Spring Bursts Forth, February 29, 2016

Spring seems to be bursting out all over, early.  I'm not too surprised at the daffodils and Primulas, but some of the other flowers shouldn't be around yet.  I have to assume we are in for another hot year.   Today I am linking with-

Today's flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

I'd Rather B' Birdin' hosted by Hootin' Anni'

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I am working on removing extensive weeds and putting down leaves that should have been there last fall to get ready for vegetable beds, finished half of first strip on the left, middle part has some strawberries mixed in-

The Hyacinths are about 6 weeks early-

Daffodils are looking cute- 

But Periwinkles blooming so early?

It turns out one of my newer hybrid Hellebores did make it after all, Pink Beauty-

A Song Sparrow showed up on the deck some-  "They got me!"

Just a little mousse-

"How's the back?"

I gathered a few of the early spring flowers for my In A Vase On Monday challenge of the week- Tete-a-Tete Daffodils, unknown Daffodil, Hyacinth, Hellebore 'Cherry Blossom, Osmanthus heterophyllus sprigs, and Lonicera nitida sprigs, in a crystal vase.  Check out Cathy's bloghop for more interesting vases and flowers.

I've also been shopping at nurseries to see what is new for this spring, I couldn't resist Euphorbia amygdaloides 'Ruby Glow'-

What new plants do you find exciting?      -Hannah

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.  I would like to return your visit so leave an URL to your blog or email address.

Enamored with Evergreens, February 22, 2016

Winter here is too cold for most plants to bloom, so it is nice that evergreen shrubs and perennials with their persistant leaves do so well here.  I'm also using them for a belated Foliage Follow-up post.

Today I am linking with-

Foliage Follow-up hosted by Pam of Digging

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Magical Mystical Teacher

Down my ramp, the Rosemary plants are probably the most useful of the evergreens, behind it is the variegated Elaeagnus ebbingei 'Gilt Edge'-

On the east side of the house is Osmanthus delavayi, which has tiny glossy dark leaves, looking like tiny ivy leaves, and has fragrant white flowers in spring.  It grows densely enough I can even keep it looking fairly good with my so-so pruning skills, behind it are the irrepressible Rhododendrons-

The small but sprightly holly-like variegated Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Goshiki'-

The evergreen Carex oshimensis 'Evergold'-

My newest experiment with evergreens are 4 Manzanitas, wonderful plants from the mountains that don't need, in fact dislike, summer water, making them excellent for places far from my hoses.  They are also winter to early spring bloomers, great for those resident hummingbirds, and have edible berries, and gorgeous reddish smooth bark in some cases.   Here Arctostaphylos sonomensis-

A. viscida 'Sweet Medina'-

A. columbiana 'Wolf Creek'-

Flower buds on A. columbiana 'Parkdale East'-

I saw a large Manzanita at Georgie's Clay absolutely loaded with similar bunches of flowers running pink to white, absolutely fantastic.  I meant to get a photo but it was raining when I came out.

Camellia japonica 'Taiyo' has grown to 4' from a tiny few inches, despite getting no care at all and practically no summer water;  the variegated leaves are lovely-

Cathy of IaVoM asked about my Vinca 'Wojo's Gem', it is a puzzle since it tends to be called Vinca major in spite of being the size of Vinca minor, though Proven Winners calls it V. maculata, it spread very well in this seldom-watered bed around a tree, better than in a long bed with lots of competing plants-

It has flower buds about to unfurl, and regular Vinca minor is starting to bloom very early as well-

And now for this week's In a Vase on Monday challenge, I found one little Crocus bloom- most of the original crocuses have long ago disappeared because of voles or squirrels, and one tiny Snow Drop with some pink winter heather, Erica x darleyensis-

I rather prefer the crocus with the fuller silvery Lamium, which has a echo of some purple in the pattern, the vase of unknown origin with roses reminding me of sugar ones for decorating cakes-

I like the little snowdrop casting its shadow on the turquoise vase-

What signs of spring are brightening your garden now?   -Hannah

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.  I would like to return your visit so leave an URL to your blog or email address.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day in a vase, February 15, 2016

I hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day!  It's always good to celebrate our loved ones.  We can celebrate them with candy, or with flowers, the no calorie no sugar way to say, "I love you."

Today I am linking with-

Today's flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day hosted by Carol

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura- announcing a break from having a meme

We finally had a nice break of dry sunny weather, so I was able to do a better survey of flowers blooming for GBBD.  Going down the ramp, I saw that the dependable Rosemary is blooming-

On the bank of our ramp is my winter blooming heather, Erica x darleyensis-

By the side of the ramp, the delightful fragrance of Sarcococca ruscifolia greets me-

In the front yard are bright pink Primroses, along with my creature feature of the day, a salamander found buried under leaves when I tried to dig out any emerging flowers or bulbs buried in my border-

Then on to the stars of the winter flowers, my Hellebore beds, where a few hellebores plonked in a new bed some 26 years ago have made themselves at home and multiplied seen through the maple-

All those flowers drop a lot of seeds which come up by themselves, I need to do some transplanting-

The colors range from pink/white, most speckled with magenta-

 To light purple-

To a dark blackish purple that is a delight-

As you can see, their major defect is that the nodding flowers hang down so I can't see their pretty faces.   A few years ago I bought many of the new hybrid H. lividus varieties, such as Ivory Prince-

Only to find out the next year that they lacked in hardiness or suitability and didn't return.  But the Skagit Winter Jewels series did, looking great, but still down-facing, Cherry Blossom-

And Royal Heritage, here with the surprise of an early ladybird beetle-

So that concludes the GBBD post of my flowers blooming outdoors, but here is a glimpse of blooms in my windowsill garden-

More of the orchids have opened, imagine my surprise that my orchid in small vase from 2 weeks ago is still going strong along with the Hebes-

And now for my current In a Vase on Monday flowers, answering Cathy's challenge to find some flowers to plonk in a vase every Monday of the year, featuring Hellebores floated in a bowl because of their short stems, since I'm not cutting off any buds.   First I tried this bowl, which I liked but is not big enough, with an assortment, including a green one, probably another species-

Then I tried a bigger crystal bowl-

I took a few close-ups-

Love those red nectaries on Cherry Blossom-

It's like having a flower in a flower.   I find the Hellebore bowl quite festive, a lot of cheer for the middle of winter.   What is cheering up your winter?     -Hannah

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.  I would like to return your visit so leave an URL to your blog or email address.