Getting ready for Christmas

Christmas Dino 12/15/19

It's getting close to Christmas so now is a great time to show off some of the Dinosaurs that only come out once a year- The Christmas Dinosaurs. I started off with just one but it has progressed to a second one this year. There is even more availability in the blow-up kind but I have not gotten used to how they fall over in the wind or snow.

This is the second one added this year- As soon as I saw it, it needed to go into the cart immediately. I think its supposed to be a tree-rex!

Little Luck in a Scarf 12/13/19

Having fun with some "recycled" blankets, some of the sculptures got scarfs to change-up for the winter months. Little Lucky's size makes this section of full sized blanket seem rather small. Not much to talk about for going on in the garden since it is nearly officially winter. We had a few skiffs of snow last week and again this evening but with temperatures warming up to the 40s again it seems unlikely that we will have a white Christmas around these parts this year. Hopefully it wont be like last year when we got nothing until nearly double a year's worth of average of  snow fell in the second two and a half months of winter. Maybe this winter will be warm with Snowdrops blooming by January's end- it's happened many times before but that's all up to mother nature to decide.

Early Winter- Changing Seasons, Changing Looks

Weeping Redbud 11/11/19

Seems like we have entered an early winter at this point, last night we got 2.50" of snow and today it has not gotten much over 20.F, which is more of what I would expect in January instead of early November. Recently and still continuing the leaves are falling off reveling a new side of the garden that hasn't been seen since last winter. I am really learning to appreciate the unique look that some plants have when their leaves fall off. The example is this Weeping Redbud, when its holding its leaves it looks very big, bulky and bold. then the leaves fell off all at once last week and this plant changed drastically and now looks fine, slim and delicate. Structure like this becomes very important in winter when green and flowers disappear. Some example of structure is anything you can see in winter such as evergreens, art, fences, trees and shrubs. Take away the grasses and trees in the above image and this little corner of the garden would look disappointing, instead its beautiful in its own way.

Rusty T Rex 11/11/19

Here is a good example of how things can change drastically. Rusty the T-Rex had some eye-work done this summer past summer with some inspiration from another blog I found called Pauls Prehistoric Pals and the amazing painting work he does with his dinos. I decided I wanted to try what I found there on my own collection. Rusty was my first attempt. The original manufacture that made him had the eyes light blue with no pupils, which provided a rather very dull- lifeless look. I went ahead changed them to fiery orange with a nice black line-shaped pupil. The fierceness and character it added is remarkable, take a look at the transformation below. Since I had success here, I painted/changes two other Dinosaurs I have.

Before

After

 

New Dino Addtion & Early Snowfalls

Rhett the Raptor 11/4/19

My gardens got a new dino addition this week. This came out of an long anticipated order I put in back in July. Getting it home proved to be a rather interesting experience for me in my car as it is 5' tall and far bigger then I thought it was going to be. I hand painted the red part as well as the eyes, the factory color choice for the eyes was too dull for me and I wanted them to be brighter and have a center. I added the red part because I actually have this same sculpture but smaller in another part of my yard and I wanted to differentiate a bit. I like to provide names I'm settling on a name of Rhett the Raptor. Rhett is now the second largest sculpture I have just below Little Lucky.

Snowfall 10/29/19

Seems like we've been getting quite a few snowfalls lately, tonight ( Nov 6th ) we are getting our 3rd one in a row after two snowfalls including this one pictured before Halloween. The biggest snowfall was an inch but because snowfalls this early are rather rare it smashed a Des Moines record for that day in October. It's also been far colder then it should causing the tree leaves turn sort of brownish but still clinging to the trees so I have not been able to do fall mulching of the leaves just yet. Next week is supposed to be even colder some 30 degrees from where it should. Hopefully this isn't a sign of the winter-to-come.

Cultivar Varations

Different Leave from Same Tree Type

Taking a look at some plant genetic and just how much they can vary even between the same plant types. Above are all leaves from the same kind of tree. I picked up 4 leaves from Sugar Maple trees, two are from my neighborhood and 2 are from cultivar trees from the garden center where I work. The difference between them is extremely noticeable, the colors are completely different and leaf shape ranges from sharp points to more dull in appearance. What does this all mean for plants? Just like people plants have genetic difference between tree to tree. Meaning if you are choosing a tree for fall color like red or orange, for example you want to be careful the type you choose or you may end up with yellow. The good news is the unknown variability is more likely from a plant in the wild. The horticultural industry have come up with a term called cultivars which is plant breeding that allows plants to be more consistent in the traits they have. What is a cultivar? It's a plant type that has been bread for a certain characteristic maybe flower or leave color, plant height or disease resistance. They can naturally occur or they can be bred by people. If you have ever seen a plant listed as Sugar Maple 'Fall Fiesta' the 'Fall Fiesta' is what the cultivar would be. There can be 1-2 Cultivars per plant going all the way up to hundreds per plant. They are important since they can make a huge difference in the way plants grow to even their health and cold hardiness.

