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!

February 2025 Bloom Day

Yellow species crocus

 

On the 15th of very month Carol Michels' May Dreams blog hosts "Bloom Day" where we gardeners share photos of what's blooming in our gardens. Today is cloudy and cold in my Zone 6B garden in Virginia. We were expecting a bit of ice and/or snow earlier this morning, but that didn't materialize, so now it's probably going to be rain this afternoon and tonight on through tomorrow. I took my outdoor photos yesterday when it was sunny and warmer.

The species crocus in my front yard began to emerge about the beginning of the month, with the flowers opening on the few warm sunny days we've had. There is a variety of them: white, yellow with feathering on the outer petals, and the pale violet "Tommies." 

I planted some 'Orange Emperor' crocus in the back bed, but those have yet to show.

 

White species crocus

Violet "Tommies "(Crocus thomasinnianus)

Assortment of crocus in the front yard.

The snowdrops I planted two falls ago have also popped up, but they have yet to start forming clumps. Oh well, next year there should be more. The foliage of the early daffodils is also emerging.

 

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis 'Elwesii')

Foliage of early daffodils emerging.

 

The buds of my two witchhazel trees have started to open--the native Southern Witchhazel blooms at this time of the year, and the hybrid 'Diane' also.

 

Hybrid Witchhazel 'Diane'

Southern Witchhazel

The Japanese Pieris has a number of flower buds, but these won't open until later in the spring. The buds of my hybrid Hellebores nearby are still buried beneath a blanket of leaves.

 

Japanese Pieris (Pieris japonica)

 

Indoors, I have a few surprises for you: a lovely yellow Hibiscus flower opened this morning--the first since the beginning of the year.

 

Hybrid yellow Hibiscus

 

The Miltassia orchid in the master bath has a couple of flowering spikes and a few other Phalaenopsis have developed spikes too. The large-flowered white one below will probably open in a few more days.

 

Miltassia orchid.

White Phalaenopsis about to bloom.

 

 

I've cared for this particular miniature Phal for seven years--that's how long it's taken to produce this one flowering spike. I'm curious to see what color the flowers will be.

 

 

This other miniature Phal faithfully blooms once and sometimes twice a year--this year it has two flowering spikes developing.

 

Miniature Phalaenopsis flower spikes.

 

Lastly, the African violets treated for mealybugs seem to be recovering nicely.

 

Optimara African violets

Bearss lime fruits.

 

The fruits of the Bearss lime are increasing in size, and my Gardenia tree still has a few blooms, but that's about it for today, I hope to have more to show next month. Happy February Bloom Day!

November Bloom Day

'Queen Charlotte' violet

 

By mid-November there aren't a whole lot of flowers outdoors in my Zone 6b Virginia garden to celebrate Bloom Day on the 15th of the month (hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog). My 'Queen Charlotte' violets are among the few flowers that persist this late in the season. There would be none if I didn't cover them with a wire cloche because the deer like to eat them ( I remove the cover to photograph them). 

 

Aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)

Aromatic asters among the leaves.

 

Some blooms persist on the aromatic asters even after the first few frosts, but it's the leaves that are most colorful at this time of the year. I love the colors of the trees in the woods behind my house! This shot was taken a few days ago, most of these are native oaks. The hickories have lost most of their leaves.

 

The woods in early morning.

 A few shrubs in my garden are still colorful too, like this dwarf Nandina that doesn't fruit (I've forgotten the name of this variety), and the Viburnum 'Brandywine'.

 

Nandina

Viburnum 'Brandywine'

 

The witchhazels in the back woods are also blooming at this time, although two other varieties in my garden don't bloom until late winter or early spring.

Native witchhazel trees in the woods.

My back yard in November.

To make up for the lack of flowers outside, there are plenty of blooms in my indoor garden. The  yellow hibiscus my sister gave me is still offering a flower or two after being brought indoors. I brought in the white heliotrope plant hoping to keep it alive during the winter for a larger plant next summer. The begonias next to them are among the plants I keep alive indoors from year to year to decorate the back deck in summer.

Yellow hibiscus

White heliotrope with begonias in back

One of the small Phalaenopsis orchids I bought for one of my botanical art classes a few years ago decided to re-bloom for the first time, along with a miniature Dendrobium. The two orchids in the master bath are usually very prolific with their blossoms--I can't believe they're blooming for the second time this year!

Phalaenopsis orchid in bloom.

Dendrobium orchid

Orchids in the bathroom.

My Bearss lime tree is covered in blooms too, and setting fruit.

 

Bearss lime blossoms

 That's about it for November's Bloom Day.

October Bloom Day A Bit Late

Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue'

The first flower scape of Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue' was devoured by deer in early summer, and with it being so dry, it is only now that the plant has decided to re-bloom. Its deep blue flowers complement the red bush Salvia next to it. I kept thinking this Salvia was 'Windwalker Royal Red' and referred to it as such, but today I ran across the plant label (I save them so I can later identify the variety, but I sometimes lose track of them) and found out it is actually a red bush Salvia 'Maraschino.'

 

Red bush salvia

I was away the week before, attending the ASBA Annual Conference in Mobile, AL and missed posting at Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden's "Bloom Day" on the 15th. When I tried to post, I had trouble loading the images onto my blog. It took a while to figure out how to change the settings to fix the problem, so it's only now that I'm catching up with October Bloom Day. 

The pink Muhly grasses are sporting their feathery plumes as the leaves begin to turn--amazing what a transformation can take place in one week!

 

Herb's bed in October.

The Verbascum 'Southern Charm' my sister gave me is re-blooming, and the few Chrysanthemums that didn't get eaten by deer over the summer are also in bloom. The red variety is very pretty; I bought the orange one at Lowes' recently and am looking for a spot to plant it in the ground.

 

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'

Red Chrysanthemums

Orange Chrysanthemum.

The yellowwood tree ( Cladrastris kentukea) in the west side had turned gold when I got home last week, and this week the hickories in the woods behind our house are turning. The oaks are just starting show a bit of color.

West side bed with yellowwood tree turning gold.

The woods in back from the deck.

The back yard from the west side.

 

The aromatic asters are starting to bloom, but aren't fully open yet. My oldest clump seems to be hollowing out in the center, an indication that it will need to be broken up and re-planted next spring.  Two other clumps that were separated and planted in other beds aren't making much of a show yet.

 

Aromatic asters (Symphyotrichum oblongifolius)

 

I brought in most of my tender houseplants before leaving on my trip, just in case there might be a frost while I was gone. When I got back from my trip, the yellow hibiscus greeted me with lots of flowers--I rarely see this many at one time.

Yellow hibiscus.

I wonder if there will be any flowers in my garden for November Bloom Day? Surely the first frost will come before then.