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.

March Bloom Day

Delft Blue hyacinths with strawberries as ground cover.

 

The unseasonably warm days of last week have brought forth new flowering bulbs in my zone 6b garden in Virginia. The hyacinth bulbs along my front walk have opened: 'Delft Blue' and a white variety the name of which I forget. The sedum 'Angelina' and the ground covers are still sporting their rusty winter colors but they'll soon be greening up. We need a lot of rain!

 

Hyacinths along my front walk.

The February Gold daffodils have lasted longer than usual with the cooler temperatures this week, along with a little surprise snow on Sunday. 

 

February Gold daffodils in the back bed.

 

Hyacinths and February Gold daffodils along the front walk in the snow.

 The Glory-of-the-Snow (Chionodoxa luciliae) flowers are starting to pop up at the base of the red maple.

Glory-of-the-Snow flowers at the base of the red maple.

Close-up of Glory-of-the-Snow (Chionodoxa luciliae)

The Siberian squills (Scilla siberica) on the east bed are also popping up along with the Hellebore 'True Love' and the Japanese Pieris.

Scillas with Hellebore Wedding Party 'True Love'

Pieris japonica on the right, with Scillas.

Hellebore 'True Love'

 

Despite the cold and blustery day, today I found a few tiny purple anemone buds peeking out from the mulch--the flowers are closed, but they will open on a warmer day.

 

Greecian windflowers (Anemone blanda)

 

Though not a flower, I see that the leaves of my autumn flowering Colchicum 'Waterlily' are coming up too. The scented violets (Viola odorata) died back a lot this winter, but tiny new plants are emerging.

 

Colchicum 'Waterlily' foliage emerging.

Viola odorata.

Indoors on the windowsill, the Streptocarpus 'Wow' has colorful, exclamation-worthy flowers!

 

Streptocarpus 'Wow'

February Dreams

Crocus tommasinianus in two colors.

 

It's late February, and my early spring bulbs are starting to put on a show. The rosy purple tommasinianus crocuses are emerging now, about a week behind the lighter mauve ones. It's wonderful to see how they've formed thick clumps in the front garden over the years under the cherry tree.

Front  yard under the cherry tree.

 

The 'February Gold' daffodils have started to bloom; in the fall of 2021 I divided these and now have two large clumps--one by the driveway and another in the front yard.

 

'February Gold' daffodils by the driveway.

Spring seems to be just around the corner, but I know this is a treacherous time of the year. We may yet get some snow, which we haven't had this winter. These spring bulbs don't seem to mind the cold and will easily survive a snowfall. The hyacinths are starting to break forth, but it may be a few weeks before they open fully. One of the early spring bulbs I don't have in my garden are snowdrops--I must buy some to plant in the fall this year.

Delft blue hyacinth

This afternoon I spotted the first buds on my Hellebore 'True Love'; the other Hellebore I planted last year, 'Flower Girl' is showing a few new leaves.

Hellebore 'True Love' buds.

My witch hazel tree 'Diane' is also blooming. I'm hoping that my little tree will grow tall enough this year to be able to be freed from its protective deer enclosure--it's difficult to admire or take good photos with that nylon netting around it. 

The two viburnums I raised from seed and planted on each side of the witch hazel appear to be developing into leatherleaf viburnums (V. rhytidophyllum), in which case I may have to dig them up and plant them elsewhere. That variety of Viburnum can grow to 6'-10' tall, and they would soon overtake the witch hazel if left there.

 

Witch hazel 'Diane'

It seems like a good time to start my spring clean-up, prune, and clear away the old stems of perennials. I usually don't do this until later in March. I'd love to start re-edging my beds now, and move a few plants around into new flower beds, but the earth isn't ready to be worked yet--in another week or two, perhaps. One can always dream!

February Bloom Day

Crocus Thomasinianus in front yard.

 

It was a sunny day here in Virginia, and extraordinarily warm--the thermometer hit 70 degrees in the afternoon! Sadly, with my husband very ill in the hospital, I was not really able to be here to enjoy my garden. I spent most of the day at the hospital with him. I figure there will be time for that later, when Herb is out of danger and back home.

 

Front yard under the cherry tree.

I didn't have time to take a look at my hybrid witchhazel 'Diane' to see how the blossom are opening today, but this is what it looked like a few days ago.

 

Witchhazel 'Diane'

 That's it for today. Next month I hope to have more--the Siberian squills, daffodils, grape hyacinths, and glory-of-the-snow should be popping up by then and my Hellebores may be budding. I need to cut back the old foliage, as the new foliage is emerging.

Vagaries of Weather

First crocus blooms in my yard on Jan. 30.

 

The day before yesterday was unseasonably warm--the temperature rose to 66 degrees in the afternoon! And with some sun, the first of my crocuses cropped up. There were actually a few, the one above and another nearby--such a lovely sight!

 

But this morning, two days later, I woke up to find a light dusting of snow on the ground! It's the first perceptible snow of the winter, and it doesn't look like it will last very long, although a cold snap seems to be setting in.

 

Back yard with dusting of snow.

View from a front window.

This coming Saturday is predicted to be very, very cold, with the high in the 20's. I imagine the groundhog will see his shadow tomorrow--sure looks like we're in for more wintry weather!

Mid-Winter Blues

 

Pages from my botanical journal.

I wasn't thinking of "blue" paintings like Picasso's when I titled this post--I'm just at that point in mid-winter when the blues set in, when I wish I could be somewhere sunny and warm instead of where I am. But Florida is beyond my budget this year...

