"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Sunday, January 23, 2011

What have we here?

We were lucky enough to have another dry day and even some sun peeking out on Saturday.  After watching a very close and nerve-wracking basketball game of Sweet Pea's (they won!), we hurried home to be able to enjoy the weather.  It was so mild that it felt more like early spring than the middle of winter.  While I started cleaning up the shed garden and around the pond both of the girls worked on the fairy garden, giving it a little "updating".  Sweet Pea showed me the 2 inch tall Japanese Maple "sapling" that she planted in the tiniest terra cotta pot I've seen.  The little pot is only about 1 1/2 inches tall itself, perfect for fairies to tend.  She plans to do a post on it soon, her blog is listed in the PNW garden blogroll.
I walked around the path garden looking for bulbs that may have popped up and found a really nice surprise...

One of the Pulmonarias has begun to flower!  This tagless one was rescued from the nursery a couple of years ago, this is the first time it's bloomed.

Even though it's only January the path is already starting to get the look of spring.  The Pink Flowering Currant's (Ribes sanguineum) buds are growing more each day, Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) is greening up and the scent of Sarcococca/Sweet Box carries across the yard.  Can you see the Tete-a-tete Daffodils coming up?

Old-fashioned Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) are emerging.

The Fairies have hung their door at the bottom of the giant Ponderosa Pine and are busy getting the garden ready for spring.  The green coming up at the bottom of the picture are Bluebells, we have lots and lots of them ☺.

Fairies lounging by the pond.

And fairies hiding in the shed garden.  This little area is becoming one of my favorite parts of the shed garden.  This is a Flowering Currant 'King Edward VII' with Epimedium and Hellebore 'Blue Lady' growing nearby.  Epimedium has done so well in my dry shade that I plan to pick a few more up this year.

I found an interesting post on Cliff Mass' weather blog (he's a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington) talking about what has happened with the La Nina winter we were predicted to have here in the Pacific Northwest (a prediction of increased snowfalls and colder temperatures than we've had in many years).  As most of us have noticed that live here, aside from snowing a few times, the weather doesn't seem that unusual compared to most winters here.  His blog is always interesting and if you live around here it's a great one to check out.
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38 comments:

  1. Catherine,
    Nice surprise the Pulmonaria in bloom. I can't believe the bleeding hearts are popping out already, but then again yours do bloom much earlier than ours.

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  2. I am noticing how clean and neat you keep everything. It inspires me.

    Nice to see their little heads poking out and promising of spring.

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  3. It is so encouraging to see a garden turn 'green', with Spring on the horizon; here in IL, it's been a freezing cold January and no hope for early perennials for at least 60 days! We'll live vicariously through your faeries and emerging flowers...

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  4. Catherine, Your garden is almost 3 months ahead of mine. I will have to visit spring on your blog. Thanks for sharing a taste of spring.

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  5. Our garden is still under so much snow. Yours looks awesome already!

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  6. OH, Catherine, It is always about this time of year, when the landscape is frigid and white, that I truly envy you!! I try not to feel that way but gosh look at all the growth you have all over your garden. Maybe it has more to do with all the fairies!! I love the little door beneath the pine. I am happy for you to have blooms and to see fresh shoots of life stirring around your garden. Enjoy!

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  7. It's hard to see all this new growth knowing that I am months away!
    Love the tiny door :P

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  8. love, love, love your fairy garden!

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  9. Nice places for nature exploration!!!!
    I love to spend time in garden or outdoor patio in winter time with a outdoor heater with lots of excitement.

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  10. Wow! So cool that you have a Pulmonaria already blooming, mine have not even shown their heads. And your Hellebore looks so big and lush and beautiful!

    I spent our recent sunny days outside too, pulling lots of tiny shot weed and cutting back and cleaning up. I keep thinking when I'm done I'll get the camera and take pictures so I can do a blog post about all the things that are starting to emerge, but then I forget, come in, have a hot drink and sit down exhausted. Ah well! It would be kind of boring if I did a post with just one sentence -- "I worked in the garden today." LOL

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  11. Catherine, I always LOVE a visit to your garden and this post is no exception. It's clear all those fairies have been putting in a whole lot of effort - all the new growth is so exciting.

    The fairydoor looks so cute in its new home. With the promise of a garden filled with wonderful Spring-flowering bulbs, you have much to look forward to & I'm looking forward to your sharing it all with us. My own garden consists largely of permanents and nothing really dies back during wintertime, so to see all your bulbs and dormant plants emerging with such enthusiasm is truly magical!