 Looking at the photos above the trees above from left to right are- Sugar Maple 'Fall Fiesta' Sugar Maple' Green Mountain' then the next  two are just naturally occurring Sugar Maple Black and finally just strait Sugar Maple.

Sugar Maple Black Subspecies

Regular Sugar Maple

Again the two trees above are both naturally occuring Sugar Maples but one is called Black Sugar Maple which more often then not doesn't have the beautiful orange-red fall color everyone looks for. Instead it is more yellow-gold. They also turn color slightly earlier then strait Sugar Maple. The other Sugar Maple with the orange is from a neighboring tree behind my house and has that beautiful ember orange color.

Fall Happenings

Fall color 10/19/19

 Fall is in full swing for sure, trees are starting show their fall colors. I'd say about 30% of the trees are showing color. The two largest trees in my yard are Sugar Maple subspecies black and just happen to be with in the percentage of early turning trees giving my yard a really big boost in the color department.  The weather has been cooler then average for awhile but then it heated up for a couple days with strong winds out of the south at almost 50MPH yesterday. and next week we will be returned to cooler weather which I welcome because these temperatures prolong the fall colors if it doesn't get too cold.

Autumn Crocus 10/19/19

The last of the fall flowers are continuing to hang on but one that has just getting going is the Autumn Crocus which started blooming last week. I often find these are the last blooms of the season. These are not quite the same as Colchicum which flower in mid September and look similar. These are autumn Saffron Crocus. Rabbits unfortunately to eat some of these for me but so far they have left enough for me to at least enjoy some of the flowers. While these come up with no leaves when in flower, the foliage will appear shortly and persist until late spring next year. These were planted rather late last year and was surprised by Christmas blooms! As can be seen they are much earlier this year.

Rhododendron PJM 'Elite'

Cyclamen Bloom

Cyclamen is still blooming surprisingly its been in flower for a month now. The foliage is starting to fill in and I'm also happy to report the missing Cyclamen from my last post have also started to grow in leaves so I didn't loose any of the bulbs like I had first thought. More were added fall-blooming types and a spring blooming one after I had success with Cyclamen this fall. Also another garden surprise, the Rhododendron although evergreen does shed some of the inner leaves and the fall color is looking quite nice!

Shredded Umbrella plant

Variegated Solomons Seal

More plants to add to the fall leaf-color list is the Shredded Umbrella plant as well as the Variegated Solomons Seal, both turning a nice shade of yellow although the umbrella plants looks more like electric green which is actually pretty nice. This was a gift from a garden friend and she visited yesterday evening and we both marveled over the color we didn't know it had. These plants are both part shade lovers by the way!

Sugar Maple 10/19/19

A good way to end the post by showing some of the brilliant yellow of the Sugar Maple ( black ) in my back yard. Yellow is a missed-understood fall color. People always strive for the red or orange but yellow can be an important color too, especially golden yellows like this.  Also people don't realize red/orange doesn't look as nice without yellow to contrast. Think of almost any fall-color artsy photo you have ever seen and I bet you'd realize there was yellow "somewhere" with in. Get out there and enjoy the fall season!

"Hardy" Cyclamen

Cyclamen 10/1/19

Walking through the garden one morning there was a big surprise waiting... I stopped in my tracks when I saw a little flower un curling through the mulch. It was the Cyclamen I planted last year! It How exciting it was to see the blooms of these flowers that were completely out of my mind until seeing their little flowers poking through! These Cyclamen have the appearance of the ones you find in florist shops but much smaller in scale and these are of course outside hardy. They are not well known to be hardy to Iowa however but hearing about some gardeners having success I decided to give it a try.. They was originally 3 but only one has come up flowered so far. Cyclamen like a fairly specific location in the garden requiring dry shade. Summer dryness is especially important because the bulbs are dormant. Flowers curl out of the ground in September followed by the leaves a couple weeks later. The blooms last for about a month and the leaves persist through winter and to early summer the following year before fading around July. The leaves are really cool being just as beautiful as the flowers! Just make sure you plant them in the front of the garden where other perennials wont cover them up. This variety is Cyclamen cilicium which is the hardiness temperature wise but not necessarily the easiest to grow. I  like them so much 15 more were ordered to try in other areas in my garden, including a spring-blooming one! Brent and Beckys bulbs was the company chosen because they have very good quality material. Sometimes you just have to try something to really know if you will have success!

