Friday, March 15, 2013

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~


33 comments:

  1. How great Sue! I still don't have anything blooming outside, just some early bulbs poking up their heads an inch or so out of the ground. I really need to do some Crocus and Snowdrops and of course I should get a Hamamelis. Yours is a stunner.

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    1. Every spring I vow to plant more bulbs. Then fall hits and I never get around to it. Short of cutting down all my trees I'm not sure how to overcome the fall time crunch.

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  2. Love, love , love your witch hazel. The pop of yellow is great, but it's the elegant shape that is perfect. My experience with Hamamelis is still frustrating. So few blooms, too tiny to see at all, and anyway the whole thing has held its brown dry leaves from last year and looks like rubble.

    I'll come back here to see your post again to get my Hamamelis fix!

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    1. Have you tried 'Arnold Promise'? I know there are more popular cultivars and different colors but this one has been a reliable bloomer and the yellow does really "pop".

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  3. Great love ! What a nice post and you remembered me some deep life moments with my grand mother. I always grow many plants in this season specially i love purple crocus flowers too much.

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  4. My hellebores are ALL under snow at the moment and today is a particularly bitter cold and windy one.
    If I were you, I'd be watching from the bathroom window as often as possible! ;)

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    1. Since we turned the clocks ahead I can't see it from the bathroom in the morning anymore-at least during the week. The seven day forecast here has barely a day over 40. Spring has stalled.

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  5. Your "pickins" don't look so slim to me... I'm so envious. Right now our Spring is full of much promise and one tiny surprise.

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    1. Promise is what spring is all about and the garden is always filled with surprises. I saw your surprise, Carolyn but for some reason I could not find a way to comment. Happy GBBD!

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  6. Don't you love the surprises the local animals leave for you? Not those ... the moved crocus! Love your Arnold.

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    1. Now if only I could get the squirrels to move bulbs from other gardens into mine :).

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  7. What a difference a few miles make; you're enjoying blooms, I'm seeing and smelling nothing but Jelena witch hazel. Which is not chopped liver, to be sure. But my hellebores aren't even out of the ground yet. When they do come up, I'll enjoy 'em all, including the so-called stinking one. I love its leaves' color and shape and tend not to crush (or eat) them.

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    1. The Hellebores were making progress until the bitter cold yesterday. With 3-5 inches of snow coming in tonight I'm guessing they wish they waited.

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  8. Hooray for your first blooms! Hooray for spring being just around the corner. Happy GBBD Sue!

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  9. Crocus, Snowdrops, and Witchhazel! Nothing can be better.

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  10. How nice to have a witch hazel! I cannot wait to have one for this time of year. Hooray for spring!

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    1. If I had the room I'd add a few more witch hazel varieties. They certainly brighten up the winter landscape.

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  11. Not half bad Sue , and love your witch hazel.Very elegant !

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  12. All hellebores are poisonous as in you could get sick from eating them. I love H. foetidus. It is a great color with pinks and reds in the garden. Your snowdrop looks like the coomon snowdrop, G. nivalis, which is hardly common. What a nice surprise for it to arrive on its own. Lovely witch hazel.

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    1. Maybe if I move one of my dark purple Hellebores closeby I'll appreciate H. foetidus more. Plant combos are always best but there isn't that much to work with this early in the season.

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  13. Inspired by your site and Lee May's, I ventured out into the chilly air to investigate my garden in Niantic. I found two large clumps of Snowdrops blooming. I was pleasantly surprised to see budding on the lilac planted this past summer and also life showing on the hydrangeas. Unfortunately, it looks as though I have lost 1/3 of my rhododendron

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    1. Hello, Anon. Looks like your walkabout brought some good news. As for the rhoddy, here's hoping its remaining two-thirds will bloom profusely.

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    2. Thanks for stopping by. Color can be found in the garden 12 months of the year. Sometimes you just have to get out there and poke around.

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  14. Nice view - must make it hard to get ready in the morning. I think I need Arnold with some snowdrops planted underneath as I have nothing blooming. Maybe next Bloom Day.

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    1. I keep planning to underplant Arnold with something but never get around to it. There are a couple of clumps of Iris reticulata under there but they aren't blooming yet. Maybe some early Hellebores would be a good idea.

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  15. I love your witch hazel. Yellow and spring just go together. Waiting for the forsythia here.

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    1. Forsythia is usually late March/early April here but this year everything is late so I suspect that will be as well.

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  16. My witch hazel bloomed in November. What's up? Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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    1. Some bloom in the fall-it depends on the variety.

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  17. You crack me up! I have lots of crappy dry shade, too. I once killed a witch hazel. Or maybe it was voles. Or may clay soil. Or all three. Love that runaway crocus. It's proof that possibly survival of the smartest still has a chance. :o)

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  18. We're a long way behind you! Most of our lawns are still snowcovered.

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