice and sleet, and lots of velvety blankety snow (which the garden loves) and ergo… now we are having a Real Spring and it is divine.  Those heartwarming and tempting sprigs and sprouts are not 3 or 5 weeks early, they are deliberate and insistently pushing their way up in their normal cycle..so each arrival is more anticipated and therefore…much more special.  This Easter weekend is the perfect ushering in of the real thing…

 

BLOOMING  BONANZA

This issue of Dirtier was meant to arrive in your in-boxes before Easter, but such were the Wonder Full busy days of recent weeks…in and out of Church, oohing and aahing over the precious images of early spring…that I hope you will have a moment to savor them on this very first April day…

First anemone appeared on March 3^rd, but the rest of them are taking their time, as they should.  Right now there is still only this one…which is odd but endearing.

Right now that same persistent one is looking a little worse for wear 

but still hanging on.

 

Snowdrops are especially loveable when there is a patch of snow and so fulfilling to watch the patches flourish… my one $18 ‘S. Arnott’ planted 2 years ago is now 4…I couldn’t be happier…

The cyclamen now has several flowers.

This crocus is called C. vernus ‘Flower Record’  it is big and blowsy
and early to bloom

More refined is Cricus tommasinianus  ‘Ruby Giant’, though it is neither gem-red or very big… 

Well, here is a comparison…

The smaller sweetheart is Crocus chrysanthus ‘Ladykiller’… which is quite
a poignant name with which to have caressed this tender little beauty.

Most all my bulbs are from Brent and Becky's Bulbs, John Scheepers/van Engelen
and the wonderful Odyssey…

 

The Iris reticulata have already been around for a few weeks.

This one blooms a little later and is noticeably larger and it is a gorgeous shade of really heady rich red wine…not to be confused with the purples and blues at all, though they all look great together. This one ‘J.S. Dijt’ –

Whoever he was he had very good taste…

Popping up unexpectedly from within the heather is especially divine.

 But perhaps, everyone’s favorite remains the sweet Iris histrioidies
‘Katherine Hodjkin’.  She must have been a pretty girl.

Read this entire issue of DiRTIER Here!

 

Style is Growing in the Garden

Style is Growing in the Garden

Pick up a copy of The East Hampton Press to read about
Style in the Garden or Read it Here!

If you are looking for Stylish Garden Accessories, 

visit us at The Best @ Dianne B.

The Best Garden Tool Belt

And for Stylish Garden Design, visit Dianne B Gardens.

Follow us on Twitter at dianneb4.

Friend us on Facebook.

Spring is in the Air!

It is still cold on the East End but the sun is out today.

Are you gearing up for the gardening season?

Do you need some help designing a unique, stylish garden?

Visit Dianne B Gardens and give Dianne a call....

Dianne B Gardens

Do you have a Dianne B Best Peeping Stick?

This is the perfect tool for admiring hellebores or any
low-hanging bloom without getting down on the damp ground.  

Be the envy of your friends and order yours today!

Dianne B in the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal likes Gardening with Style ~ 

Read all about it HERE!

You can purchase Dianne's Garden Tool Belt HERE!

No Winter Doldrums @ Dianne B

As a Garden lover,  it doesn’t take too very much to excite me:

These promising green shoots fill me with joy, 

not quite sure if galanthus or little iris or early daffodils or 

what…but who cares? 

  The reason I plant  more bulbs each year is to be in for those

scintillating little surprises.

The hold-your-breathiness of the first spotting of a thick

old patch of snowdrops.

The colors of these Leucothoe ‘Rainbow’ leaves are only this good

in the harshest of conditions.

Hellebores pushing through the ice make me happy.

BUT  the Most Exciting Treasure of the 2013 season

( so far, of course)

Is the tiny, but unbelievably exhilarating blooming of  cyclamen coum.

This is the first time I have gotten actual blooms in oh so many tries…

So hooray for  Edelweiss Pernennials…

Excerpted from DIRTIER: Volume 45.

Read it in its entirety Here.