Monarch resting

 Also something very interesting to watch in the garden last week was the migrating Monarchs as they drifted through my backyard. There still migrating today but the most abundance of butterflies came in a two week period at the end of September. Some people believe butterflies avoid the city like the plague but this photo proves that otherwise because my garden is on the edge of town meaning they would have gone through the entire metro before reaching my yard. This is why it is every so important to plant natives, no matter where you are!

Adding to The Woodland Garden

Woodland Garden Before

The area behind my garage was an section of my yard that I wasn't sure what to do with at first when I first bought my house. It was a huge mess and went unmanned so as such with spaces like that around here Mulberry and honeysuckle invaded. I spent much time getting rid of the Honeysuckle and other weeds, then I hired a tree removal company to remove 6 Mulberries there were growing in the fence line. After that was all removed I was still left with a very shady area with sunlight that only comes in during the middle of the day. So I decided a woodland themed garden was the best idea for this space.

Woodland Garden After

Woodland plants

I knew from the beginning that my plant choices were going to be mostly natives because they are made for the shade! Their genetics are literally integrated for fully shaded spaces. So I chose plants such as wild ginger, May apples and Pennsylvania Sedge which is one of my personal favorites. Woodland Violets also do very well in dark places but this space already had a large amount of violets I was able to leave them and they really make a nice-low groundcover. I also added Hostas and to keep the natural look I just planted those right in with the violets. For the pathways I didn't have a huge budget so I put down flagstone for the part of the path that leads to my garage door which I use very often and I did a rock-lined mulch path for the rest which makes for a nice look.

Understory Trees

 You would think if I spent all the time and funds on removing trees that I would not surely by planting more but actually trees a huge part of a woodland garden for obvious reasons but also because they finish off the ecosystem and create a wooded look. I needed a few understory trees which are short shade-tolerant trees that grow under tall trees. I had a part-sun area in the back so I chose a multi stemmed Serviceberry and a single stemmed Redbud. I also have a Crabapple back there not pictured as well as a Southern Magnolia which is an out-of zone trial tree I'm trying. These trees will eventually grow up and fill out the middle layer of my "woodland" which became pretty void when I removed the invasive. Fallen tree limbs and logs just like in a real-woodland get left in place to naturally rot away, I also leave any leaf-litter that falls. This makes for a very-low maintenance space

Little Lucky in the Woodland Garden

What you can also find in the woodland garden is the 8' metal T-Rex Little Lucky which I've introduced in previous posts. I've done alot of work on this since it was placed it earlier this summer. I drilled some much-needed holes for drainage and treated all the rust spots before finishing off with 4 coats of gloss clear-coat to insure its ready for the winter. This should insure Little Lucky will continue to tower over the woodland garden for many years to come!

Late season flowers

Goldenrod 9/15/19

For most gardeners, were heading towards an end of the season leaving gardens looking tired and colorless. This time of year is extra important for pollinators looking to get ready for winter hibernation. Having flowers that bloom late will help them accomplish this and it will give you more excitement and color to enjoy for that extra month or two and the end of the season! As you already know I prefer native plants in my garden. This is the season of Goldenrod & Asters so I find plenty of both blooming throughout this week. Native plants are very rare in my neighborhood so this time of year bees flock to my yard, I found at least 8 bumblebees on this one Goldenrod flower above. The wildlife has been enjoying this late season heatwave we have been having. It's been near 90 off and on that past few days. Rainfall has been extremely plentiful all season.

New England Aster 9/15/19

Smooth Blue Aster 9/15/19

Asters are one of my all time favorite flowers for that needed late season color. I have several types of Aster, unfortunately rabbits like them as well, especially in the spring as new growth begins. Due to this reason I have to cage all my Asters until summer when growth becomes sour tasting to them. It doesn't look good early on but the color now really does make it worth the work. Left is strait New England Aster which easily gets 4' tall 4' wide. I have Purple Dome as well and like this type a bit more because it only gets 2-3' fall and wide. Right side is Smooth Blue Aster which is tolerant of part shade. This one gets 4' tall but it only gets 1' wide.

