Cardoon flower

Life's been busy, so no real post, but here's a quick picture of one of my cardoons blooming! Oh how I love this plant!

The Survivors

The snow has melted, crocuses are blooming, and it is time for my annual "I wonder what survived" tour of the garden.

We had what I thought was a pretty average winter -- some serious cold, but nothing too intense. I was worried because we didn't have very good snow cover (snow = nature's blanket) but so far things look great!

After having it 4 years, you'd think I'd have gotten used to this Agave parryi actually being hardy, but every winter I'm happily surprised to see it come through unfazed. Some years the tips of the leaves get damaged it they weren't covered with snow in the very coldest weather, but this year it didn't even get that. It has decent drainage in this spot, which I think is a big part of my success.

This is one of my snapdragons... Pretending to be alive, though I'm pretty sure it isn't. I don't know why snaps do this for me -- it seems they always come out of winter looking fine, and then collapse once actual spring arrives. Little teases...

When I saw the slimy wet mass at the heart of this cardoon, I thought it was a gonner, but looking closer I see a tiny fat white shoot coming up to one side. We'll see if it actually pulls through.

I was VERY surprised to see this bud pushing up through the mulch. It is an Anemone coronaria, which I've always seen listed as zone 7 or even 8! I grew them as an annual last year, and figured that was that. But apparently not! And I'm not the only one. Kylee over at Our Little Acre (also zone 5 -- just a little south of me) said she's had them come back for the past three years!

So, very good news on the winter survival front here! I am SOOOOOOO excited about the gardening year starting up! Let me leave you with some totally gratuitous crocus shots:

Gratitude

It is that time of year when we gather and think of all the things we are truely, deeply, thankful for. I have a long list: My health, my wonderful partner, my house, family and job, all my wonderful blogging friends, and a whole array of amazing things that have happened to me this year. But among all the things I could mention here, one really stands out.

Cardoons.

I am so, so, SO thankful for cardoons. Just look at those leaves!

I love my cardoons all year, but right now, when everything else is brown and dead aside from a few plucky pansies and a handful of autumn crocuses, the fact that they continue lush, vigorous and very much alive with color and texture is almost hard to believe.

As the garden fades in the face of nightly frosts the cardoons stand tall and vigorous, their bright silver setting off the browns and tans around them.

I love my cardoons now, and come spring I love them, if possible, even more, as cardoons are one of the first perennials to leaf out and start making the garden look full and lush again. Provided, that is, they make it through the winter at all. They are only boarder-line hardy for me (future breeding project: hardier cardoons), but I have them in a sheltered spot right by the foundation, and they've done fine the last couple years. I'll be crossing my fingers, hoping for the best, and starting more from seed just in case.

Working together

The beds infront of my house are in their second year, and things are starting to come together. I'm particularly fond of this section at the moment:

Here we have my beloved cardoons, fronted with the stunning Allium christophii mixed with bronze fennel. (It suddenly strikes me that this is edible landscaping... not that I could bear to cut and eat any of it, but still. All three are vegetables.)
Believe it or not, when I started planting here last spring, I was planning all hot colors -- red, oranges and yellows accented with purple foliage and a bit of blue. But somehow I started planting silver foliage (because I can't resist cardoons), and I don't like yellow tones with silver, so all the orange and yellows got ripped out. Then I started planting purples and blues, and... I'm liking it. A lot. It will be interesting to see the look evolve as the summer goes on and my Salvia 'Black and Blue' (from tubers I saved from last year) and Crocosmia 'Lucifer' come into flower.