Rushing Into Mid-Spring

Brunnera Jack Frost

 

My Brunnera plants are in full bloom.  We were in the 30's at night this past week and then suddenly we warmed up to the 70's during the day.  What a change!  The weather forecast predicts high 50's at night and mid to upper 70's all next week. Although the early cherry trees are finished blooming in the neighborhood, all the late cherry trees are in full bloom.

Close up of Brunnera flowers

I love the blue color of the Brunnera flowers, a blue not frequently found in flowers.

Tulip

This is a tulip from a pot of tulips I bought at the grocery store last year.  I have not planted tulips because of the many deer that roam through the yard. But my husband insisted on planting the bulbs I was going throw out, in an out of the way place, where the deer don't seem to roam anymore at the base of some holly bushes.  And low and behold, they are blooming and have not been eaten! 

Daffodils

These are late blooming daffodils that are in four of the yard's gardens.

Catmint

The early blooming daffodils have died off and catmint is emerging behind them.

Ferns coming up around the hellebores under the trees

 

Close up of late blooming daffodil

        

Everything is Blooming

Backyard

This is a partial view of my backyard with two flowering pear trees that were in the yard when we moved in. It seems the whole neighborhood burst into bloom in the last three weeks, with pear trees, cherry trees, forsythia bushes and daffodils everywhere. I heard the first birdsong on Easter day.

The pachysandra on the side yard has just about finished blooming.

This is the first violet I've seen in the yard among the pachysandra.

We have two saucer magnolia trees in the yard. This is a blossom from one of them.  We had a couple of nights of freezing temps, and it killed most of the blossoms.

This is one of the several Brunnera plants in the yard that have just burst into bloom.

There are several rhododendron plants in the yard that are just appearing through the soil.

These plants are perennial bachelor buttons that just appeared above the soil in the side yard. It will be three or four weeks till we see the blooms.

Spring Is Here

 Daffodils

This photo, from my front yard, was taken on February 29th.  The daffodils started peeking through the soil since the first of February and grew slowly throughout the month.

These are the same daffodils a week later in full bloom.

Brunnera Jack Frost

The tiniest leaves of my Brunnera started showing almost two weeks ago. Now the leaves have gotten two weeks growth and the blue flowers just appeared a few days ago.

Clematis Samaritan Jo

My clematis vine just started showing some green leaves about five days ago.It is in a somewhat shady area and grows on a trellis behind it that hides our trash cans. 

End of February

 

Hellebores

The hellebores plants under the trees in the back yard have really filled out and are in full bloom now.  They look a lot better than my photo from my last post at the beginning of February.

Hellebores Cinnamon Snow

Here is a close up of one of plants.

Deer and Fox

Deer and foxes regularly roam through our back yard.  I just happened to be outside on the deck with my camera when this photo opportunity occurred.

Tulips

I always have flowers indoors in the kitchen year round. These tulips, purchased at the grocery, help to brighten the gray winter days.  Of course I have no tulips in the yard, as the deer would immediately eat them.  But many daffodils in the yard are about to bloom with the unusually warm days we have had lately.  I can't wait for spring.  I side with the weather forecasters and count March 1st as meteorological spring.

February Blooms

 Helleborus Cinnamon Snow

There is a stand of old trees in my backyard.  That area does not get sun except in winter and early spring before the trees leaf out.  In that area under the trees are 17 helleborus plants, among many ferns that have not appeared yet.  The helleborus plants always bloom by the first week of February, and sometimes in January.

Helleborus Cinnamon snow

This is a close up of one of the plants.  They do brighten the area, and the deer, of which we have many, won't eat them.  They will bloom for a couple of months.

Daffodils

These daffodils are part of a row in my backyard.  There is also a row in the front yard lining the front walk. All these photos were taken on 2/5/24.

Flowers in Winter

Yuletide Camellias

 

My Yuletide Camellias started blooming in November and were still blooming at the end of December. This photo was taken in my backyard on Christmas Eve 2023. Even after some bitter weather and snow in here in Northern Virginia, they finished blooming near the end of January. They are surrounded by other bushes next to the house and get sun all afternoon. So they are in a micro climate that I suspect helps their long bloom.  

Pansies

I have three pots of pansies on my deck railing that I planted in the fall.  This pot still has flowers, in February, although this photo was taken on December 14, 2023.

I am starting to watch my yard plantings now that we are in February, as they will slowly be coming to life

Desert Gardening Again

12/26/18


     I can't believe it has been a year and a half since I have written in this garden blog.  Life happens.  There was a confusing and convoluted estate that had to be taken care of when my Dad passed away, then a move across the country to the Arizona desert again.  Hopefully I will have more frequent posts going forward.

Winter backyard garden

     This is a photo of my backyard garden I planted a few weeks ago for the winter here in Arizona.:  mostly petunias and pansies, with some leftover fall zinnias and marigolds that will eventually be replaced.

Winter backyard garden November 2017

     This was the just planted winter garden last November 2017.  We had just moved in three weeks before.

     I will show what else is growing in my backyard in upcoming posts.  I will end with a photo of a Green Feathery Senna bush that bloomed this past spring in the back yard, then died in the summer for some unknown reason.  It was my most favorite shrub in the entire yard.

Green feathery senna

     Beautiful, don't you think?