-

-
Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day March 2018

Well, somehow we've made it through another winter and spring is only five days away.  On the fifteenth of every month, Carol, now twice published author,  at May Dreams Gardens hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  To see what's blooming in gardens all over the world, click here.  To see most of what's blooming in my zone 8 western Washington garden, scroll down.

Winter pansies looked quite dead during our February freeze but have bounced back nicely.

Primroses always look better if kept under cover but even with a little rain damage, their bright colors are welcome this time of year.


Muscari armeniacum aka Grape hyacinths.

Iris reticulata 'Katherine Hodgkin'

The galanthus flowers will soon begone but we'll get to enjoy the grassy foliage for a short time before it, too, is a memory.

Camellias



Hellebores






Stachyurus praecox

Edgeworthia chrysantha

Arctostaphylos something or other

Arctostaphylos something else altogether

Species tulips have returned in the parking strip but haven't increased since they were planted a year ago.

Rosemary

Inherited lawn crocus.

Crocus tommasinianus planted a few years ago are spreading like wildfire.  

Euphorbia wulfenii


 Virbunum x bodnantense 'Dawn' whose blooms and fragrance have brought pleasure since autumn.  

Lawn violets that appeared from nowhere and are slowly spreading.  I still laugh about a flier left by a lawn spraying company at my door which listed violets as one of the weeds in my lawn.  If they only knew...

Lonicera fragrantissima

Daphne odora 

This is cheating as this Aristolochia californica (Califronia Pipe Vine) just came home with me from a plant sale.

Out in the greenhouse this salvia, labeled Salvia dombeyi  is blooming but it looks as if it may have been mislabeled. 

Fewer flower spikes this year on one clivia and the other has none.  Hmmm.  Maybe I should feed them and pot them up.
What's blooming in your garden this month?   For those of you who currently have only frost flowers atop your snow mulch, you have my sincere sympathy.

33 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Let's hope that spring doesn't hold any cold surprises!

      Delete
  2. I am hoping that dividing and repotting will get my Clivia to bloom - yours is gorgeous! Those crocus are breathtakingly beautiful, and I am envious of your Grape Hyacinths photo. I have found it very difficult to get a clear photo of mine. Of course, my dog constantly running over them and me doesn't help. (Any time I bend over or hunker down to get a photo, she thinks I want to play!)
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh so many beautiful things to enjoy today at your garden. Alas, not at mine despite the date. One area of snowdrops are half up and one lone Hellebore is pushing a bud out of the ground but that is it. There was a famous incident here a number of years ago when one of those lawn spraying companies got their addresses mixed up. They sprayed a lawn that was a prairie not recognizing intentional planting from a weedy lot. What an uproar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry. Spring will eventually make it your way! Wow, that spraying incident was unfortunate!

      Delete
  4. You have a lot of lovely blooms in your garden, and it isn't even Spring yet. I particularly like how the crocus and viola bloom in the grass, but my favorite though it the Spanish moss that "borrowed" the salvia flowers for the occasion. Great combination.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Spanish moss does go well with that salvia.

      Delete
  5. So many wonderful blooms in your garden! I sometimes think it would be nice to put Crocus in my lawn, but I might have to dismiss my lawn care company, they'd mow right over them without a thought. And I really hate that chore, so it won't happen. Love to see yours! My Muscari are still tiny little nubs, so interesting the difference between us caused by 600 feet of elevation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Muscari are a cheat as they came in pots from Molbak's recently. However, those in the ground at my school in Milton are in bloom.

      Delete
  6. I do miss the Winter Honeysuckle and 'Dawn' viburnum in my former garden. I figured they would take up too much real estate here but perhaps I should reconsider. I love seeing your camellias!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seems to be a trend to prune the 'Dawn' viburnum into a standard which would free up space beneath for other plants and the winter honeysuckle can take a lot of pruning. Neither is very interesting during the summer though.

      Delete
  7. That white camellia is absolutely beautiful! So many other lovely blooms in your garden, too. I kept my clivias in the house this winter because the foliage didn't look as good when I kept them in the greenhouse, but that does mean the blooms are off-schedule and will probably be a bit funny this year. I'm determined to dig and divide my Galanthus this year after they finish blooming!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're so lucky to live in a climate where camellias thrive except when you plant new ones in the summer and forget to water them. Oops!

      Delete
  8. Your early spring garden is wonderful despite your nasty bouts with old man winter. Those crocus are heartbreakingly beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's funny that what we most admire in other gardens is what we can't grow in our own climates.

      Delete
  9. I love the lighting (golden hour?) on many of your blooms. Yes, I'm one of those with snowflowers only, so I gravitated right to your camillas and hellebores. Please, send spring our way!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I put spring in the mail addressed to you so it should arrive shortly:) The lighting is courtesy of the polarizing filter on my camera lens.

      Delete
  10. Those Camellias are gorgeous! My Camellias were full of buds but yesterday there were two hail storms in a matter of hours and many buds were broken and their foliage looks like it's been throug a shredder!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your blooms are gorgeous. I am amazed at how many you have what with the freeze and snow not so long ago. Your garden has recovered admirably. My poor garden is still thawing out. Not so much blooming but I am lovin every one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm always impressed with how resilient most plants are.

      Delete
  12. You have a wonderful selection of early blooms! I was enjoying the primroses and daffodils and the glossy yellow ranunculus glowing in the sun as we worked outside this afternoon. I found the first violets blooming too. and a Bewicks wren was carrying nesting material into a bird house over the potting bench.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spring is in the air! I get to play in my garden all day tomorrow and am overjoyed!

      Delete
  13. It must be fantastic to have so many things coming along. The hellebores in themselves could carry the garden through March but the crocus and everything else sure do add to the fun.
    I'll accept your sympathy regarding the frost flowers.... that's all we've got right now...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry Frank. Snow this late in the season would drive me crazy. Oh wait, I'm already there.

      Delete
  14. Looking quite lovely in the Garden du Outlaw...

    ReplyDelete
  15. So many lovelies in your garden, Peter. I covet your Stachyrus praecox. I have the S. salicifolia, but now that I know there is one that blooms on bare branches, I kind of wish I had that one instead!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On the bright side S. salicifolia has foliage that looks grand year round while S. praecox is glorious with blooms on bare branches for a few months but the leaves are a bit unremarkable during the summer

      Delete
  16. Wow, spring has really arrived in Tacoma. I'm green with envy (actually, there is no green, I'm mainly brown with envy). Love your lawn Crocuses!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.