The Camellia japonica has been blooming for a couple of weeks-
The lilac is blooming, perfuming the air,
and even more fragrant, Daphne tangutica, blooming its heart out-
The gorgeous mounds of native Trilliums have been blooming for a while and have faded to magenta, here in my second shade garden-
The other magenta flowers are Lunaria, with also variegated Vinca major=
The Anemone nemorosa alba has also fade magenta-
My new Euphorbias that I planted last fall are blooming, Ascot Rainbow-
And Tiny Tim-
Tiny Tim from above=
The Columbines are beginning their spring show, where they have spread and developed many charming colors, more to come-
The Geums are blooming, as well as the Pulmonarias, Hellebores, and Daffodils, and the apples, pears, and plums have been blooming a few weeks. I like regular Tulips, but the squirrels and voles get most of the developed hybrid varieties, but don't bother some species tulips that have lasted me quite a few years, T. batalini 'Bright Gem', here with some Ajuga spikes-
Spring is exciting once it gets going, and it seems some flowers are 2-4 weeks earlier than previous years. What is blooming for you? -Hannah
Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher
The cow had a growing feeling she was forgetting something, so she went for a stroll in the garden and soon remembered-
The many delicate little blue flowers were somehow very soothing-
After several days, the Forget-Me-Nots had grown taller-
The early flowers continue to amaze me, here is the shade garden I showed before here, now the columbines have begun to bloom as well-
My seed-grown Primulas from several years ago, these are the ones that survived where others did not, some of the mixed Cowslips turned out to be red-
In addition my large Stylophorum diphyllum bloomed but seems to blow rather fast, I saw a smaller version with many small flowers I hope to find this year-
The named Geums started blooming as well, in their lovely orange shades, the tall Totally Tangerine-
The short Queen of Orange-
And the delectable Mango Lassi, named for a drink, I think-
And now for this Monday's vase, I accepted Cathy's challenge to plonk some flowers in a vase, it is rather a mish-mash of colors, starting with variegated Vinca major with blue-purple flowers, Daphne tangutica,with white flowers backed in magenta, that surpasses the lilacs in wafting fragrance through my garden and perfuming the air. I added spiky flowers of a darker Ajuga, a couple of Fritillary flowers discovered late, with their darling checkerboards, and a sprig of my seed-grown Primula cowslips that turned out to be a delightful red-
I hope those in the Northeast US are getting some of their spring back, the weather has been quite nice here, even a couple of hotter days but back to cool now. Hannah
Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher
An endearing part of spring for me are the carpets of green studded with flowers that suddenly appear. Anemone nemorosas are favorites, the white flowers with magenta streaks on the back that slowly darken to magenta-
And the purple ones that do so well dry shade under a large big-leaf maple-
and in my blueberries-
And here is how pathetic the rest of the blueberries look without the anemones-
The Pulmonarias do a good job of carpeting a bed especially when combined with a small-leaved hosta and the geraniums that will really take over later-
This one is a seedling that looks strongly like Excalibur, exceedingly silver-
Looking for flowers to put in a vase for In a Vase on Monday, I wanted to use some more of the daffodils-
The white-petaled one with large orange cup is Sound, I'm not sure of the yellow-petaled, orange trumpet, the little one is either Poeticus or Pheasant's Eye. And which one do you think has the most fragrance? If you guessed Poeticus you know your daffodils-
They seemed a little lonely so I added a few dark hellebores-
I noticed a solitary tulip blooming that managed to escape the voles and squirrels, so had to do another vase with it and the lilacs that just started blooming; I saw the hellebores of a similar tint, and I also added a sprig from Osmanthus delavayi, which is also fragrant but not as strong as the lilacs-
I noticed some white daffodils blooming too, the long-awaited Thalia and a larger one I don't know-
The lilacs in real life look more purple, here is a close-up looking pink-
And the white daffodils, there is so much elegance in their starchy stiff look, so white-
I'm continually surprised how early everything is blooming, I would have to look at dates on my photos for last year to see just how much. Are your spring flowers early too? Hannah
I wanted to present some views of how I deal with early spring gardening challenges, I'm sure it only scratches the surface.;-) Today I am linking with-
Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher
Ideally I should have mulched all my grow beds with leaves last fall, but it didn't get done much because last year I injured my knees in the spring, pulling a large Rubbermaid cart uphill heavily loaded with branches, work I have for 22 years here, with lots of cedar trees that continually grow downward to modestly cover their knees. Then July 4 I severely injured my R knee, it would not bend nor bear much weight, while trying to pull up a buried soaker hose. All the heavy gardening and/or age and arthritis has eroded the cartilage in my knees. I had to slowly recover flexibility and strength over 3 months. I took supplements that helped so every week I could lift my foot a little more. I wore braces on both knees and used walkers, I limited my gardening activities severely to the level I could tolerate and still grow my vegetables and flowers, and watered and weeded a new lawn in a large area.
