Silver Heart Bouncing Back After July Floods

I love my little Brunnera macrophylla 'Silver Heart' but it doesn't love the record rainy July we just had. It took a beating, but it's starting to show signs of bouncing back! I noticed little tiny furry leaflets forming at the base, and then eventually turned into little tiny healthy leaves. It's alive and on its way!

'Silver Heart' still looks like crap since the flooding we had all July

It's bouncing back!

Little leaves! Welcome back to the world of the living little one

Flooded Backyard and Unhappy Plants

It's been a wet and rainy month here in central Indiana - news reports say it's actually the 4th wettest month in Indiana history (since 1895) and record-setting rainfall for June (9.03 inches). No kidding! It's been great for the lawn, but I noticed some other plants not enjoying the constant moisture as much. In particular, I noticed the Royal Candles and Silver Heart struggling, and found some yellow leaves on my Linden tree in the front yard due to the constant rainfall.

Noblesville, IN - June 26, 2015

Noblesville, IN - June 26, 2015, it looks like my dry riverbed turned into an actual riverbed!

Veronica spicata ‘Royal Candles’ looking a little flooded, this one didn't respond well to poor drainage and the wettest June on record in Indiana

Brunnera macrophylla 'Silver Heart' not too happy about the super wet conditions. I do see new leaves growing, hopefully it can dry out a bit and pull through. It looks like there is also some slug damage (or some other critter) maybe worsened by the moisture?

Brunnera macrophylla 'Silver Heart' Flowering

After waking up around April 5, my Brunnera macrophylla 'Silver Heart' is growing fast (getting a bit leggy even) and has tiny blue flowers on top. I thought this was going to look more like a hosta when I bought it, but it's growing vertical into a little mound.

Brunnera macrophylla 'Silver Heart'

Brunnera macrophylla 'Silver Heart'

The flowers are very tiny, and a pretty blue - which is different from everything else in my garden, and the first flower to bloom in my shade garden.

Signs of Life: More Early Spring Awakenings

The morning of the lunar eclipse on April 4 should be the last 30°F below freezing night for the next week (and hopefully for the rest of the season). I gave my side yard a closer look and noticed signs of life - I think I'm most excited for my shade plants to come in because I got them all as divisions or on sale in the fall and I can't wait to see what they grow into!

First up, Brunnera macrophylla 'Silver Heart' with its little fuzzy ears poking through the mulch. Its new growth doesn't look like a hosta eye, it doesn't look as hard and already has little fuzzy hairs on it.

Brunnera macrophylla 'Silver Heart' first signs of life April 4, 2015

Next, the Heuchera 'Sugar Plum' Coral Bells, which stayed maroon the longest into winter, but then promptly dried up and looked pretty dead. I was pulling some leaves off and noticed a set of smaller more supple-looking baby leaves - it looks like it's very much alive! These leaves don't come out in shoots like the Silver Heart does, it looks like they are already unfolded but just tiny at first.

 Heuchera 'Sugar Plum' Coral Bells emerging April 4, 2015 in Indiana

Let's see what we have next, I took a look around by the air conditioner and I couldn't believe what I saw staring back at me - little purple hosta "eyes" in the mulch. New hosta shoots are sometimes called eyes, and apparently in hosta lingo people discuss their hosta size based on the number of eyes. These are the plants I got from division, and I'm 95% sure it's Hosta 'Patriot' based on the color and the popularity/availability in town.

Hosta 'Patriot' eyes in April. Looks like this one has 3 eyes emerging so far.