Spring is such a rapidly evolving time of year, it's difficult to keep up with all of the changes in the garden. The weeding too! By the time I make the rounds, it's time to begin again.
The first Swallowtails appeared as the last flowers of the First Breath of Spring were in bloom, about 3 weeks ago.
Many birds have returned as well. I haven't tried out my new lens much, but I did get these pictures of a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, a bold little bird that resembles a tiny mockingbird with a white eye-ring and sounds much like a giant mosquito.
I heard a Blue Grosbeak and a Summer Tanager last week. I haven't yet heard any Indigo Buntings or Orchard Orioles.
It doesn't look like two happy accidents in the garden are going to repeat themselves:
Phlox divaricata with a Dwarf Crested Iris of the same color, and
P. divaricata with
Amsonia tabernaemontana I found growing on the farm. My little purple Dwarf Crested Iris down by the old homestead is blooming away, but the light blue by the house, although thriving, is not. I hope it will still bloom this year, but the Phlox will probably be finished. The Woodland Phlox with the Amsonia is gone, probably done in by encroaching pine tree roots.
Many of the spring stalwarts are in mid-stride: columbines, azaleas, early roses and iris. There's an evergreen azalea that blooms everywhere around here that I would dearly love to know the name of. It's fairly large, 4-6' in height, with large rosy-purple flowers. Definitely not PJM. That has more Rhodie type leaves and the flowers are more lavender than these.
The butterfly of the flower world, Columbine.
The early iris are blooming: Crimson King, Jesse's Song, and Eva's White. I love, love, love purple iris and can't get enough of them. I never thought I would love a white iris as much as I love Eva's White, but it's simply perfect. The fragrance is as beautiful as the flowers.
A gaggle of Crimson King
Crimson King with Nightfall
Bud of Jesse's Song
The Baptisias are starting to open up. This beautiful native can have a somewhat strange upright habit, but goes really well with iris, roses, columbine, Phlox and Amsonia.
Many of the rugosas and Climbing Old Blush have started to bloom. This is a seedling of Therese Bugnet, somewhat of a throwback, but she has retained Therese Bugnet's height.
Climbing Old Blush is looking good, although she suffered what could have been a real setback this winter. The wind blew the trellis over, heaving up the roots of both roses on each side, along with the big hunks of concrete at the bottom of both side of the trellis. DH put in rebar, poured new footings, stuck the roses back in, and they seemed to be fine.
The prize for the most velvety rose in the garden goes to Hansa.
Piedmont Azalea
This is the most "golden" of my Florida Azaleas; I have others which are much more orange. I love the orange Floriza Azaleas but must take care to keep them away from pink.