My husband built me a handy gardening seat so I could sit and scoot along a row, which is nice for my knees. The box flips for a flat sitting surface. The handles help me push up. It is heavy to push around though, but great for working on. long rows.
At the 3 month point I stopped wearing the braces which I decided were becoming an irritant, and could walk normally, but not completely pain-free. But over winter with lots of rest and without the gardening chores, I am pretty much pain-free as well; I swim and can walk fast. The challenge is to see if I can restrict my activities to what my knees can handle.
So back to gardening, one of my most useful tools is the plastic tunnel cover, 18' long. I use it when I start working up beds to keep the nearly constant rain off my beds, fall to spring is our rainy season which can mean rain daily.
I will use them to dry beds before planting tomatoes and later vegetables too, and put them on the weeded soil to keep the soil 10º warmer so I can plant earlier.
I have been cutting weeds off with a knife or a hand mattock which gets out roots better, or a shovel for deep weeds. Formerly I would have mattocked a bed in a single session, but feel like swinging the heavy mattock (2.5lb or little over a kilo) is not good for my knees. I once had a Mantis tiller but it wrapped all the weeds around the tines and was a mess to clean out, and bucked like a bronco. Ouch. And I read that tillers ruin the soil structure and cause hardpan. So here I am.
I'm making progress, I got a strip done and planted peas, fava beans, and sweet peas. I'm experimenting with times, I also planted rows of these on February 10. They took nearly a month to come up but are growing now, though I had to fill in where some did not grow.
I will compare the two groups for which time is more effective. BTW I grow what is called snap peas, they have thick tender edible pods and fill up with nice peas. You can eat the whole thing raw in salads or cooked. I've also grown snow peas, but while they are all edible, Asians usually pick the wide pods before the seeds develop for stir fries, and later they are still edible but can get stringy or tough, so I like snap peas better, I'm growing Super Sugar Snap and Sugar Snap for taller vines, and Cascadia, Sprint, Sugar Ann, and Sugar Daddy for short vines.
I'm beginning to pick the top flower buds from the kale plants planted last July. They are very tender, and picking makes them branch from all the axils so next time there will be several per plant, which continue as long as I keep them picked, then I let them flower for the bees.
Now for my finds in the garden for In a Vase on Monday, lots of flowers are blooming now, but I just had to pick some white Hyacinths, and could find some blue for a good companion, a Pulmonaria, here in my gold trimmed pony passed along from my MIL-
Easter gives us a reminder and new beginning of grace every year, making me think of the promise inside an egg of new life-
I was pleased to see the Hyacinths return this spring when some other bulbs didn't. The fragrance is wonderful.
The Pulmonarias are a wonderful long-lasting addition to a shade garden, coming up in spring with their gorgeous variable silvery patterned foliage, and self-sowing with unique new patterns, plus a range of colors from purple-
to the pink Mrs. Moon-
Here is a fairly new shade bed that I find very satisfying because the shade seems to discourage a lot of pesky weeds-
In addition to the Pulmonarias, the lace-edged Primulas are blooming-
The second species of Junco that comes to my deck, the Dark-Eyed or Slate-Colored Junco, is more abundant now-
What early vegetable gardening do you enjoy? -Hannah
