Blooms Are Marching In

Grecian Windflowers (Anemone blanda)

 

I can hardly believe it's already the 15th--the fateful Ides of March! That means it's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Blog. Here in my zone 6b Virginia garden spring is coming in early, with the past week of unseasonable temperatures in the upper 60's, hitting almost 80 in the past few days!

The warmth has triggered blooms that wouldn't be open until April, like the Grecian windflowers above. The violets usually don't bloom fully this early either, but it's wonderful to see them anyway. I planted 'Queen Charlotte' several years ago, but the local deer find this plant extra-tasty, so it must be protected with a wire cage. The Sweet white violets were volunteers that somehow came into my garden and have spread nicely--the deer leave those alone--go figure.

 

Violet 'Queen Charlotte' (Viola odorata)

Sweet white violets (Viola blanda)

In the front yard the February Gold daffodils have been blooming for a couple of weeks now. The last of the purple Tommies (Crocus Thomasinianus) are still blooming too, while the other Narcissi develop foliage. The hyacinths are making an entrance with their pervasive perfume.

'February Gold' daffodils

Front yard two days ago.

'Delft Blue' hyacinth.

Blue and white Hyacinths in the front yard.

These Grape Hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) were actually planted here by the squirrels--dug up from my other beds. They have some charm next to the Creeping Speedwell (Veronica filiformis) weed that grows so profusely in everyone's garden.

 

Muscari armeniacum and slender speedwell by the front walk.

 

My Hellebore 'True Love' is full of blooms, but 'Flower Girl', which had buds develop earlier, is still not opening--it's a mystery to me, as these seem to have identical growing conditions. The only difference is the plant below is about two years older than the other Hellebore.

Hellebore 'True Love'

The Forsythia in the back yard is starting to open, and clumps of February Gold daffodils are up too. The Winter Aconite that I planted last fall finally came up, a little late in the game. I don't know if this was due to how dry last fall was, or if the species I bought, which is Eranthis cilicica rather than the more common E. hyemalis, was a factor.  With the recent warm temperatures these are already starting to fade--I hope for a better show next spring.

Forsythia bush starting to show color.

Winter aconite (Eranthis cilicica)

My Seven Son Flower tree (Heptacodium miconoides) is among the earliest of my trees to leaf out. I love its peeling bark, which gives the tree three-season interest: small fragrant flowers in summer, pink bracts in the fall and peeling bark in the winter. The Viburnum prunifolium has buds that will soon to open.

 

Seven Son Flower Tree leafing out.

Black haw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) buds.

The Glory-of-the-snow are up around the base of my red maple. Last year the deer ate them all before I even took photos, but this year I sprayed them with repellent as soon as they started coming up.

Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa luciliae)

Glory-of-the-snow.

 

I'd forgotten to check on my Magnolia 'Butterflies' in the front yard--the buds are shedding their winter coats and starting to open! I hope we won't have a frost now just as they are starting to open--it's about time for my garden to have one good year when the blossoms aren't burned to a crisp by frost!

 

Magnolia 'Butteflies'

Yellow Magnolia 'Butterflies'

 

More blooms to come in the coming months--I live for this time of the year!

March Rains

My back yard on the Vernal Equinox.

 

It's been one of the driest Marches I can recall, we were long overdue for some rains to bring forth new spring growth. I've been working like a maniac at edging the flower beds, expanding them, fertilizing and mulching in preparation for the much-awaited rain.

 

White wild violets.

This morning some rain finally came our way, and tonight promises to deliver even more. The white wild violets that  mysteriously appeared in my yard a couple of years back continue to spread--they are such a welcome sight! 

'Thalia' narcissi in the front yard.

 

 

I couldn't wait to see the effect of this rain in my garden, so I went out briefly when the rain slowed to a drizzle for a look-see. More flowers are opening! The 'February Gold' daffodils are about finished now, time to deadhead the flowers. The Thalia Narcissi are starting to open fully now, changing the predominant color from yellow to white in the front yard. 

 

Creeping Phlox and Thalias under the cherry tree.

The Kwanzan cherry tree probably won't bloom until about mid-April, but the creeping phlox under it is starting to bloom. Hopefully, the phlox will last long enough to still have some color when the cherry blossoms.

 

Hellebore 'True Love'

The Hellebore 'True Love' has many flowers this spring, but its companion, 'Flower Girl' has not produced a single bud yet--I'm hoping to see at least one flower later on. Here are more flowers after the rain.

 

Siberia squills (Scilla siberica)

Mt Hood daffodils and grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum)

Anemones

The deer have been munching on a lot of my bulbs--they ate many of the Glory-of-the-snow flowers (Chionodoxa) and some of the grape hyacinths, so I've been spraying them with garlic spray, hoping they'll leave these alone. There are other bulbs they never touch, like the narcissi, because they're poisonous, but even then they'll take a taste out of other things they normally don't eat--it depends on how hungry they are.

 

Forsythia with Seven Son Flower tree.

The Forsythia in back is in full bloom, and the Seven Son Flower tree is starting to leaf out--it's one of the earliest to produce leaves. It's so marvelous to see everything budding out!

 

Mount Hood daffodil just opened.

My Early Spring Garden

Hyacinth 'Delft Blue'

 

With the Spring Equinox past, early spring manifests itself in my garden. 'Delft Blue' hyacinths bloom along the front walk, as the carpet of several varieties of sedum begins to revive from its winter slumber. 

