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Hello GPODers, that is your editor, Joseph, and as we head into critical winter right here in my northern Indiana backyard, I’m trying again at my favourite backyard moments from the yr that simply handed. I hope it’ll encourage you to do the identical and to ship your favorites into the GPOD so we will all get impressed and check out new concepts for the gardening yr forward!
Winter in my local weather (the sting of Zones 5 and 6, with LOTS of snow) is lengthy, so snowdrops are important! That is one in all 500 Galanthus elwesii (Zones 4–7) I planted within the fall of 2021, right here flowering bravely via a late snowfall. My solely remorse just isn’t planting extra!
Additionally important for surviving the lengthy winter right here is a lot of gardening indoors. That is my grow-light setup. It’s nothing fancy, simply wire cabinets and low cost LED shoplights from the ironmongery shop, however they let me develop heaps and many vegetation via the winter to fill my new backyard.
And houseplants! I acquired into African violets final yr, and this one, ‘Bob Serbin’, simply blew me away with the profusion of blooms. It’s fabulous to have when there may be 3 toes of snow exterior.
As soon as spring arrived, I went for many hikes and noticed these stunning wildflowers, our native hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba, Zones 3–9). These early bloomers are native to the japanese half of North America. They have been so stunning that I used to be impressed to purchase some for my residence backyard. I can’t wait to see them bloom this spring!
And it’s laborious to beat daffodils. That is my present favourite selection, Narcissus ‘Moonlight Sensation’ (Zones 4–8), which makes extra blooms per bulb than another I’ve grown. Bonus: it smells nice too!
I grew these peonies (Paeonia lactiflora, Zones 3–8) from seed I collected in a good friend’s backyard a number of years in the past. I really like the single-flower kind, each for the swish look of fewer petals and since they stand tall with out staking, in contrast to the heavier double-flowered varieties.
One other wildflower sighting that impressed me: wild lupines. That is the true species native to the japanese a part of North America, Lupinus perennis (Zones 3–9). It’s host for a lot of butterflies, together with the endangered karner blue, which solely feeds on the leaves of this species. This stand was simply thriving by a roadside. It’s positively on my listing so as to add to my residence backyard subsequent yr.
And right here’s one of many longest-performing vegetation in my backyard this yr: snapdragons (Antirrhinum hybrids, normally grown as annuals). I planted these within the mattress between my sidewalk and the road this spring, they usually have bloomed nonstop proper via the summer season and lengthy after our first frost. I missed this plant after I lived in coastal Virginia, because it acquired too scorching there for them to outlive the summer season. However right here in Indiana they’re laborious to beat.
Have a backyard you’d wish to share?
Have photographs to share? We’d like to see your backyard, a specific assortment of vegetation you’re keen on, or an exquisite backyard you had the prospect to go to!
To submit, ship 5-10 photographs to [email protected] together with some details about the vegetation within the photos and the place you took the photographs. We’d love to listen to the place you might be situated, how lengthy you’ve been gardening, successes you might be pleased with, failures you discovered from, hopes for the long run, favourite vegetation, or humorous tales out of your backyard.
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