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

Fall Happenings

9/27/15

back yard garden

     The leaves on the trees are just starting to turn here.  We have twelve hours of daylight now, and night temps are in the low 50's.  The back yard garden is so lush and full now with the fall plants flowering.  I know in six weeks it will all be gone.  Here are photos of  what is blooming in the back yard garden.

Japanese anemones

hardy begonias

raspberry lemonade zinnias

vinca

I bought some pansies to put in bare spots now that we have cooler weather.

I replaced some tired plants in my deck railing pot with ornamental peppers.

I also added pansies in another deck railing pot.

In the side yard garden, the goldenrod fireworks bush is in full bloom.

The bees were all over the goldenrod bush.

Out in the back yard the black walnut tree has been dropping its walnuts encased in green balls for about a month now.

The squirrels have been busy cracking the walnuts open revealing their black interior.

Most of the follicles on the milkweed plants have split open.

The wind has been carrying the seeds with their white, silky filament hairs all over the yard, making the yard look like it has cotton balls spread all over it.

The only thing I have seen on the plants are milkweed beetles.  There was not a single monarch caterpillar on these plants, their most preferred food.

     We will be moving in about a month to a smaller house and yard on the other end of town.  We have been looking for something smaller several months, and it is such a coincidence that our old house which we built and lived in for years came on the market.  We quickly bought it.  The yard and gardens have not been kept in good shape, so I have my work cut out for me.  It is always exciting putting in new gardens!

Garden Memories

7/23/12

part of my desert garden

     For the past few days a depressive mood has settled upon me in part because of the cloudy, rainy, cool weather.  On Saturday, our high temperature was 68 F, the lowest high temperature for that date ever!  But I also miss my huge flower gardens I had in the past.  When I moved to the desert, I missed my former Virginia garden.  Now that I have moved back to Virginia, I am missing my desert garden.







zinnia


     I think when gardeners invest energy and time to create and design gardens using color, height, fragrance and shape, we want to hang onto them for the delight they bring us.

vinca

     Since we are renting, I can't dig up swaths of grass and put in gardens.  Even if I could, I wouldn"t want to put in the effort and money for gardens, only to leave them behind in a few months. 











celosia


     I decided to look at the photos of my former desert garden, and it immediately brightened my mood.  All these  photos are of the beautiful flowers I grew in the desert.

pansies and petunias

 white petunias

garden angel among the petunias

Mr. Lincon roses

blue cup

gazania

     This garden will be tucked away in memory for the joy it brought me.  I"ll remember gardens past and dream of future gardens.  Do you remember and cherish gardens in your past?

It's Spring Here

3/3/12

Flower Garden

     It is definitely spring in the desert.  It is supposed to be in the mid to low 80's the rest of the week, and the flower garden is filling in nicely.  The petunias and pansies are mounding nicely.

gazania

      The gazanias are bursting into bloom.

Tropicana rose

     The roses have many buds and a few open blossoms.

bush morning glory

     The bush morning glories have just begun to blossom.  Most just have a few flowers, but this one is fairly full.

bougainvillea two weeks ago

bougainvillea today

     As I walked around the yard, I noticed how full the bougainvillea has become since two weeks ago.

hopseed bush flowers

jojoba bush blossoms

                          Two weeks ago the hopseed bushes flowered as well as the jojoba bushes.

     Soon the lantana, yellow bells, red yucca, and the palo verde tree will blossom.  I wonder how fast the summer heat will arrive.  Last year we had our first 100 F day April 1.