The Calendar Says It's Spring

4/5/15

primrose

     Although the calendar says it is spring, botanically I am still waiting for it to happen in my yard.  After such a cold March, we finally have had a few warm days, and a lot of plants should pop into bloom in a few days.  But the only thing blooming in the yard is a yellow primrose plant and a few hellebores.

dogwood tree

     There is nary a flower on the azalea bushes, the dogwood buds are in wait mode as are all the cherry trees.  Here are some photos of a few things that have emerged in my backyard garden.

tulips

daffodils

brunnera plants

But overall the backyard garden looks pretty bare.

hyacinths

     Everything is two to three weeks behind this spring.  I did see some forsythia in bloom just yesterday in the neighborhood.  So while I am waiting, I bought some hyacinths at the grocery to tide me over till blooming starts.

Just Getting Started

4/12/14

tulips

     I was so tired of the cold and snow after that last unexpected snowstorm two weeks ago that I bought a pot of tulips at the grocery store.  Finally all this week we  have had warm weather in the 60's and 70's.  What a treat!  Blooming is slowly getting started here.  Everything seems to be two weeks or more late.  The Bradford pear trees and magnolias in the neighborhood  finally bloomed about five days ago.

      Here are some photos of what has emerged in my garden so far.

My first daffodil bloomed a week ago.

The first hyacinth bloomed a week ago also.

This primrose is in full bloom.

The Brunnera macrophylla are coming along nicely.  I have four of them in the garden.

The sweet woodruff has emerged.  I have three clumps of these in shady areas of the back garden.

Also appearing is the first fern.

The tulip garden is taking its time and still not in bloom.

This branch on one of my Yoshino cherry trees is just about ready to burst onto bloom.

     In the next day or two,  the cherry trees will bloom, most of my daffodils will open, and hopefully a tulip or two will show up.  I am hoping that the possible frost/freeze for the middle of this week doesn't materialize.

Ready or Not, Spring is Coming

3/29/14

tulip garden in the snow

     We did get the forecasted three inches of snow on Tuesday.  And the bitter cold.  On Wednesday morning, my husband asked what was wrong after hearing me shout, "Are you kidding me?"  Our thermometer read 19 degrees!  I almost felt like crying.

     But spring isn't waiting any longer.  I finally noticed that some tree buds are swelling.  My tulips, hyacinths, and other perennials keep growing through the snow and bitter cold.  After three days the snow was gone.  Here are a few photos from my gardens.

tulip garden after the snow melted

primrose trying to bloom in the snow

primrose after the snow melted

a brunnera macrophylla leaf just starting to poke its way through the soil

my first helleborus bloom

hyacinth

     The temperature forecast is for the mid 60's the rest of the week, so that should prompt a lot of quick growth.