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?

An Early Spring

3/5/17
     Although we have had some cold spells in January and February, for the most part those months have had above normal temperatures.  In fact, weather reports say we have had the warmest February on record in our area.  And although we have had an inch or two of snow a couple of times, we have escaped any big snow storms like we had in 2014 and 2015.  The antumnalis cherry tree in our front yard, pictured above, has bloomed in November as it usually does, but also had some blooms around January 5, and is now in full spring bloom as this photo of February 24 shows.  This is a month earlier than it usually blooms.

     I started noticing the trees budding the first week of February.  I thought I was seeing things that weren't really there.  But each day, as I walked the dog, I looked again, and the trees were definitely budding.  Also in February while walking the dog, I noticed many other plants blooming:  daffodils, blue periwinkle, violets, forsythia.  The following photos show what's happening in my yard this early spring.

I saw the first hellebore blooms around February 2 at the side of the house by the wooded floodplain.

The full spread of hellebore plants in that area were in full bloom three weeks later on February 24.

The jonquils in the side garden were emerging on February 2.

Three weeks later on February 24 they were blooming.

I was surprised to see that the clematis vine showed showed some budding on February 2 also.

This is a photo of the clematis buds three weeks later on February 24.


The hyacinths in the front of the house garden were emerging February 2.

Here's what they looked like three weeks later on February 24.

   
In the back yard garden, the daffodils were just starting to show buds on February 24.

One week later I noticed the first daffodil blooms on March 3.

Other bits of green I saw emerging in the back yard garden were several brunnera plants on February 24.

     All the plants seem to be emerging and blooming at least a month earlier than normal. which I don't mind.  I live for spring and summer each year, but this does portend significant changes that affect the whole ecosystem.

Late Fall Blooms

12/24/16

zinnia
     Here it is Christmas Eve!  I am finally finished preparing our household for Christmas.  All the gifts are wrapped, and the cranberry sauce is made.  I have some time before the rest of the family arrives for Christmas Eve services and dinner. 
      I have been wanting to  post what was blooming in late fall in my gardens.  This zinnia was one of many I planted from seed around the side garden.  This photo was taken October 2.



rose
     This is the last rose of summer.  It is a Graham Thomas rose bush in the side garden.  This was taken in mid October.

hardy cyclamen

     There are three patches of this hardy cyclamen in the back yard garden.  They will bloom through November.  I chose this plant because I wanted something in bloom almost every month of the year, and this plant was one of the few that would be blooming in November.  This photo was taken on October 23.

black cohosh

     This is the one black cohosh out of four that I planted that bloomed.  It only got to about three feet tall.  The plants were on the hill in the back yard and probably did not get enough water or sun.  I did not find that it had a bad odor that were in some descriptions I read.

oak leaf hydrangea

     This oak leaf hydrangea has been in the garden for years, but we pulled it out last fall and put in a leather leaf viburnum which is out of this photo but just behind these plants.  I noticed these little green things emerging this summer, and when they got big enough we could finally identify them!  I will let them go and see how long it takes for them to reach a decent size. 

front of house garden

     I have been meaning to post about the front of the house garden.  Here is what it looked like on March 9 of this year.  Those are Japanese yew plum bushes that fit well in the narrow space between the walk and the porch.

front of house garden
      This is what the garden looked like in full bloom on September 9.  I planted zinnias from seed and put in red vinca from the garden center as well as a mum in the far right corner.






     Merry Christmas to all and peace, health and happiness in the New Year.