Goldenrod 9/15/19

Not exactly sure what type of Goldenrod this is but I really enjoy the fully lush flowers is has. It doesn't get very tall unlike some Goldrods, this one for the past couple of years has remained about 2' tall 2' wide and has not been aggressive. Some wild types can spread quite a bit in the garden but if you choose the right varieties you can find many that are really tame and actually quite showy.

Turtlehead 9/15/19

 I've been getting quite a few questions about this one and people wondering what it is. This is a native plant called Turtlehead variety is hot lips. This plant is late season bloomer in part shade

Bottle Gentian

Here is another one of the more interesting late season color flowers that I have. This is another native plant called Bottle Gentian. The plant remains low and for me crawls along the ground. The flowers are naturally shaped like bottles and always look like their closed. Bees have to work extra hard to get to the pollen of these plants having to force themselves inside the blooms which then close behind the bees. After they collect the pollen inside they open the flower and crawl out. I also have a natural cultivar called cream gentian which has whitish flowers.

Little Lucky Arrives

Dino in Shackles

It's been awhile since I've shared stories from my garden but this is too good not to be shared. This is the story of how my yard got some un expected art this week. An 8 by 12 foot T Rex! One that I've been eyeing since March. At that time it far to expensive to even consider, it was just a fantasy. Then a co-worker sent me a photo last week similar to above, the poor guy in shackles in a hot parking lot and I thought to myself well, better go look at it, looking is free! This was at the Hyvee Garden Center on Grand in West Des Moines which has some pretty amazing garden art every year. after getting "look" at it I turned to leave there saw a sign that read "75% off everything, yes this means everything!" WOW everything! While surprised at the amazing price drop I eventually rationalized not needing it then left and that was the end of the story. The end......... so I thought!

Well, there was still the issued of me wanting a giant dino in the yard and how close it was to happening! Eventually it was settled that if its still there in a few days maybe I can make it happen but probably not. After a call to my dad to help "talk me out of it" which ended up being more supportive then telling me not-to, the question was however, how it could be brought to my house. Something I hadn't thought at that point in time. So it was back to its likely not happening because the price of hauling would be just far too much. Then after some messages first to my boss who also said "you should totally get this thing" a facebook message to a guy I knew who hauls stuff lead me the company willing to haul this beautiful work of art! It was a great price plus it could be done right away the next day!

The Arrival

Little lucky ready to head to his new home!

 At this point there was no more questioning. No longer would there be waiting a few days, if its still there tomorrow MORNING I'm going to BUY it! I awoke early that next morning got ready and was at Hyvee Grand before 9am buying this gigantic metal garden T-Rex I would have never thought in a million years would have ended up in my yard due to the price range. Then something even more amazing happened, not 5 minutes after sold tag with my name went on, the selling agent arrived with a semi to pick it up and take it away back Nebraska to be stored where it would sell at full price next year! However he was 5 minutes too late!!!! Little Lucky was already adopted and I had the adoption paper (receipt) to prove it! Why that name, well because of all that came together to allow me to take this price of art home was out of shear luck. Little just because its ironically funny.

New home for Lucky, Look no more shackles!

Later that afternoon the gigantic metal dino was loaded up into a half dumpster by a company Ironically called Joe's Junk Removal ( totally not junk by the way! ) and Lucky bound for the beautiful rolling hills of the Southside of Des Moines. The journey however wasn't easy. It was filled with surprised drivers stopping to get a glimpse of a dumpster dino traveling down two of the metros busiest highways. Then after all that attention and fame, as we past Fluer Drive and started to get into the residential areas there was a hurtle to get over, or under in this case, because there was seriously 5-6 moments when I didn't think it was going to fit under phone lines and or several low hanging trees, some missed by mere inches it seemed! Well,  all is well that ends well the ride was over and we took it out of the dumpster and he found his new home in my nice cool shaded, backyard Woodland Garden. Most importantly the shackles of came off and he was free to roam. Little Lucky however, isn't so little towering over my garden bench and matching the roof-line of my house and garage. After placement I went to work fixing a few rust spots/holes with some rust-stop, rust stain remover then Epoxy to patch the holes, then I painted these areas up. Going foreword I just have to paint clear-coat on once a year to keep him looking his Sunday best to keep scaring visitors and my neighbors, speaking of neighbors the view from the backyard neighbors is pretty creepy-looking, lets just say it's a giant dino in the shadows.

