March 2026 Bloom Day

February Gold daffodils in front yard

Front yard in March

After a long, drawn-out winter, spring is finally on its way! Welcome to March Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog--let's see what is blooming in my Zone 6 B Virginia garden today. The daffodils are all coming up, with 'February Gold' being the earliest to bloom--the original clump by the driveway has multiplied greatly over the years, divided and been tucked here and there into beds in the front and back yard.

 

February Gold daffodils, original clump by the driveway

February Gold clumps in the back bed.

Back beds from the deck.

The scented violet 'Queen Charlotte' has formed a beautiful clump in my east woodland garden, and is spreading. They'd be all over the yard by now if the deer would only stop eating them!

My two Hellebores are both flowering, though they look a bit sloppy at the moment--I need to cut off the old foliage. The blue Siberian squills are blooming under the Japanese Pieris.

 

Viola odorata 'Queen Charlotte'

 

Hellebore 'True Love'

Japanese Pieris (Pieris japoinica) with blue Siberian Squills

The dwarf iris (Iris reticulata) I planted the fall before last are starting to pop up--not exactly a spectacular display yet, but they're surviving, and hopefully, will multiply.

 

Dwarf iris

 

'Delft Blue' hyacinths with Sedum 'Angelina'

 Hyacinths are also popping up along the front walk, in blue and white.

  

White Hyacinths

Last spring I bought a White Forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum), a rather uncommon shrub of Korean origin that is part of the Forsythia family, and planted it in the front bed by the garage. I hadn't realized that deer would find it appealing, and they munched the tips back before I had a chance to protect it. Despite this, my little plant has put out a few flowers, and they are wonderfully scented! I hope I can protect it better this growing season to grow into a lovely shrub next spring. This is a plant that deserves to be seen more in gardens.

My yellow Forsythia in the back yard is still about a week away from blooming, but the buds are showing a little color. 

 

White Forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum)

 

Indoors, my Thanksgiving cactus has decided to bloom again, and is looking very pretty. My miniature Dendrobium orchid is also re-blooming.

 

 

Thanksgiving cactus (Schulmbergera hybrid)

Miniature Dendrobium orchid

 

The other morning when I came downstairs to open the blinds, I saw what looked like a dried leaf in the middle of the foyer.  I went to pick it up, but it moved! Turned out it was a small toad, perfectly camouflaged. He must have come inside in one of the pots when I brought in the houseplants last fall, and has been living in here all winter. By the time I got my phone to take a picture, he'd moved into one of the pots.

 

Toad in a pot.

 

 Thanks for visiting--there will be more flowers next month!

 

Ides of March Bloom Day

Reticulated iris.

It's the Ides of March, and the spring equinox is not far behind now. On this March Bloom Day, hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog, it's a bit overcast here in my Zone 6B Virginia garden. We may get a shower or two this afternoon, with more forecast for tomorrow with thunderstorms and wind as a front moves in. We've had nice warm weather this past week, but desperately need a lot more rain to bring out the spring flowers--here's hoping.

I was thrilled to see the dwarf iris (Iris reticulata) I planted last fall coming up in Herb's bed! I have never grown these before, how did I ever overlook them? Such perky flowers deserve a place in everyone's garden. My order included assorted varieties in blue shades--some have light yellow eyes, others deep yellow, almost orange, and some none--those reddish purple ones are gorgeous! I hope they'll multiply in the years to come.

Iris reticulata in the Herb bed.

 

 

Reddish purple iris.

The 'February Gold' daffodils are out in force, with clumps in the front yard, the bed by the driveway and several spots in the back yard beds. I can't help but smile when I see their bright yellows, always a cheerful sight! Even better, deer and other critters never bother daffodils as the plants are poisonous.

 

'February Gold' daffodils in the front yard.

Clump of 'February Gold' by the driveway.

'February Gold' daffodils in the back bed.

 

My winter aconite (Eranthis cilicica) are popping up in the back bed, but they have yet to carpet the ground as I envisioned. I wonder how long it it will take before they begin to look like an actual ground cover?