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  12. Clearly the fairies are the true harbingers of spring, although I find the brave knobs of bleeding hearts pushing out from the cold dirt thrilling every year. Lovely to visit your awakening garden!

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  13. Catherine ~ no matter what time of year your garden is always a delight to visit. I love seeing things emerge and greening up, and that little fairy door at the bottom of that big old tree is delightful.

    Happy Gardening ~ FlowerLady

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  14. Hi Catherine, Love those nice, surprise winter days when we can get out and observe the garden. I love the fairy door and I have been enjoying Sweetpea's blog too. Hope you all enjoy this week.

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  15. how wonderful the early blooms...love the fairies...mine are hiding trying to stay warm...do they fly south for the winter too???

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  16. I can't believe that somewhere in the known world that spring has arrived. We are having -17 deg Celcius (1.4 deg Faren) temps here in NS today! IT IS COLD; and all my babies are tucked in their lovely warm beds underneath the snow and frost. I won't see them for another month and a half.

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  17. Wow, you have so much going on. You are at least two months ahead of us. It is hard to believe, with all the snow, that there is anything under there waiting to come up.

    Eileen

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  18. Yay for all the emerging plants! We had a gorgeous Saturday here in Portland...I could hardly believe it. I actually started poking around looking for plants too :-)

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  19. This winter seems more mild than most for us (Willamette Valley, OR), which worries me...is Mother Nature going to bring us a wallop and mess with our emerging plants? My daphne is looking like it is getting ready to bloom pretty soon, and one of my roses has new leaves!

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  20. It always amazes me how fast a garden can change.

    Went to the weather site. I like how he says that the lowlands can have a snow event even into March. I've experienced more than one "snow event" clear into April! I forget which year at the moment, pretty sure it was a LaNina year like this one, mild to begin with and then wham two frozen weeks in February and two more in March with the girls skating on the big and me hauling water from the house to the animals. I've learned to not count on anything, and to sleep with one eye on the thermometer.

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  21. I love that photo of the moss on the tree in your previous post! Things are really starting to happen in your garden by the looks of these photos :)

    I was supposed to be working in the garden this weekend, but got diverted into a huge spring clean of the kitchen on Saturday and a big clean out of the garage on Sunday.....but I did manage a couple of hours of leaf clearing and general tidying today at last!

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  22. I cannot believe you have a pulmonaria starting to bloom. your garden is going to be so ahead of ours. Good I will have spring early and watch your garden grow. Your Fairy door looks just so cute ad just look at all those buds on your hellebore.
    Hurrah Sweetpea!

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  23. I'm glad you're finally getting a chance to dry out. Your garden seems happy for the dry weather too. I love the fairy door, it fits perfectly at the base of the pine!

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  24. Hooray for the new growth emerging. I want to plant some Bleeding Hearts in my backyard...seems to be a perfect place. Nice to see what it looks like as it emerges. Sometimes with new plants you aren't always sure who is poking their heads up through the soil.

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  25. Hooray for the new growth emerging. I want to plant some Bleeding Hearts in my backyard...seems to be a perfect place. Nice to see what it looks like as it emerges. Sometimes with new plants you aren't always sure who is poking their heads up through the soil.

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  26. Sarcococca is one of my favorite plants! Their fragrance is pure bliss!

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  27. I love your fairy theme! What a GREAT idea.
    Oh - and your garden is not too bad either :)

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  28. So beautiful Catherine, signs of spring already? I really do need to move to a warmer zone. I ADORE your fairy door at the base of the tree. Can you tell me where I might find one? My weeping birch desperately needs a little door. :)

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  29. Rebecca - I found it at the nursery near us, but I've seen them online too. I hope you can find one!

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  30. Yay! for Sweet pea and her basketball team. I'm waiting right along with your lovely fairies for springs arrival. I enjoyed your post, have a wonderful day.

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  31. It's so wonderful spring is somewhere! Is the earliest your pulmonarias have bloomed? A wonderful sight. We are bracing for another inch of snow.

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  32. That fairy door is the cutest cutest cutest garden decoration I think I've ever seen. So neat that you already have flowers blooming, too!

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  33. It's happening, isn't it? and I'm not ready yet. We had 60 yesterday... now that's no way to have a January. ;) I do love the sun, but things are popping out all over and I fear something may come to bite.

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  34. Hi Catherine, I called my favorite garden centre, and they have a few in stock. I will get there as soon as I can, thank you so much for the inspiration! :O)

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  35. Another nice day here today! I found phlox starting to come up!

    Rebecca - I can't wait to see the one you get. I hope you'll share a picture of it.

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  36. Absolutely delightful. You have a wonderful imagination.

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