More posts to come soon!

Flowers Of The Changing Season

Peony bloomed May 23rd 2019

Peonies have always marked the end of the spring season and the start of summer for me. The reason for it is fairly simple. In my home state of Wisconsin peonies were always in bloom right around Mid June naturally lining up with the summer solstice anyway, but also because by then usually the first bouts of hot humid weather starts to arrive at the same time. There are multiple different types of Peonies but for me its the old fashioned standard peony that is the first flower of the summer. This week has proven the flower choice was right with the season choice, we've had some pretty humid days but over all it hasn't been very hot yet except for just one day or two. Instead its been mild and raining nearly every day the last couple of weeks and we've had scattered days with storms that have been strong and brought winds. We have seen over 4"in the last couple of weeks which is way over May normal total value.

Iris Bearded bloomed May 26th 2019

 The Iris also bloomed this week. I have not added very many of these to my yard but I am starting to wonder why because they really are quite beautiful and the fragrance is amazing!  I think I need have to go ahead and add a few colors to garden maybe purple next time.

Rhododendron 'Rosum Elegans'

Azalea 'Gilbrator'

 Azaleas and Rhododendrons have bloomed nicely this year considering the winter extreme lows we had. I'm a bit late in showing these on here, however they are still in bloom as of current. The Korean Azaleas as expected only bloomed below he snow-line since the temperature killed off the flower buds. The good news however we had very high snow depths most of the winter so the snowline was 2-3' high leaving a good show on most of the plant. The big leaf Rhododendron and the Azalea 'Gilbrator' which are Minnesota totally handled the winter just fine because they are used to it!

 Korean Azalea 'var. yedoenese poukhaense'

Hosta 'June'

Hosta unknown variety

I grew many Hostas at my hometown house growing up but I never really got back into them much until last year. I really like the minis and the ones with nice thick foliage, which seem to be better for keeping slugs off. I also have a treasured Hosta called T Rex that fits into my dino-theme which is supposed to get huge but it was a young start and will be awhile before he really starts to roam over the garden. Has anyone noticed how the Hostas have been very colorful and lush this year? The reason is because we have not had  many hot sunny days before the trees leafed out. Last year we had a high near 100 one day before leaf out and the plants burnt up making them look like they do in August even before the start of June. This year the cool wet weather this spring has allowed them to be extra colorful and nice this year!

Woodland Garden

Redbud in bloom 4/27/19

When I moved into my house I inherited a big mess in the area behind the garage. It had an ugly rusted metal building along with many honey suckle and other non desirable trees like Mulberry to which I had at least 10 of growing in the fence, really anything that the birds graciously "planted" over the years. First thing I did was clear away all this and I decided pretty quickly the area was so shaded by other trees this space needed to be a woodland style native garden. So I visited several parks to see what plants grew in woodlands around here and started adding some based on what I saw in that pallet. Redbud was the first thing I added as a really nice somewhat shade tolerant tree that have such nice blooms .The fallen tree trunk in the back was here when I moved in so I decided to leave it since it is common to find rotting trees in the wild woods and I thought it really added to the scene back there.

Weeping Redbud 4/27/19

Just before my prairie garden starts in between my house and the neighbors which is half shaded by a Silver Maple tree I decided there needed to be a short tree and so I choose weeping Redbud they grow downward which means they won't get any taller then 5' for so. Weeping trees to be usually look sad or grow in such a strange way it is un appealing. However with Weeping Redbuds I found this not to be the case. There is something about the lovely leaves and flowers actually make this tree look elegant when in weeping form!

Woodland Garden 5/2/19

I added a step stone path last summer and this spring I changed the plastic edging to a natural stone one which I believe does this garden much more justice then the plastic did. I added a lot of Pennsylvania Sedge to this garden, like over 200 of them! This grass-like sedge makes a wonderful low groundcover which is very shade tolerant. I needed a plant like this to tolerant the dense shade that my low-branched Sugar Maple produces. Some day this will cover the entire garden but the other plants wont be crowed out and over time there will be no need to mulch this space anymore! Many of my woodland flowers will go dormant after blooming so adding a few Hostas in the garden even though they are not native will keep some interest throughout the summer months.