 

Blue Siberian squill, Pieris, and young rosettes of great blue lobelia.

"Queen Charlotte' violet (Viola odorata)

Along the east side of the house, the tiny blue flowers of Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) carpet the ground near a Pieris in bloom, among the sprouting young rosettes of the Great Blue Lobelia that is spreading here. My 'Queen Charlotte' violet is reviving and spreading nicely, but so far I detect no scent--perhaps it's still too chilly for the violet to emit its lovely perfume?

Hellebore Wedding Party 'True Love'

Hellebore 'True Love'

Close-up of 'True Love'

At the foot of the 'Bloodgood' Japanese maple, the hellebore Wedding Party 'True Love' is flourishing now that it's protected from the browsing deer. As soon as the critters have enough to eat in the woods, I'll remove the barrier so I can admire it without obstructions. I'd love to grow another hellebore near this one, perhaps one with white flowers with a touch of pink on the edges. There are so many beautiful varieties to choose from in my gardening catalogs, but all are so expensive, I may have to wait until I find some on sale.

Blue grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) with 'Mount Hood' daffodils

In the back yard some grape hyacinths that haven't been browsed too much by the deer are emerging among the 'Mount Hood' daffodils, while the Forsythia's yellow announces the official start of spring. A few of the 'February Gold' daffodils in the back bed are in bloom, but most of the others won't open until a week or two later.

The back yard this week.

The Little Indians bed.

Lots of new shoots are coming up in all my flower beds--above are 'Autumn Joy' sedum with muscari and daffodil bulbs, and daylilies. I'd forgotten about the anemones I planted last year, and was surprised to find this tiny one coming up near my roses. Such a delicate little thing!

Anemones.

Bergenia buds

Front yard this week

In the front yard, the seasonal progression continues: the February Gold daffodils are finished, now the Thalia and Tazetta narcissus are just about to pop open. And, I have great hopes of seeing a few camellia blossoms for the first time--the buds are just beginning to unfold.

 

Camellia 'Kumasaka'

Spring Surprises

White wood violets (Viola sororia albiflora).

 

The last day of March brought over an inch of much-needed rain to our area. I went out to the garden during a brief pause in the rain to find this lovely surprise--the white wood violets that have gradually been colonizing the shady places underneath my deck were covered with flowers! Soon the emerging ferns will overtake them, but by that time their flowering season will be over.

White wood violets

Scented Violet 'Queen Charlotte' (Viola odorata 'Queen Charlotte')

The 'Queen Charlotte' violet (Viola odorata 'Queen Charlotte') has been slowly recovering from being munched by deer, and is blooming. I hope she'll multiply and start spreading soon.

Many other surprises awaited me in the garden. One of the Imperial Fritillary bulbs I planted last fall has come up, a handsome plant that promises new and unusual flowers--I've never grown Fritillaries before. The second bulb planted in another bed has not sprouted, I have no idea if it's simply tardy or if something untoward has happened to it, time will tell.

Imperial Fritillary (Fritillaria imperialis rubra)

Daffodil 'Pink Charm''

Other bulbs I planted last fall are also coming up. The daffodil above, called 'Pink Charm' turns out to not be very pink after all, more of an apricot cup I'd say, although still very beautiful. But who knows? The cups may yet fade to a color closer to pink. Overall, my display of spring flowering bulbs continues to improve every year.

 

'Mount Hood' daffodils

Yellow daffodils and Forsythia in the back yard.

Front yard before the rain.

Red cottage tulips with thalia and tazetta Narcissus

My front yard is becoming more colorful with masses of narcissus in yellow and white, and a carpet of creeping phlox in two hues is starting to fill in. The white and blue florist Hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis hybrids) were up earlier, as were the charming Glory-of-the-Snow (Chionodoxa forbesii), but they are now almost done flowering for the year. The blue Siberian Squills (Scilla siberica) on the east bed bloom a little later, and are still looking good. Both of these are spreading and forming nice colonies.

 

Delft Blue hyacinth

Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii)

Blue Siberian squill (Scilla siberica)

It's so exciting to find these surprises every day as I go out to my garden! The Hellebore that the deer ate back the previous winter has finally produced a couple of flowers. I'd expected the emerging leaves of the Colchicum I planted last fall to be similar to the linear grassy foliage of other crocuses, but instead they are quite large and wide, more like those from a tropical plant.

Hellebore 'Flower Girl'

Colchicum 'Waterfall' leaves

 

From the seeds I collected at the Virginia Arboretum last fall and planted in pots, two seedlings have sprouted thus far. The buckeye tree from which I collected these seeds was a hybrid called Aesculus x mutabilis, and the parents were the native Aesculus pavia and A. georgiana (sylvatica) so my seedlings could be either of the parent trees.  I'm presuming, from the look of this seedling, that it's the red buckeye (A. pavia). I wonder if some of the Franklinia and Stewartia seeds will eventually sprout too? That would really be fantastic!

Red buckeye seedling (Aesculus pavia)

Camellia ' Kumasaka' flower

The one disappointment so far has been the lovely Camellia 'Kumasaka' I bought last year--covered with large flower buds last fall, it appeared to be doing well throughout the winter. But just as the flower buds were starting to open, they became blighted and began to fall off! Either severe frost burned them or they became desiccated by the recent high winds. All I managed to salvage was this one open flower that dropped off. Such a shame, the color and form are gorgeous! I'll have to wait until next year and hope for a milder spring.