Bloom Day March 2013

Finally!  My first legitimate Bloom Day post since last fall.  Winter has yet to release it's grip on central CT so although the pickens are slim, something is finally blooming outside in my garden. 

With the exception of H. foetidus, all of my Hellebores are still in tight bud.  Rather than run around taking pictures of every one, here is a representative sample.  Usually they are further along by now.  All we need is a stretch of warmer days to coax them along.

I was curious why H. foetidus is referred to as the stinking Hellebore so I launched a quick Google search.  Apparently the leaves give off an offensive odor when crushed.  They are also poisonous.  Truth be told, they are not one of my favorite plants but since not much else blooms this time of year I suppose I can tolerate a few of them.

Here is my mystery Galanthus.  Although I'd like to, I've never planted any snow drops.  Either this one is a gift from a squirrel or it hitched a ride in a potted plant.  Maybe I'll get lucky and it will spread around a bit.

I found this crocus growing all by itself in the front garden.  Until the squirrels decimated them I had a carpet of these under a weeping Japanese maple.  Somehow this guy made it halfway across the front yard and was spared.

Last but not least, the crown jewel of my March Bloom Day-Hamamelis 'Arnold Promise', in full bloom now for about two weeks.  For some reason the pictures come out better from a distance than from up close.  The closer I get the more the color tends to fade into the background lessening the impact of the picture.  Knowledge of photography would probably be valuable here but as I've mentioned before, I'm a point and shoot hack.

From upstairs in the bathroom I am greeted by this view.

Contrary to some of the cultural advice I've seen, witch hazels do not require full sun.  Arnold grows for me in the dry crappy shade of an oak and gets very little direct sunlight during the growing season.

As always, thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this monthly event.  Be sure to head over to her site and check out what's blooming in gardens all over the world today.  Happy almost spring.  Let the 2013 gardening games begin!

Sue~