Is It May?

5/13/13

rhododendron

     The temperature finally broke into the 70's for a few days last week, but on Mother's Day it turned cold and windy.  Last night was in the 40's, and the heat came on.  There is a frost/freeze warning for our general area tonight with temps in the 30's. We could set a record low temperature tonight.  We are having mid-March weather in mid-May.  When it it going to stay warm here?

     Despite the cold, there is blooming going on.  The rhododendron in the back corner of the house put out some blossoms this week.  I also noticed bearded iris blooming in the neighborhood.

begonias

     I went to a garden center last week and bought some red and white begonias and put them into one of my railing planters.

New Guinea impatiens

     I also bought some New Guinea impatiens to plant in my large deck planters.  Most garden centers are not carrying the common garden impatiens, which I much prefer, because of impatiens downy mildew that has reached our area. 

hostas

     At a garden club plant sale I picked upsome hostas that will be going in the backyard garden.

daisies, iris, black-eyed Susans

     At that same sale bought some daisies, iris, and black-eyed Susans which will be going into the new garden in the side yard that I am in the process of designing.

chrysanthemum

     I saved a chrysanthemum my neighbor gave me when we were in the rental house last year.  I kept watering it, and left it outside on a deck table until frost.  I cut it back and put it in the garage all winter.  In mid-April brought it out of the garage and started watering it. It did get rained on now and then, thank goodness, because half the time I forgot about it.  It is still sitting outside the garage, and when I looked at it yesterday, it had tiny green leaves!  I'm so glad it's still alive.

Mother's Day flowers

Mother's Day flowers

     The last two photos are of the flowers I was thrilled to receive from both of my sons on Mother's Day.

Spring Show

5/6/13

tulip garden

     The last two weeks have been downright cold here by late spring standards.  We have been 10 to 15 degrees below normal.  Our heat is still coming on in the early morning hours because the temperature has been in the low 40's at night.

     Some of the trees are struggling to put out leaves.  This is extremely late for trees here which are normally full of leaves by early to mid-April.

     Despite the cold, there are some things blooming.  My tulip garden has been in full bloom for a week now.

     The late spring blooming daffodils in my front garden all bloomed this week.

St. Patrick's Day daffodil

     This St. Patrick's Day daffodil is so named because the perianth segments are tinged green when first opening.

     Last week I bought some pots that fit the deck railing at this house and filled them with diascia and calibrachoa.

diascia

calibrachoa

     Two weeks ago I made a discovery on the side of the house.  Three asiatic lilies suddenly appeared in front of the boxwood bushes.  I wonder what color they will be.

asiatic lilies

    

violet

     I found one lonely violet in the back yard.  I routinely gather violets in the spring wherever I find them as I walk the dog.  I put them in a tiny vase on my kitchen table.  To me they are a lovely and true sign of spring.

Little By Little

4/21/13

kwanzan cherry

     Well, our ten days of warm weather are gone with that storm front that moved through two nights ago.  Now we are back down in the 30's at night and only in the 50's during the day.  There is a frost warning tonight.  This cool weather is going to continue for a week.  But during these recent warm days, I've watched my yard come into bloom.

     Just as all the Yoshino cherry trees lost their blossoms, the one kwanzan cherry tree in the yard burst into bloom.

white dogwood

 

pink dogwood

     There are two dogwood trees in the yard, one white and one pink, and they finally bloomed after the cherry trees.

Japanese maple

     The Japanese maple suddenly had leaves when I looked at it this past week.

tulips four days ago

tulips today

     The tulips I planted last fall are finally blooming.  I planted early, mid, and late blooming tulips, and they are all blooming at the same time.  Late in my opinion.  It is almost May.

daffodils

        The daffodils have all blossomed now.  Here are some in the back garden.

     I threw several daffodil bulbs in these three beds in the side yard late last fall, just after we closed on the house.  This area is going to have a makeover.  The wood is coming out, and the area will be one large, irregularly-shaped garden with perennial and annual flowers, and some bushes and grasses.

azalea bushes

     The azalea bushes in front of the house are ready to bloom.  So little by little, everything is coming into bloom, but it sure has been slow this spring.

Finally, Spring

4/10/13

Yoshino cherry blossoms

     It sure took its time, but spring finally arrived with a vengeance here.  We went from the 50's to the 80's in five days.  And every plant and tree that has been holding back has finally burst into bloom.  The famed cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in Wasjington, DC finally bloomed three days ago.  So many tourists have come to see them in the last two weeks and have missed their blooming.

     There are some Bradford pear trees in the neighborhood that just put out their flowers today.  I know they are a problematic tree, but I love their blossoms and their chalky fragrance.  Here are some photos from my yard of what has just bloomed.

