Spring....

....is here! This year the saucer magnolia takes my breath away! I can't think of a single year...so far...and I'm a bit worried about mentioning it right now...(knocking on wood)...where the bloom has been so....WOW....I mean, there are usually hard frosts which turn the blooms brown, shortening their life, etc., etc. Fortunately, this one continues to pump out intermittent blooms so all is not lost...but, this year....woohoo!


Stepping back....


It's simply covered in blooms...and the pruning has really helped it have that lovely vase shape... Another stunner which frequently suffers from the same frost prone end-of-show worries, but not this year, is the magnolia stellata...




The other day I had someone over to give an estimate on some work that needs to be done on ye olde house and as he came around from the back, he exclaimed, "That smell! It's so nice!" ...and turned around and stuck his face into...


...Pink Dawn viburnum...I often post about its early bloom as it starts showing off before most things....and I think I often mention its fragrance....but, just in case you forgot, I thought I'd share with you someone else's reaction... Just beginning are the camellias....here's one of the first...

It's not all pink or pink/white, though...




Reliable (and oh-so-common) Ice Follies are in bloom in a bunch of places in my yard...the group below has a couple of solid yellows joining in this year....


This is probably not February Gold (below)....still pretty, don't you think?


It seems most of my early daffodils are not-what-they're-supposed to be....one day I'll reorganize them...one day.... This is supposed to be Hollywood, but I'm not sure that it is...such a fun bloom, all upright and facing the sky...


Now for a few that are what they're supposed to be... Sideling Hill...


First picture of this one (excuse that horrible foliage...yikes...gotta get that out/off)... Minor Monarque...


Loch Hope...



Easter Bonnet...



Sweetness...very faithful....produced a ton of bulbs last fall....most of which just got planted recently (oops)....however, this picture is from the fall replanted group...and why they're blooming on time...

Cum Laude...blooming in two spots....the first where I apparently failed to dig them all up....ha...and the second where they were all moved to...



One of my favorites, Cum Laude, is worth two pictures!....There are some other things going on, like a little mix of iris reticulata....


Some of the very small bulbs...Glory of the Snow or Chionodoxa...one of two colors blooming right now...


....and, last but not least, just getting going (if you look very closely)...Brunnera variegata...

Hellebores and Happy Crocus

Still working on capturing the hellebores...


Here are the two seedlings I showed the other day...now we can take a little look inside...


The one above is a little more green in person.


My pride and joy double pink...from the 'old' Heronswood and my one visit out there...


I really have to get a better picture of it...especially when it covers itself with blooms. I keep adding doubles (small plants) and so far, I haven't had much result from the them. It can take hellebores a while...plus, my learning curve...I did learn more last year about how to grow some of these very small starts of hellebores we usually get sent...from a very helpful vendor on Dave's...


This one is not quite so red...just caught the light coming through it...



This white one had a hard winter, but it is pouring out the blooms...it's still struggling out of winter, so there's some damage...


I had been wondering where this iris was...yearly, I have a nice little group of them....at last, it shows itself...and we see the problem(s)...the creeping phlox and the sedum have taken overtaken it...


These crocus remind me of a chorus singing...


Here, a few 'singers' stand out...




There weren't planted by me (below), but it does make you wonder...


It's kinda fun finding them popping up here and there. Could be all kinds of 'help' at work.

Tiny nivalis...


****
The weather was wonderful yesterday. I took some advantage and got a few things done. Among them...don't laugh...some lingering daffodils still in the garage. We shall see what they do...better than a total loss, I hope.

(Laughing to myself) I think I take some of these same pictures every year. I never tire of them...each spring, I so look forward to everything...changes, some new additions, but often the comforting reassurance of the sameness. I like faithfulness.

2010: It Begins! ....Season of Blooms

Yippee!


Despite rain since Friday and ongoing today, here we have the first daffodil bloom of 2010!
This is Topolino, a diminutive daffodil of sweet charm and early bloom. I check my spreadsheet for last year's first bloom on this group of Topolino and discovered it was 030809....perhaps our nasty winter with heavy snow is at work here.

From Daffseek, it is 1 W-Y, very early and dwarf (less than 12.8 inches)...

Because I am that way (grin), I checked the spreadsheet to see who else was blooming this time last year (but not this year...) and I was surprised to find it was the faithful Ice Follies....who are a bit behind...and several not-what-they're-supposed-to-be-ones.

I have another little patch of Topolino that was blooming this time last year, but not this year.

Being a somewhat lazy gardener....I like it when my plants gift me. Here are a couple hellebore seedlings that are notable because they are blooming! It takes a while for hellebore seedlings to get to blooming size. You can see they're not huge...yet....and that they are nestled amongst the pink Roman hyacinths....which, by the way, increase a hundred times faster than the blue one does...and should be blooming very shortly (the pink ones are among the earliest hyacinths to bloom)...but, I digress....


