Pine-Scented Air Freshener

 

So, I finally got one of those pine -scented air fresheners for my car that everyone has been talking about!  I thought I wouldn't like it but surprisingly, the scent was light, fresh, and remarkably realistic.

 

I love conifers but don't have a lot of them in my small garden.  It never occured to me when I visited Vassey Nursery over the weekend that I'd be bringing home something with needles.  (perhaps an especially nice acupuncturist but a small tree/shrub, probably not.

But here we were in the most romantic of spots for any gardener, a nursery filled to the gills with plants all ready for spring.

Those of us who live in this area take all of these coniferous choices for granted.  If you live in an area where these don't thrive, consider this payback for all those gorgeous pictures of cacti and succulents(especially agaves) growing beautifully outside that you post.  Not that I'm envious or anything but  I digress...

So there we were in the conifer section of Vassey and I heard my name being whispered from afar.

Could it have been pinus thunbergii whose cone clusters always bring a smile to my face?  No, this was not the one.

Then it happened our eyes met and it was love at first sight.   Pinus wallichiana 'Zebrina' was standing there looking a little shy, with luxurious long  bluish needles held in tufts.  It was like a teddy bear.  Who could resist?

I certainly tried while walking around the nursery where these other cool things were found.

 Weeping Acer palmatums have wonderful multi-season interest!

Prunus incisa 'Little Twist' has interesting zig gagging branches.

The foliage of Primula Kennedy Irish Innisfree is pretty yummy.  Now imagine redish orange flowers ...

Or you could just look at this picture that I borrowed from Skagit Gardens' site.

 

These nice-sized fatsia japonicas in two gallon pots were only twenty-five bucks.  You can never have too many of these!

I didn't manage to get a very good shot of these metal flowers but they were really sweet in person.

Chickens crossed with herons?  Whatever these are, they're interesting.

One of my favorite spring flowers is pulmonaria or lungwort.  They have beautiful foliage and cool flowers that begin life as vibrant pink and then change to this intense blue color.  The bloom at the same time as daffodils here so the combination of blue and yellow is delightful, especially under my big dark pink camellia japonica whose falling petals create a pink carpet for the daffodils and pulmonairas. 

Oh shoot, I've been gardening in my mind again.  The daffodils in that spot have deteriorated over the last few years and a smart gardener would have replanted some in the fall.  The reality is floppy daffodil foliage and pulmonarias struggling to throw blooms above the sea of camellia petals. 

Seeing these at Vassey made me check on my own when I got home.  Bless their blooming hearts, they're still alive!

Hope you are finding lots of treasures popping up in your garden and at nurseries.   If youre garden is still beneath snow,  spring will soon be here!