It was misting when I went out this morning to see what I would find in my garden. We’ve had rain again, but with warmer temperatures. Puddles in the beds and the Burt lake is back. But, really, no complaints. It could be icy rain or snow.
- Nandina berries. I love the reflections in the water drops.
2. Why is a reblooming iris which didn’t rebloom last fall think now is the time?
3. Allium bulbs are stirring among a blanket of leaves.
4. I’m so glad I didn’t cut back these grasses. They are a spot of light in an otherwise drab winter landscape.
5. Can anyone identify this plant? I’m not sure where it came from but it is growing in my small nursery bed. Someone must have given me a slip. It’s now about 24″ tall and has wicked thorns. My brain is saying perhaps some sort of orange but how it would have survived last winter’s cold I don’t know.
6. Last fall I divided my clivias and only kept one. People who were gifted with plants have told me theirs have bloomed. Mine has been in the garage for two months without being watered so it is time to bring it in and see what happens.
That’s my first Six-on-Saturday of the new year in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The meme was started by The Propogator, a UK gardener. This is the link to the rules if you’d like to join in.
#lovemygarden #mid-atlantic garden #Six-on-Saturday #malaburt
Does This Font Make Me Look Fat? 
Lovely looking berries and good to see the bulbs poking through.
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That thorny plant might be Osage Orange. They are quite hardy here in New England.
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I’ll check that out. Not sure if the leaves are quite right.
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It is a trifoliate orange. Osage orange is actually not related. However, here in California, where most of us have never seen an Osage orange, trifoliate orange is sometimes referred to as such.
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I added another comment below to explain.
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I’m going with Poncirus trifoliata for number 5. I have a feeling I may have heard it called Osage Orange, but that’s Maclura pomifera.
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Poncirus trifoliata is what another local gardener suggested. I think that’s the right call. Osage Orange leaves are different. But after I read about Poncirus Trifoliata and what I’d need to wear if it got to be big may earn my small plant a place in the trash can.
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Yes, it is trifoliate orange, but like I just mentioned, those of us who have never seen an Osage orange sometimes refer to trifoliate orange as such.
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I added another comment below to explain.
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It’s good to see the alliums discovering themselves from under the leaves … here they are still hidden below.
For me, your mystery plant is one of the citrus family … which one ?? Others will tell you for sure
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Yes, it is a trifoliate orange. I’ll explain in a separate comment below.
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Can’t believe the spikes on #5! Wow!. I did an image search for Jim’s suggestion of Poncirus trifoliata & the flowers are lovely. However, a plant w/teeth may not be what you’re after. What is going on w/that iris?
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Those spikes look lethal. I don’t know where I got that plant, but I think it may not be long for my garden. And the iris? who knows? Crazy warmer than usual weather but I would think the buds would be more a response to longer sunlight days.
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Yes, it is trifoliate orange. I’ll explain in a separate comment below.
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Trifoliate orange, Poncitrus trifoliata – That is what #5 is. So many took an interest in it that I thought I should explain. It used to be a common understock for citrus, and might still be in some regions. I grew dwarf citrus in the early 1990s, and for understock, used only Cuban shaddock, which is even more wicked. There were a few stock specimens of trifoliate orange to supply understock if we needed it for cultivars that were not compatible with the Cuban shaddock, but we never encountered a need for it. Incidentally, I recently noticed a trifoliate orange sucker on a ‘Meyer’ lemon that got my attention, both because I was not aware that other growers were using it, and also because ‘Meyer’ lemon was one of only two of the cultivars that we did not graft. (It and ‘Seville’ sour orange were grown on their own roots. Incidentally, ‘Meyer’ lemon was our most popular cultivar, and ‘Seville’ sour orange was the least popular.) Trifoliate orange can grow from seed if there happens to be a feral specimen in the neighborhood. However, it more likely grew from the roots of a grafted citrus tree. Such a tree might have been cut down more than a year ago, or might be out of view in a neighboring garden. I am rather proficient for finding uses for the obscure cultivars of citrus, but have never found a use for trifoliate orange. It is only good for grafting. If you like, the thorns can be clipped off, and a more desirable cultivar of citrus can be grafted on. Otherwise, it would be best to remove it.
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After all that, it occurred to me that citrus do not survive out in the garden there. Therefore, I suspect that this trifoliate orange likely grew from a root that grew through a drainage hole and into the ground below a potted citrus tree, and then got broken off when the potted specimen was relocated.
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Well, regardless of how it got into my little nursery bed, it’s going in the trash.
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That is probably the best place for it.
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