Rain and warmth have done their trick – it’s turning green out there. The ostrich ferns are colonizing the shade quite nicely.
The Solomon’s seal is one of the later native plants to emerge. The leaves are still tightly furled, and it hasn’t gotten tall enough to arch over. You can see that the wild geranium and celandine poppy (background) and Labrador violet (foreground) are already leafed out and blooming.
While the Labrador violets add a little purple to the yard, the purple leaf sand cherry adds a lot. The blooms don’t last long, but you can see them all over town for the week or so they are out. This is a tough little tree that is thriving next to the porch in fairly deep shade.
Feed
These are spectacular photos! I really love that last one and I think im gonna need one of those for my garden. That’s the “purple leaf sand cherry”, right? I can look it up but do those get very big?
Gina, I don’t think they get too big, and they’re really easy to prune back as needed. I just did a quick Google search, and 6 feet seems to be the height and width people cite. This seems to be roughly what I’ve seen in other people’s yards, too.
That cherry is really pretty.But I liked seeing how my solomon’s seal will look next year — they’re babies now. As for ostrch ferns I have them and they have just taken over. All I do is pull them out. Do you have the same problem?
Rosemarie, I’ll be sure to take a picture of the Solomon’s seal once the leaves and flowers are out. The flowers are pretty short-lived, as are the berries.
I still have far more shade than I do ostrich ferns, so the only thing I do with ‘em is transplant them to other shady spots. They may be as common as dirt, but I like them.
I love that picture with the solomons seal. I’m hoping the labrador violets in our garden will spread some. Did yours? That would be so pretty. Mostly the the more common green leaf spreads itself around and the pretty little labrador comes back every year but I don’t see any new ones. I’m with you on the ostrich fern. I like to see lots of fern texture in a shade garden and those are very reliable. I don’t mind digging a few out once in awhile.
You have a lovely garden…
The Labrador violets are spreading, but slowly. I think I’ll need to dig up a couple and transplant them if I want them in more than just one corner of the garden. Hope you’re staying dry today, Gloria – it’s nasty out there!