Blooming Friday

Which sweets are currently in bloom?

Toothwort has lovely dark green scalloped leaves that emerge in late to mid-winter, depending on the weather, and beautiful clusters of white flowers in spring.

A wild crabapple tree at the edge of one of our fields. This is as covered in blooms this year as any cultivar.

One of my favorite iris, Jesse's Song.

Thank you to Katarina at roses and stuff for hosting Blooming Friday.

The Whirlwind of Spring

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.

Amsonia

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. PJM has more Rhodie type leaves and the flowers are more lavender than the local azaleas.

The butterfly of the flower world, columbine.

The early iris are blooming: 'Crimson King', 'Jesse's Song', and Eva's White. I love purple iris and can't get enough of them.

A mixed-up flock 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.

Blooming Friday

The pansies have been asleep all winter but are awakening now. I love the deep purple ones

especially with strawberries. (The "dust" on the pansies is pine pollen.)

I was surprised to learn that foamflower has a sweet
fragrance. Different from woodland phlox but just as delightful.

The spiderworts have begun to bloom. I received this one in a
trade and I love it. The blue stamens eventually turn snow white.

A beautiful spiderwort with an unlovely name: Hairy spiderwort. Unlike my other
spiderworts, this one seems to only bloom in spring, but the spring show is wonderful.

Phlox pilosa, otherwise known as Practically Perfect Pink
Phlox or PPPP, which travelled all the way from Tennessee. Thank you Gail!


And thank you to Katarina at roses and stuff for hosting Blooming Friday.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

The garden is really greening up and coming into flower, and it's time once again for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Woodland phlox and foamflower

Phlox 'Clouds of Perfume' with native Jacob's Ladder

With new fronds of Southern lady fern in azalea bed

Woodland phlox runs the spectrum in color from very
pale blue (almost white), to icy blue to lilac to purple.

Woodland phlox 'Louisiana' in foreground

'London Grove Blue'

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia)

Toothwort

Eastern columbine

Running Green and Gold

Dwarf crested iris

First bearded iris to bloom here, 'Crimson King'

The rambunctious but beautiful Wisteria that we grow as a shrub.

Jessamine growing up into one of the Encore Amethyst azaleas.

A native Viburnum which I am guessing is Blackhaw, mostly because the Blackhaw at the NC Botanical Garden is also in bloom and a tree form like this one. These get to at 20-25' in height and grow on the creek banks and in one of the sloughs.

Piedmont azalea (Rhododendron canescens) to the right

White-flowering Piedmont azalea

Apple tree blossoms, from our dwarf apple trees.

Wild crabapple tree growing at the edge of one of the floodway fields.

Thank you to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day.