It's a Tie!

In the annual battle between yellow and white, this year was a tie.  These daffodils didn't just pick any day to simultaneously bloom, either:  they opened during Snowquester (hence renamed Slushquester), the storm that wasn't.  Or at least wasn't here.  I know other parts of the state got plenty of white stuff.

Here are the winners, a bit droopy under the slush/snow/ice/whatever was coming down when I went out to check them.

Here's my front yard yesterday morning when it was actually snowing:

Look:  snow!

What's covering the ground?  Slush with a light snow frosting

Yesterday afternoon brought rain, which washed all the snow/slush away.  I'd hoped to do some urban skiing, but it was not to be.  I went kayaking instead.

Back to the garden, here are the daffs today, looking a bit more cheerful about blooming:

In other news: my peas have sprouted, but the ground is a bit too wet to do anything about planting them just yet.

Take THAT, Buddleia!

Perhaps I should have spent some time in the garden last month.  Or over the last three months.  Garden cleanup tasks should probably start in February, but it is cold then.  I spent the last weekend of February skiing, not gardening.

As a result, my buddleia already looks like this:

Eight feet tall and leafing out

Not just leaf buds, but leaves!

 Rather, it looked like that until I dug out my loppers.  Now it looks like this:

2 feet tall and stumpy - but with a few leaves

Sorry for your wasted leaf-making effort, buddleia.  Maybe next year you'll hold off until March, OK?

Signs of Meteorological Spring

Happy (Meteorological) Spring!

I've been mostly ignoring the yard and all things gardening-related all winter, so not it is time to come out of hibernation. Like these spring bulbs:

Purple/white crocus in the front parking strip

One of the few times in the year when my "neglected bed" is showy

Not just yet, daffs, but soon!

Tulips aren't reliably perennial here. But if these purple triumph-types bloom again, it will be year #4.

Tulip sprouts

I left some lettuce unprotected in the garden over the winter.  Looks a bit frosty, but growing!

'Tennis ball' lettuce

The tall sedum knows it is March.

This volunteer euphorbia is mostly a goner after the winter, but it made some vibrant red stems!

The butterfly bush is leafing out already.  Time to dig out those loppers!

If it starts out 8ft tall, how high will it get?

Inside, I celebrated the first day of March in my usual way, by sprouting peas.  I don't have any new seeds this year, so I'm testing out packets from 2007, 2008, 2011, and 2012.

February 2013 Blooms

What's blooming in February?  Some usual suspects and a fun (for me) surprise.

It's crocus time.  Mostly yellows, a few purple, and one just-starting (unpictured) white.

It's the first week of Lent - a good time to show off the Lenten roses (Hellebores).  I have several plants.  The greenish-white-flowered one blooms at the end of last year's stems, showing off the flowers:

The purple hellebores send up new flower stalks from the center, so the flowers get hidden behind last year's leaves.  Especially this year - the mostly warm winter means those old leaves are still pretty vigorous.  I had to dig to find the flowers.



What is exciting and new this year:  some of my self-seeded hellebore plants are finally blooming.  These youngsters are 3-4 years old and putting out their first flowers.  One of the white variety and one of the purple:

(Also blooming this month:  some rather un-showy snowdrops, rue (still), pansies (barely), and winter weeds.)

Happy February Bloom Day!

(I finally posted January's blooms, too. You can see them here.)

January 2013 Blooms: Unseasonable

Before I post February Blooms, let's go back and look at what was happening in mid-January:

What's blooming in January?  Nothing "seasonal", that's for sure.

First, the rue has never stopped blooming:

Along the curb, this anemone is determined to be the first "spring" bulb to bloom.  Not crocus or snowdrops, but anemone.

Over in the side yard, what is this oddity?

Yep, a single dogwood bract.  In January.

 I think my "everbearing" strawberries have taken their name too literally.

Finally:  not a bloom, but noteworthy in this unseasonal post.  The weeping Japanese maple is still holding onto its leaves.  What a wierdo.

November 2012 Blooms

I'm actually making a Bloom Day post on the appropriate day.  Woohoo!

Not that I have much to show off (which is probably why I'm able to do this on time).  Today we'll look at what's blooming on the porch.  I haven't really prepared for winter, but I did hurry all the potted plants inside before Hurricane Sandy arrived two three weeks ago.  I didn't want them to blow away.

I bought this Osteospermum in the spring from the almost-dead-plant clearance shelf.  It survived, and looked healthy, but never flowered until this week.  So much for the front porch flowers I'd planned for the summer.

 
I thought the flowers would be purple, so the magenta color surprised me.  Yes, that's a pansy in there, too.  I had a few extra pansies from planting the front walk this fall, and stuck them in the pot which was still sitting out front at the time.  Kinda strange to have it indoors now.

This will be my second year trying to overwinter the hibiscus.  So far it is doing well on the porch, putting out more blooms than it ever did outside this summer.  Here's one:

Now I just need to remember to give this plant some water. 

October 2012 Blooms

Bloom Day was Monday, I took pictures Wednesday, and am finally posting Sunday.  Oh, well.  Here's what's blooming on the Crest in mid-October.

(Wednesday was a beautiful, bright, sunny day, so the photos are a bit flat and washed out.)

Mums:  some in the ground, some I planted in a pot several years ago:

Asters.  The New York asters and smooth asters are done, but these Tatarian asters are in full bloom.  Most are flopping, but I found some photogenic straight specimens.

In the still-going category, Lespedeza is still putting on a show in the front, and the sedum have gotten rather dark:

 

And in the "what season is it?" bucket, the zinnia along the front walk still think it's summer, while the pink penstemon and strawberries have gone back to springtime.

 

In the strawberries' defense, they are 'everbearing'.  They just too a long summer hiatus.

Not too bad for October.