      These are some of the Yoshino cherry trees in my front yard.  They just bloomed today.

daffodils

hyacinth

crocus

     These tulips in the back yard are up but not a one is blooming.  I still have some hyacinths that are holding out also.

My Brother's Florida Garden

4/7/13

Star begonia

     During our recent Florida trip we spent a couple of days at my brother's home in Lakeland, Florida.  He and his wife have taken out all the grass in their back yard and have put in plants, bushes and trees, making this a wildlife-friendly area.

     These photos were all taken in their yard.  Most of these plants were new to me.

Bridal bouquet

     This Bridal bouquet bush has unique leaves that look like a spoon with a long handle to me.  It wasn't flowering while I was there, but it produces lovely white flowers that would make a beautiful bridal bouquet.

Nun's orchid

     I have never lived in a tropical area, so it was surprising to me to see orchids just blooming away in the yard.

Snowbush

     This Snowbush brightened a corner of the yard with its snowy-colored leaves.

Winged elm

     One of the trees they planted in the front yard was this Winged elm.  This tree was new to me.  If you look closely you can see corky wings along its branches.  This elm grows in the southeast US, and it is susceptible to Dutch elm disease.

Prayer plant

     Many gardeners grow this as a houseplant, but in Florida and the tropics it can grow in the ground outside.  It is also known as arrowroot.  There are many species of this plant.

Japanese blueberry

      This Japanese blueberry is in the front yard.  It is evergreen and grows in zones 8-11.  It produces a fragrant, creamy flowers and a blue-black, olive-like fruit. Older leaves can turn bright red in the fall before dropping.




bromiliad

      This bromiliad has purple flowers, name long forgotten.  Many of these plants were given to my brother and his wife from neighbors up and down the street.  Another surprise I saw was a beautiful, red stand of amaryllis blooming in their next door neighbors yard.  I have only grown them in a pot in winter.  Oh the things you can grow in Florida!

James J. Smith Bonsai Gallery

3/29/13

     We just returned from a week in Florida to this snowy scene in our backyard last weekend.  We didn't expect this.  Isn't winter over?

     While in Florida we toured the James J. Smith Bonsai Gallery located in the Heathcote Botanical Gardens in the town of Ft. Pierce.  The James J. Smith Bonsai Gallery is the largest public tropical bonsai collection in the United States.  It features 100 bonsai trees on permanent display and special rotating exhibits by guest bonsai artists.

     James Smith started studying bonsai in 1950 by reading books.  When he moved to Vero Beach, Florida in 1956, he discovered tropical bonsai.  He studied under some of the most accomplished bonsai teachers in America.  He has written many articles for bonsai publications and pictures of his bonsai can be seen in books published around the world.  He started a nursery in 1979 and has been providing quality bonsai to customers ever since.  The following photos are from this special gallery.

bougainvillea

weeping fig

dwarf jade

surinam cherry

Brazilian raintree

dwarf schefflera

ficus retusa

neea

     As you can see, he is one of the leading artists in his field.  I was charmed by so many of his works during my quiet, contemplative visit to this gallery.  Next post will be about other places I visited in Florida, since not much is happening in my gardens yet.

Hurry Spring

3/5/13

tulips from the grocery

    

     We have had some really cold weather the last two weeks and lots of grey, cloudy days.  And now we are facing a snowstorm.  I bought these potted tulips at the grocery to help me think spring.  Despite all this winter weather, signs of spring are ocurring.

     In the last two weeks I have heard birdsong almost daily.  The sun feels a litlle stronger, the days are getting longer.  It's hard to believe that daylight savings time starts this weekend.  The trees are budding.  And some things are emerging in the yard.  The tulip bulbs I planted in the back yard are pushing through the soil.  But the daffodils in the side front garden are still hiding.  The rose bushes have tiny buds forming.

tulips in back yard

buds on rose bush

 

twelve feet deep

     We finally have had our plumbing problems found and fixed.  It has been an awful last two weeks at the house, with intermittent stays at a hotel because we had no water.  There were two problem pipes.  Fixing the first involved jackhammering the cement slab under the family room floor to get to and repair that pipe.  Dust everywhere, and we couldn't use the room for several days.  The repair of the second problem involved a six-foot-deep hole on one side of the front yard, and a twelve-foot-deep hole on the other side of the front yard. 



looking into the twelve foot deep trench

      There were two backhoes here, huge piles of dirt, and it took five days to complete it all.  What a circus it was.  The new ceiling and floor in the basement that was flooded were finally finished today.  I feel that we can finally start living normally in the house as repairs are finall getting done.  Except for the dryer.  It is still not working properly.

     We are all fairly exhausted from all this, and we have decided we are going to Florida next week to recoup, visit relatives, get some sun and see some spring training games.