December flowers.

Over the weekend my girls and I visited a couple of nurseries.  I love to see the Christmas displays and also what plants are out.  I never stop thinking of gardening, even when the top layer of soil is frozen in much of my yard.  Some nurseries are still trying to get rid of perennials and there are still good deals to be found.  The weather over the weekend was very cold and wet.  Over the last couple of days the sun has broken through, but it's still cold with the high getting only to 39.

How come every winter I decide I can squeeze one more Hellebore in?  Probably because there's barely anything blooming right now.  I found this Helleborus Niger 'Jacob' and thought it would brighten up a spot in the garden.  Where, I don't know, but I'll find a good spot that I can see from inside the house.

While carrying 'Jacob' around I found a clearance table at the nursery.  Everything was at least 50% off!  There were lots of really good plants on it too, but I was good and just found a few.

After seeing the Hellebores in the nursery I decided to see what the Hellebores in my garden were doing.  These are Lenten Rose type Hellebores and they bloom toward the end of February whereas the H. Nigers also called "Christmas Rose" are blooming right around now.

A self seeded Red Valerian in my backyard blooming now which seems very late, but I'll take that color anyday!

Violas seem to love this half wine barrel.  I think they are protected enough that the cold temperatures don't seem to bother them.  I'm also very happy to see all those buds on the Pieris.  I find myself checking for buds on other plants like Camellias and Sarcococcas.  Just seeing those buds helps me through the cold weather because I know there is the promise of flowers to come.

Daphne 'Summer Ice' will bloom up until about January and then take a month or two off before it's back in bloom again.  This is an evergreen shrub and those flowers smell so good!

Isn't the new growth on Abelia pretty?  It didn't bloom long this year but the pink here is almost as good.  It's mostly an evergreen shrub unless we get many days really cold weather, and then it will lose most of its leaves.

Our backyard gets the most sun during the winter and spring and so I love to go and stand on the deck to soak up the sun when it's out.  I've been adding more and more container plantings to this area.  The red flowers are Cyclamen and Pansies  There are a few more containers that aren't seen in this picture that are planted with tulip bulbs.  I've seen signs of digging, but so far no bulbs are gone.  I think the squirrels still prefer the apples that are left on the tree.

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning with lots of oranges in it, tonight's sunset is just as pretty.  As nice as it is I do look forward to when the sunset is later than 4:20 pm!

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

November 2010 Bloom Day

November garden bloggers bloom day is here and we are lucky enough to still have flowers blooming in the garden.  Still no frost here, although I did see that the National Weather Forecast has predicted a chance of snow for the weekend.  Yesterday I planted some more bulbs that I found at the grocery store (I wasn't looking for bulbs but they were right there at the entrance calling out to me), Tulipa greigii 'Quebec', and planned to take more pictures of flowers after I was finished but by 2:45 pm it was already starting to get dark, a little earlier than usual because it was so overcast out.  During the summer at that time it's too bright to take pictures, now at that time it's too dark.

 Rose 'Tamora' didn't grow much in height this year, but has produced lots of blooms for it's first year in the garden.

 'Kimberlina' is covered in opening buds.

 The Lavender has a new round of flowers which is surprising.  I planted these as 2 inch plants last year and they are huge now.

 The Abelias are covered in flowers.

 Cosmos still blooming.

 On of the longest blooming perennials in my yard are Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber).

Tiarella - I think this is 'Neon Lights' is just starting to bloom.  In fact all the Tiarellas have new blooms on them.

Also in bloom are some Heucheras, hardy fuchsias, Mexican Orange (Choysia ternata), Geranium 'Rozanne' and 'Wargrave Pink', Daphne 'Summer Ice', Calendula and Pansies.

To see who else has flowers blooming now visit Carol of May Dreams Gardens who hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day the 15th of each month.

Fertilizer Friday - October 22

We had another beautiful day here yesterday, but things changed overnight.  Rainy days after a string of very sunny ones are not so bad this time of year.  They are a good excuse to get something done inside, like send seeds to people I promised them to.  This year I'm glad to have my garden shed to work in and have somewhere to keep the seeds and bulbs that have usually by now started piling up all over the desk.  I've got a basket of bulbs needing to be planted, it was fun finding some new varieties to try.  At the nursery the other day I found Snowdrops, Chionodoxa 'Pink Giant', Fritillaria uva-vulpis and Tulip 'Green Spring'.  Once I find somewhere to squeeze them in along with new Allium, Tulips and Daffodils I may go back for more.
Now for some flowers that I don't have to wait to see until spring:

Hydrangea 'Ayesha' had one fresh bloom as do a couple other Hydrangeas.

Scabiosa 'Beaujolais Bonnets' was new this summer and I kept forgetting to take pictures.  It suddenly has put out a lot of new growth and flower buds.

Rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton' is still looking gorgeous and full of flowers.

Now the Cosmos have decided to bloom like crazy.

Calendula has lots of new flowers too.

The Abelias are loaded with flowers.  They are mostly evergreen here and bloom for a very long time.

New Violas waiting to be planted.  I'm going to plant them in the front flower bed and mix in lots of spring bulbs with them.

Pansies and Pennisetum in a container.  The grasses won't make it through a frost, but I love how they look together.

As I walked through the yard I noticed how wet my feet were feeling.  Guess this combination of socks and flip flops wasn't very effective, it's time to pull out the rubber boots now.  And no, I would never wear this combo anywhere other than my yard.

Now I hope you'll visit Tootsie at Tootsie Time to see what she's up to and what other gardeners have blooming this Fertilizer Friday.