One is a quite nice dark dusky bloom and the other is pale pink with an interesting green streak in the flower that almost looks star-like (to me). Fun! I will have to ponder this growing season where I might relocate the hellebore seedlings. They deserve their own area. I see that they're not...at least yet...(probably unlikely) facing upward as is the current and nice trend in hellebores. Breeders are striving for those flowers because we folks that buy them like seeing the flowers. However, the hanging nature of the flowers has served them well. It keeps the pollen dry on rainy days like today, making it more likely seed will develop...which is the whole point (from their perspective).

Hopefully, I'll have more hellebore flowers to post as they seem to daily be improving and shaking off the winter. I'm not in a hurry since hellebore flowers can persist....until June...at least in my garden.

I had intended to photograph the split in the daphne Alden's Regal Red, but my picture was not what I wanted. However, in this one, at least, you can see it is about to burst into bloom. You'll note it doesn't have the margins of aureomarginata....nor quite the fragrance, in my opinion. Maybe it will change my mind this year.


Update: Look what I found...a picture of the brokenness...from 022810....hence the icy snow...


This was the little patch of crocus where just one flower was open the other day (the one with the pollinator in it).....now, look...


Crocus are so cool like that. They're shut tight with the rain right now.

When I last looked at this little group, there was only one of the golden yellow ones open...now...


Just because you might be wondering, the iris reticulata are holding up pretty well in the rain...so far....I do think I might dig up these little clumps and move them. They were part of the driveway experiment that was so disastrous...


Finally, while Kobe and I were out dashing in the rain taking pictures (We had to! A daffodil was open!), I turned around to find this...


The cats clearly had no intention of getting out in the wet. Loyalty...dogs have it...they'll follow you anywhere....cats, not so much.

Fragrant Shrubs Starting to Bloom...

One of my favorite shrubs is about to burst into bloom...the backyard daphne...


It's especially nice this year as the one I have in the front yard has become a vole victim. The cats have dispatched the vole...but, I'm guessing it feasted on the front yard one for a few weeks while we had all that snow....shoot, and that one was planted with vole block. At any rate, I'll enjoy this one....nothing like the fragrance...Daphne Aureomarginata....

Daphne Alden's Regal Red will also be blooming soon...unfortunately, it suffered a split in the center of the shrub (heavy snow)...however, it won't be fatal, just will disfigure the shrub.

While we're thinking fragrant shrubs...


...my last witch hazel is blooming. It's the only one I have after last fall's shrub purge...it's nicely fragrant.

The ever faithful Viburnum Pink Dawn is just getting going as well....



Yesterday the first two blooms of an iris reticulata opened...today, a few more...


Even more blooms today on crocus Lilac Beauty...


When I took this one, I was doing so to mark another little patch of crocus starting up....neat, though, to see the little pollinator...


In another area, this crocus seems to have migrated a bit, but I like its placement...

Nearly hidden away by the front steps and under the mushrooms, this hardy cyclamen is blooming...


and, of course, a couple more snowdrops...

Viridapice


and a double, Nivalis Flore Pleno...just starting to unfurl...


Still no daffodils....rain expected for the next couple of days....maybe next time I'll have some daffs...at last...to show.

Pre-Spring Blooms....

It was almost dark...and I was tired from an afternoon of weeding and fertilizing...a good kind of tired....I turned around and across the driveway I saw this...


....the first of the Iris Reticulata....they weren't open earlier, so I considered them my little reward...

From a couple of days ago, the first of the crocus, as usual, are the Cream Beauties...


.....I had this wild idea a couple years ago that I would have them on each corner of what I call the tree bed (because it...duh.. had a tree in it that I had taken out)....when will I learn?? (Never)....oh well...at least a couple of the corners are in bloom...I'm not sure all four will ever bloom at the same time, but I continue to hope...


...other crocus are beginning to pop out....


I looked at these (below) with new eyes because they are around a tree that I am having taken out ...I think I will try to save/move them...


More snowdrops come into bloom each day....it occurs to me as I try to photograph them each year that I remember...only when I am trying to catch them just so...how difficult they are....the wind always seem to be blowing as I perch practically on the ground on top of them trying to catch them in focus in between swings....

At any rate, I did manage to snag a few....I'll keep practicing...

Scharlockii


Don's Big Seedling....



S. Arnott...



Limetree...


a little larger...


and Straffan...

I do start to think I am...finally...beginning to have adorable little patches of snowdrops...not that I can ever have enough and I still look forward to the arrival of this year's Temple Nursery choices...

Perhaps I'll actually be able to show some of these little patches....just the earlies are fully in bloom right now.

*****
While out today I found that my local Lowe's had just received some of their early veggies...you know I love growing lettuce ....so, I picked out two varieties (the first ones to be selected...they must have only just arrived). I have seeds and maybe I'll even plant some...lol...to have other varieties. Once you start growing your own lettuce, you will so look forward to it.

Don't forget that St. Patrick's Day is the traditional time to sow your peas...another delicious treat that shouldn't be missed.