SprottHaus: A Gardener's Journey

No matter how long I have known and grown  Lycoris  (surprise lily), I am always surprised and delighted when the first bloom scape shoots out of the ground.  I'm on the lookout for them in early July, as soon as peak daylily season begins to wane.  On my several walks through the garden each day, I eagerly check every spot where I know they're planted.   For me, the surprise lily season normally begins the first or second week in July with the cheerfully sunny  Lycoris chinensis .  Its flowers are the most delicious warm yellow, somewhere between Lemon Yellow and Buttercup Yellow of the British Colour Council's Horticultural Colour Chart  (#nerdalert).*  This bulb has been with me since 2020, thanks to a very generous fellow Lycoris-o-phile friend who grows it--and many others--in Maryland.  Everything I had read about yellow types (mostly referencing  L. aurea , which can be tricky in this section) did not instill much hope o...

I really wanted to include an expletive in that title because that's just how I feel today.  (Oops, that's starting out with a negative attitude, isn't it?  There's probably some Blog Best Practices List somewhere that gives that as the Number One "Dear God, whatever you do, DON'T do THAT" rule.  Well... whatever.)   It's hot.  I mean HOT.  Freaking HOT and soul-smotheringly humid.  The "feels like" temperature is hovering somewhere around 105F as I type this.  Today's weather is a no-go for this gardener; it is, however, perfect for this gardener to stay indoors and watch the second round of Wimbledon. But, since our house is virtually all glass (which I LOVE, mind you), I can't help but look outside.  I can't help but stare at the garden and think about the marathon-long list of things I need/want to do.  Why did I start that new bed yesterday?  Reclaiming part of an old garden bed is better than starting absolutely from scra...