It’s that time of year again, when I scroll back through the #inmygarden photos from the previous year, while agonizing over the lack of insulating snow and wondering if I’ll see any of these blooms ever again. A garden is a lovesome thing, god wot.

From the Duchess’s Garden (named for the Duchess de Nemours peony that occasionally deigns to flower in it), last year was the first time this bulb ever bloomed. It was in fact planted so long ago that I have forgotten what it is, and I can’t find the plant tag. Not a daffodil. A jonquil, perhaps? Let me know in the comments below.

Also in the Duchess’s Garden, 2024 was a banner year for my Himalayan poppies. The most gorgeous blue #inmygarden. I’m planting more this year if I can find any for sale.

And also in the Duchess’s Garden, a Walter Faxon peony drooping seductively over a riot of firewitch dianthus. Four or so winters ago it snowed and then rained and then froze and stayed that way long enough to wipe out gardens all over Homer. All my dianthus died and I was ready to lay down and die right next to it. But I replanted and it came back. There is nothing shy and retiring about firewitch, that magenta is almost neon. I do love it so.
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8 Comments Leave a comment ›
Dana: I used the LeafSnap app on my phone to take a pic of your unknown yellow flower. The app identified it as:Tenby daffodil, wild daffodil, trumpet narcissus, lent-lily, buttercup, common daffotil, yellow daffodil, Easter flower. Biological name: Narcussus pseudonarcissus. Hope that helps! g
It sure does! Well, kinda. That’s a lot of names for one flower.
My fingers are itching. In our downtown townhome, our courtyard (17X27) is paved and totally enclosed. Gone are the 3+ acres. So now? Containers! Annuals! Fruits and vegetables. It is crazy what can grow in containers. This is so very fun.
I think so too! I see these flowers bloom frequently enough that it shouldn’t be such a surprise and a delight. But it is.
Loved the gardens you posted this year. Could the first one be a Narcissus Yellow Cheerfulness?
I googled and the color seems right but the NYC has rounded petal tips and this one’s are pointed. But honestly I’m not enough of a gardener to say one way or another.
I live in the Adirondack Mountains(currently zone 4-5, used to be 3-4) in way upstate N.Y. I work as gardener for clients in the Lake Placid area and have grown Himalayan Poppy for them for 15 plus years. I divide and replant clumps every few years. It works ! Thank you so much for your wonderful story telling.I’ve been reading and enjoying your books since the very start of your journey.
Thank you so much! Literally could not do it without all of you.