Woodland Garden Phlox/Trillium

Bluebells 5/1/19

Here we have a small collection of my woodland garden plants. Notice the fallen branch. When branches fall into the garden just like a real woodland they stay because they are consider to be a natural part of the landscape now. The same goes for trimming plants and leaves. Everything stays and this garden mostly is designed to take care of its self. Rabbits have unfortunately discovered the Woodland Phlox finally and they likely wont have blooms on them for much longer since they seem to really like those. They also like the Solomon's Seal for some reason. One thing they don't seem to like are the bluebells, after a nibble they have since left them alone for the time being.

Woodland Violets 5/1/19

The one flower I had not added was these Woodland Violets. These came with this house and come in colors of purple pure white and a really cool white/purple mix. Last year I caved a little and decided my native garden needed to have a Hosta bed. I dreaded having to pull all the violets to make way for the new Hosta bed until thinking to myself why did the violets really have to be pulled? My earlier thinking made me assume right away that the Hosta bed had to be completed devoid of any plants accept for the kind I was planting... Hosta. So instead the Hosts went in integrated both together with the violets and I must say they go together really well and bridge the gap between the 100% native woodland and the new "Hosta" garden.  I have since went a step further and even added my sedge into the Hosta bed to bridge the gap even more. Also must add these Violets are a pretty nice groundcover and they have leaves all summer even under a thick Maple tree so I guess they really need to be appreciated for how tough they really are!

Daffodil Tour Part 2

Daffodils backyard as of 4/21/19

 I can tell were getting into the thick of spring because there has been long hours being spent both at my job at the garden center but also around yard. I have been busy adding a new garden in the front and extending the woodland garden in the back yard. I think I planted over a hundred plants over the past two nights! This week in the garden Daffodils have continued to be beautiful and full of flowers. I have a couple of peak bloom times because the ones around the house come into blooms 1-2 weeks before the rest of the yard and because of this more types have come into flower. I also have a few very late ones which wont flower until closer to May. So here we have it, Daffodil tour #2

Daffodil 'Wave

Daffodil 'Rosy Cloud'

Daffodil 'Tahiti

 I have added a number of double blooming Daffodils into the new garden spaces. Doubles are cool however one must be careful in choosing certain types because sometimes the extra petals make the blooms floppy from being so heavy. Tahiti and Rosy Cloud don't look at all like the packaging showed. Rosy was supposed to have a double cup but is just a standard double, I still enjoy the blooms non the less. Wave was the exception that is exactly as pictured, but the question remains if it will remain that way next year as I have had daffodils un double themselves in year two in the garden, we will find out.

Daffodil mix

Daffodil 'Dinnerplate'

Daffodil 'Brooke Ager'

Not sure what type of Daffodil is in the mix to the far right but the flower on this little multi headed daffodil has flowers that are incredibly fragrant in a sweet way. Dinnerplate looks like Ice Follie but has huge blooms and Brooke Ager has blooms which are the closest to red I've ever seen so far. The blooms are on the small side but suits it well.

Daffodil 'Holland Sensation'

Daffodil 'Scarlet Gem'

 The final Daffodil to show is another multi headed Daffodil called Scarlet Gem. The blooms on these are small but like this in all flowers there are more flowers to enjoy. I have begun to notice Daffodils like these have some of the absolute best fragrance! Holland Sensation is a traditional Daffodil with white petals and yellow centers but the blooms are the largest I've come across so far.

Dwarf Rhododendron 'Rampo'

Magnolia 'Ann'

 I also wanted to show that there many other things starting to bloom in the garden as well including Rhododendrons and Magnolias among others. I have Rhododendron 'Rampo' and PJM 'elite'  both are the same kind but Rampo is a light purple dwarf type and elite is a standard sized one with rich dark blooms. I like them for their evergreen leaves but they have to be protected in winter or rabbits will eat them to buds. More importantly to me Magnolias are also showing off their blooms at this time and I think there is nothing better then a beautiful Magnolia tree with their fragrant large flowers. In fact Magnolias are my #1 favorite tree and would be my only tree if I had to pick just one. They really are special and a sight to see when in flower. I struggled for a long time to choose a variety as I only had room for one tree so I had to find one that was small enough and also had bright colors blooms I enjoy. After more then a year I settled on Ann as the final choice.