We've had no snow on the ground this winter thus far, and with a lot of cold and drizzly days one would think at least the soil had enough moisture, but actually it's been a record dry season too. Everything just looks more drab and colorless than usual--not even a good atmospheric effect like fog to give any illusion of interest.

 

My back yard this morning.

In my studio at least, I can find some colors to please my eye. My journals are steadily filling up with drawings of whatever botanical material I can find around, and some non-botanical stuff, like the local birds. I have set up three feeders this winter: a finch sock, a hanging suet cage, and a platform feeder for birds such as cardinals, who can't get at the other two.

I tried a quick sketch of one of the White-breasted nuthatches that frequent the feeders, but he's so fast, it's difficult to capture anything but a gesture, if that. I think I got the attitude, but had to consult my Sibley's Bird Guide to get the right markings of the plumage. My bird still doesn't have the right proportions, but I'll keep working on that until I can do better.

Tulip Tree Flower sketch, colored pencil.

I'm finishing my illustrations for the Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) brochure--the Tulip Tree flowers above were drawn from some old photos I'd taken during a Botanical Artist Society of the National Capital Region (BASNCR) field trip to Tudor Place, a historic estate and garden in Georgetown, in DC. Their garden had one mature Tulip Tree whose branches swept down almost to the ground, and gave a great opportunity to view the flowers at eye level and from above.

The other drawing is of a sprig of American holly, as a companion piece to the Tulip Tree. I'm still working out the arrangement of the leaves and berries on the branch in graphite, and will transfer it to good paper when I have the design worked out.

Garden Bloggers' January Bloom Day

 

Orchids in my bath.

For my first post for the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day (a day late) I'm starting with my indoor garden, where I have a couple of orchids in bloom in my bath. The dark pink is a Miltonidia, a hybrid of Miltonia with Oncidium, I believe. This was the first orchid I ever bought many years ago--it was on sale at a local garden center and looked almost dead, but the orchid expert there assured me it would revive if soaked in water for a few hours, which it did. It has bloomed regularly since then.

The other orchid in the bath with fading blooms and a new flowering spike coming up, I bought at a road-side stand during a trip to Florida, and appears to be a Brassia hybrid, maybe Brassidia? It too flowers regularly for me every year during this time. This season it produced three flowering spikes.

 

Phalaenopsis hybrid

Moving along downstairs to the family room is another orchid, a Phalaenopsis hybrid one of my sisters gave me a few years back, that has re-bloomed reliably. I have another five or six florists' orchids around that haven't bloomed in several years, but hope springs eternal in a gardener's heart, so I won't throw them out just yet.

 

Pink Anthurium

Near the Phalaenopsis is this pink Anthurium, also a gift from my sisters. The African violet below is one of two Optimara varieties I've grown for nearly forty years; I've kept them going by taking leaf cuttings regularly.

 

Optimara African violet (Saintpaulia hybrids)

 

The plant below is the exotic Gardenia Tree (Tabernaemontana divaricata) which I've been growing for about seven years now, and blooms during winter. The flowers have a marvelous scent for the first six hours after opening, and gradually lose their fragrance. My tree is about three feet high now, and I'm wondering just how much larger it might get--I may have to give it away to someone with a greenhouse when it reaches a size I can't accommodate.

Gardenia tree (Tabernaemontana divaricata)

The only thing blooming outdoors in my USDA Zone 6b garden is a native witchhazel tree (Hamamelis virginiana), and some buds are appearing on a Japanese Andromeda (Pieris japonica).

 

Witchhazel blossoms.

Japanese Andromeda cultivar in bud.

There is one more blossom to account for, but this one is the fruit of my artistic endeavors--a flame azalea watercolor that I finally finished. As I was painting this, it was exciting to I learn that the eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly is one of the few insects that can pollinate these native azaleas in the wild.

 

Flame Azalea and Pollinator.

I photographed the flowers and the butterflies two years ago during a trip to a West Virginia forest.

Starting Off the Year

Overlooking the wetlands trail at Blandy.

 

On the last day of the old year and the first few this year, we had an extraordinarily warm spell with highs in the 70's. Being so unusual for the season, I naturally took the opportunity for an afternoon walk at Blandy, and encountered other folk who were enjoying the wonderful break in the weather.

 

Winterberry.

I parked in the back forty to walk the wetlands trail and encountered this large winterberry with lots of  colorful berries. On the way back I checked on the magnolias and other trees in this back area. The Magnolia veitchii whose seedpods I had admired a couple of years ago had been cut back severely--apparently the old trunk was diseased, so they left only a few shoots at its base to regrow. I guess it will be a few years before it produces any blossoms.

Longleaf pine

I saw a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and observed the geometric pattern of its leaf scars on the twigs. Longleaf pine doesn't occur naturally in our area, its distribution is more coastal, but it does survive here in USDA zone 6.

The respite was short-lived, and by the end of the week it was back to more normal winter weather, and being back indoors, where there is no lack of flowers. Here are two of my orchids are blooming in the master bath: a Brassia hybrid (white with maroon) and a Miltassia hybrid (dark pink).

Two orchids blooming in the master bath.

 The African violets (Saintpaulia hybrids) are also flowering, and my Christmas cactus is displaying the last of its blooms--this one had grown so much in the last year I re-potted it recently, and it seems to be happy in its new home.

African violets in bloom.

Christmas cactus blossom.

 

January is the time when gardeners dream and plan what we will grow in the spring. Tons of gardening catalogs arrive in my mailbox and I welcome them and start dreaming of the new plants I'll grow this year. I love to sketch out designs for my garden, to figure how to expand and re-arrange my plants within the existing beds. When a gardener begins to dream, spring can't be far behind.