MySecretGarden: February 2012

When it is sunny outside, I go to the garden to do an inventory of what is poking from the ground, what is blooming and what needs to be done as soon as possible.

Love this plant - Sedum rupestre (Angelina Stonecrop). It's evergreen and always looks bright and fresh! It's low and spreading, so it's a good groundcover! I've never seen a single weed growing through it. It has lovely star-shaped flowers, but even without them, it looks good. It is trailing, so it's suitable for containers. It easily breaks, but it easily roots too. What else is on my potting bench? Periwinkles and helleborus. I always plant extra seedlings into small containers for an easy giveaway, as pot fillers and as ready plant material for new beds.

I cut Sedum Autumn Joy for a February outdoor bouquet. I love this plant too. It looks wonderful all seasons.
What are potting benches for? For potting! This is a bowl that I filled with three Amaryllis plants.

Since they won't withstand winter temperatures, I took the bowl inside.

Moss is always available in my Pacific Northwest garden.

Helleborus is another favorite. It's time to cut its old leaves. It'll allow to see the white flowers better, and it'll give a chance for new fresh leaves to grow.

Helleborus foetidus also is hardy, reliable and easy to grow. Love its pale green flowers!

New to my garden - dark-flowered Helleborus that I got from my friend:

These pansies were covered by the snow for several days in January. Here they are, undamaged and blooming again!

Miniature daffodils and primulas are another staple in my garden:

Alliums join the ranks of tough and beautiful plants:

And, this is a surprise! My fall-planted white cabbage were eaten by rabbits and slugs. Only a couple of them were left on the raised bed just as some decoration. Well, I noticed in February that the plants not only survived the winter but developed new heads!

Sun doesn't last long nowdays, so it's time to do at least one garden chore - pruning clematis. Tangled with magnolia vine Eastern Prince, it didn't bloom well the last two seasons. I decided to do a radical pruning and left only several inches above the ground. I don't have anything to lose!