Hunting the Pink Flowered Dogwood

Well .. I was wide awake at 4:30 AM this morning ... the Robinator must have known because he began his song EXACTLY when I knew I wasn't going to get back to sleep again.
So what do you do at that time of the morning ?
I am SO grateful that sunrise doesn't take all that long this time of year .. so after a bit of early morning tea/toast ... I sound like an old lady .. hey ... I'm NOT ! *SMIRK*
I went out and took some pictures of the back garden .. in the "after the rain" condition it has been in for days on end.
There is something to be said about that early morning glow in the garden, I wish it could apply to me?

The shadier side of things .. but thankfully plants are emerging, in their own time of course.

There is the added soap opera of birds competing for mates and "The Game of Thrones"
Who has the bigger and better throne to lure that queen in ?
Speaking of GOT .. my friend Barry of Teza's Hortus Magnificum blog has an amazing wool business called Knitting Wolf Luxury Yarns .. hand dyed wool in stunning colours which some  are dedicated to GOT in fact .. my favorite is "Cersei" which has sold out for the moment .. but what a spectacular range of colours there are .. if you are a knitter looking for unusual, hand dyed wool, you have to have a look at his work and his site .. you won't be sorry to have a peek at least !

Autumn Brilliance serviceberry trying to shake the wet from it's blooms against that gorgeous if only momentary blue sky .. you have to catch THAT while you can.

The light hadn't reached my gold bleeding heart but it still had a glow about it.

However , one of my spirea had THE GLOW with raindrops included.

Now for all about the mystery Dogwood tree (Kousa was the only name on the Home Depot tag)
I have driven myself MAD looking at picture after picture and I still have no idea which cultivar this is .. funny enough ? I thought I was buying a white one because of course they were not in flower at time of purchase.
Can anyone help me ?

I know the flowers aren't quite mature yet .. but if anyone has any ideas I would very much appreciate your input !

Hellebore Hoopla and More ?

A brief period of actual sun burst through a few days ago .. we are in the midst of rain right now which I will not complain about .. we can use it.
However during that amazing sunny time with such blue skies .. I had to take pictures of the hellebore screaming for attention .. thus this post of hellebore madness and a few other incidental pictures to boot.

Hellebore Royal Heritage and Orientalis

Yes ... Jade Tiger (again) is a bit of a favorite of mine ...

That amazing BLUE sky offsetting the Serviceberry

I'm hoping the pollinator hotel will have a few guests ?

Usually there are so many Goldfinches it looks amazing here .. Mourning Doves, and a mixture of other birds ... plus a complete surprise of a Blue Bunting which had Garden PA pretty darn excited.
Seeing such an intense blue colour on a bird .. well we have Blue Jays and we are used to them .. but the Blue Bunting was rather shocking in colour .. in a GOOD way of course !

With the rain the plants are advancing but this has been one LONG drawn out winter waiting for Spring.

The Latest of Springs

So what does a gardener do when Spring refuses to grace us with her true presence?
We still buy the soil, compost, peat moss and mulch that go on sale .. drive around with bags of the stuff in the back of our vehicles (slight odor of cedar with the mulch  .. not that bad a thing .. worse scents have emanated from vehicles , right ? )

We also tend to buy shrubs and trees that we have been thinking of for years ..
OK .. maybe that is more me than most other gardeners but I like to think of it all from common ground lust of plants we just have to follow through with.

I have always wanted a Dogwood tree .. Kousa ... those beautiful white flowers have always intrigued me .. My point of plan is that it would be an under story tree to my Pacific Sunset maple.
Taking the place of two past failed Japanese maples (slightly broken heart over those episodes)
Sometimes you just have to throw the towel in on particular plants that can't be.

There was no specified cultivar to the Kousa I bought from the big box store .. so that kind of ruffled my feathers but it was not going to stop me.
Pre-planted by the shed .. to give you a sense of size .. it is just a baby.

I am so excited to see how the flowers will look .. that is if we aren't hit by FROST again ?

It is hard to "see" the little guy/gal ? in this picture .. it was a gray day without sun highlights.
It is between the BIG maple and the obelisk .. planted April 29th

Then .. the matter of deciding on a crab apple ... Garden PA and I had two different choices but I finally came over to Garden PA's side with Profusion ... for the front garden.
Another badly lit picture, on a gray day , but I think you can get the idea ?

It will have dark red flowers , beautiful fruits for the birds .. gorgeous foliage and it should have some show stopper colour for the Fall (as with the Dogwood as well)

It isn't planting the trees that is a lot of work .. well ... there is some work to it of course.
But it is the digging out of old trees and shrubs that can be the killer ...
Garden PA worked very hard to help me with his trusted little axe !
I also planted two dogwood shrubs in the back garden .. Ivory Halo and Elegantissima
I guess it is the year of the Dogwood in my garden .. fingers crossed they all take and are happy !

The Bare Bones of it All

Here I sit on an early evening Friday .. rainy and cold yet again, for an April 19th.
I am hoping like mad that the weather forecast for Sunday will ring true and be at least sunny .. around 14 degrees and if we are lucky perhaps it will climb a wee bit more than that.
I still have some garden cleaning to do .. but green life is poking through, smiling at me in my doubt of Spring truly coming and staying before the" speed of light" exchange to summer.
It looks bare and brown in my garden .. nothing akin to what it looks like fully dressed, as the snazzy party animal I know it can be during the height of said party.
Glaring examples :

What gardener in their right mind would show such vulnerabilities of starkness ?
I AM CANADIAN .. this is what we go through .. I have to tell the truth.
So while other gardeners are celebrating Spring flowers ? I go mad for tiny bits of greenery that have survived or are poking their heads up to make me sigh with relief .. uttering thanks for small miracles.
I have a "Dead Like Me" list (one of my favorite TV series ever!) .. of plants that have joined the other world ... 3 Japanese Maples .. that really has gotten to me because these were supposed to be long lived companions to my garden that I truly loved ... this is going to be hard .. digging them up and saying good bye .. but we have all gone through this ritual, right ?

Other news .. I keep snapping some amazing sunrises by sheer  luck

A fireball caught in the long distance brush  ...

A misty full moon highlighting my maple tree in the back garden ...

Our "Robinator" caught in early morning fog ...

Finally ... the miracle greenery that keeps me going .. dicentra and hellebore that have decided to grace me with their appearance ... thank you ! This will keep me going .. for now !