 

Winter aconite (Eranthis cilcica)

 

Within the yellow flower spectrum, some of my crocuses are still blooming--these must be the 'Orange Monarch' variety I planted last fall, but they are not very orange, more like a deep cadmium yellow with feathering. The other crocuses are pretty much done with their flowering.

 

Crocus 'Orange Monarch'?

 

The hyacinths are coming up too--I love the startling turquoise bases of the 'Delft Blue', and the white ones are also lovely.

 

Blue hyacinth.

 

A few Siberian Squills are coming up in the woodland garden on the east side of the house. The two Hellebores under the Japanese maple 'Bloodgood' are in bud, but not open yet.

 

Siberian squill (Scilla siberica)

Buds of Hellebore 'Flower Girl'

 

Buds of Hellebore 'True Love'

The sweet violet 'Queen Charlotte' is sporting its first flower today--the deer seem to find this variety particularly tasty, so it hasn't spread as much as I'd hoped, but it's making some progress.

The Forsythia in back has buds patiently waiting for a warmer day to open--probably in one week to ten days more.

 

Sweet violet 'Queen Charlotte'

 

Indoors, my white Phalaenopsis orchid has two flowers open, and two miniature Phals are budding--I hope these will be in bloom in time for April Bloom Day. My yellow hibiscus is still blooming too.

 

White Phalaenopsis orchid.

Two miniature Phalaenopsis orchids in bud.

Yellow hibiscus braided standard.

That's about it for my garden this month, thanks for visiting, and Happy March Bloom Day!

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!

Leap Year Stirrings

White crocus.

 

We have an extra day in February this year to enjoy, and it seems the first signs of spring are stirring--I wanted to write this special post to commemorate the Leap Year. So many varieties of crocuses are blooming in both front and back yards! Last fall I planted some species crocuses along the back bed; the one above is a lovely snow-white.

 

Front yard with crocuses.

Deep purple 'Tommies" (Crocus thommasinianus)

Yellow species crocus

Feathered species crocus.

The pale lilac "Tommies" in the front garden are looking blowsy, as the deep purple ones begin their show. Odd, how some varieties prefer to bloom a bit later, even with the same exposure--this happens every year! My Winter Aconite has yet to sprout, I hope the voles didn't eat them all.

The deer (or maybe rabbits?) chomped off most of the snow drops, but I did get to enjoy them for a few days at the beginning of their bloom cycle. I hope they'll multiply to eventually become nice clumps.

The February Gold daffodils have started to open, and the other narcissi are popping up. The hyacinths are starting to break ground too.

 

'February Gold' daffodils

Hyacinth buds

I even found one tiny Siberian Squill blooming in the east bed.

 

Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica)

 

I'd been hoping my Hellebores would be starting to bloom soon, but the buds are still closed up tight. Yesterday's rain will help.

 

Hellebore ' Flower Girl'

 

My 'Queen Charlotte' violet is reviving and has some flowers. It's been trying to spread, but the deer eat most of the plantlets that grow outside of its protective wire cloche.

 

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

Last weekend I entered my painting of the native Pink Lady Slippers in the Virginia Orchid Society's show at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and received the third prize in the professional category--a number of my fellow artists from the Central Virginia Botanical Artists Circle also received awards. 

I couldn't resist buying this miniature orchid from one of the vendors there, the tiniest Encyclia I've ever seen--the pseudobulbs are about 3/4" and so is the tiny fading flower. The grower had labeled this as Epidendrum polybulbon, but when I looked it up, the genus has been changed to Encyclia.

The miniature Encyclia requires a lot of moisture, so I've put it in the master bath with my other orchids, next to a couple of bromeliads. I hope I can keep it alive long enough to paint it, perhaps even get it to re-bloom!

Encyclia polybulbon orchid.

 

I can't wait to see what the month of March will bring--will it come in as a lion or as a lamb?