Gardeners find joy in the little surprises that they find in their gardens. It may be a particular leaf texture, color or shape, a flower that you forget until it blooms each year, a composition that clicks or any number of little gifts that our gardens give us to rejuvinate our spirits. Maybe they just put a smile on our faces or make us exclaim, "how sweet." but these gifts of the garden are one of the reasons we do what we do. Here are a few of the happy surprises from my garden that made me happy to be outside again.
On February 18th I spotted my garden's first crocus of the season. These were inherited with the garden and bloom in a little piece of lawn that remains unmowed until the foliage ripens. The squirrels love to play with these for some reason. They don't seem to dig the bulbs but they tear the flowers apart.
The silly things are everywhere in my garden.
Saxifrage all made up with her winter rouge looks quite pretty today.
Yes, I will remove the tag from my Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' soon!
I'd purchased a Camellia s. 'Yuletide' before but it got a little more shade than they like and I thought it wouldn't bloom at all. The happy surprise I found was that while it didn't bloom in December or January, it has buds on it and will looks like it'll be joining the camellia Japonicas in their bloom time this year.
February 19 brought the first Camellia blooms. Always the first japonica in my garden to bloom is this very old bush that came with the house and has been snapped in half by snow just about every time we get more than a few inches. In spite of that, it keeps living and blooming.
Edgeworthia chrysantha made an appearance on the 19th as well.
The last thing that made me feel fortunate to garden where I do was this rose. Sure, it won't win any beauty contests but any rose blooming in February in my neck of the woods is a rare occurance!
I hope that even if your garden is still covered with snow, it's giving you happy surprises! Spring is just around the corner!
It is indeed :) A nice sized drift of snowdrops you have there, obviously they are happy where they are. Still waiting for Crocus to bloom in our garden, can't wait!
ReplyDeleteSoon! I'm lucky to have inherited the snowdrops with the garden. They've multiplied like mad and have now been moved just about everywhere.
DeleteSigns of spring and snowdrops everywhere. Beautiful camellias enjoyed from afar. I like your random garden surprises.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful that by mid February things in the garden seem to really start moving forward quickly. I love my zone! (Mostly.)
DeleteThe color on that Saxifrage is stunning! I always laugh at the British and their crazy obsession with Snowdrops...but then I see pics like yours and think...hmmm...I want Snowdrops!
ReplyDeleteSnowdrops are sweet and make gorgeous ornamental grass looking clumps of foliage after the blooms. And the foliage ripens off and disappears so quickly that other plants can grow up and around them with no problem. Even with all of those snowdrops, I saw a few different varieties at the NWFGS and thought briefly of getting some different ones myself.
DeleteThere is so much happiness in flowers. Your crocus flowrers are ablaze and that rose couldn't look any more romantic if it tried :) Your photos in your last post are beyond awesome, the colour of the sky is unbelievable, especially the way it lit up the grasses.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rosemary, it was a gorgeous moment! Outdoor flowers bring a lot of happiness! Give me blooms outside over cut flowers inside any day!
DeleteIsn't wonderful what a little bit of winter sun will do for blooms? I find your clumps of snowdrops delightful. I hope you get lot's of enjoyment out of them this season. Cheers, Jenni
ReplyDeleteThey're one of my favorite things because I can see them when I walk on my porch on the way to/from work and they signal the beginning of another garden year for me.
DeleteOne year I decided to underplant a weeping Japanese Maple with a carpet of early crocus. I was so proud of my self for dreaming up such an eye catching spring display. A day after they opened I went out to marvel over it and the freakin' tree rats had dug every crocus up, ate the bulbs and flowers then callously tossed the foliage clumps aside. Wah!
ReplyDeleteOne word: d-Con! Sounds like a beautiful plan! Darned tree rats anyway!
DeleteWow...you really do have "drifts" of snowdrops. Mine never seem to multiply, but they are sweet in their relative solitude.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to share some of these spreaders with you! They pop up everywere. Since they came with my garden, they are probably a very old nearly wild variety that loves to reproduce.
DeleteSpring is just around the corner? We're expecting up to 6" of snow tonight! Love your crocus and snowdrops, by the way, and the thing that I hate is the way the squirrels bite off their flowers off!
ReplyDeleteThe corner may be a few miles down the road for some folks. Sorry about your snow. Have you ever thought of living in the Pacific Northwest? Squirrels are cute but can be pretty nasty to some plants!
DeleteOutlaw, nice surprise! Crocuses, snowdrops are very first flowers that show us: the spring is here! But rose...it's a phenomenon, I think.
ReplyDeleteSomehow that rose made it through fall and first part of winter to bloom in February. Very special.
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