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.

Not done yet!

We've had several good frosts already, there have been lows in the 30's at night.  But, that doesn't mean the garden is finished.  I'm always amazed and impressed with what still is going on in November out in the garden.  I decided to slip on the wet and leaf filled Crocs to take a few pictures of some of what still looks good, but it sure felt cold while I out there (could've been the wet bare feet).  I guess if the flowers could handle it, so could I!

Dahlias are still hanging on and blooming.  I love the dark colored foliage on this one.  Calibrachoa is still blooming and looks nice and colorful.

There are still lots of pretty blue Hydrangea 'Nikko Blue' flowers.  Many have faded, but there are quite a few that still look this fresh.

Geranium 'Rozanne' the flower that never wants to stop is still going very strong.

Hardy fuchsia 'Pat's Dream' is just covered with flowers.  The hardy fuchsia by the pond is also blooming well.  These will bloom until the first hard freeze.

Erysismum 'Apricot Twist', which according to the tag only blooms until March, hasn't quit blooming.

This Swiss Chard has been here since May.  We just keep cutting off the older leaves and new ones just keep on coming.

I've never had a Nasturtiums blooming this late.  There is Kale and beets growing to the left.

Our lone pumpkin is still on the vine.  The girls wouldn't let me to cut it off, they want to see what happens.

Aster lateriflorus 'Prince' was new at the end of summer.  Tons of little flowers are blooming.

Rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton' keeps putting out buds, they don't seem to like the frosty cold weather and don't open much further than this.

Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' is covered in heavy dew here.  This will be evergreen all winter.

Daphne transatlantica 'Summer Ice' has many, many fragrant flowers.  This will bloom almost year round.  I was worried it was dying toward the end of summer, one whole branch died back.  I added some compost around the roots and gave it extra water, it seems to have bounced right back now.

We also still have lots of apples on the apple tree.  I recently picked some and made the most delicious apple pie.  Click here to find the recipe.  It was amazing!  (I  did cheat and used the premade crust that you just unroll into a pie pan, but I did still cut it and make a lattice top.)

Hope there are still some plants holding on and adding some life to your garden!

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

Day after Christmas blooms!

We had a very nice Christmas yesterday with my family.  The Littlest Gardener spent the day in her new Rapunzel costume (and is still in it now) and Sweet Pea has been enjoying her new game.  The garden fairies left a gift for the girls under the tree, it's a door that goes at the base of a tree so they can make a home inside.  Once we get it hung I'll share some pictures of it.
Our weather today has been all over the place; windy, rainy, sunny and COLD!  They are talking snow for the middle of the week.  I thought I'd take a quick walk through the back garden to see if anything had changed, and happily there has been a few changes.  It was still windy and getting late in the day, but I was too excited not to take pictures.

I've got flowers blooming!  The Sarcococca ruscifolia or Sweet Box is already blooming and smells so good!  This plant lives close to some large evergreen trees and does really well.  The berries (which aren't edible) are from last years flowers, this shrub is very slow growing and evergreen.  The delicious scent carries throughout the yard.  I'm thinking I will add one to the entry garden that I'm redoing.

The Hellebore 'Mardi Gras Double' that I planted last year has buds coming up.  Click here to see what it will look like in bloom.

A Hellebore starting to open!

Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice', a pretty evergreen shrub, is starting to bloom again.  It blooms almost year round and like the Sarcococca has a wonderful scent.  I highly recommend both of these shrubs for some winter color and fragrance.

I love how this container is looking.  There is a Viola tucked in here, but it's not blooming right now.

I had mentioned some Hellebores that I had been visiting at the nursery a couple of weeks ago.  My husband told me to go buy them for my Christmas present, so here they are waiting for their new home in the front entry garden.  'Pink Marble' and 'Pink Frost' are the two I chose, can you tell I had my 4 year old daughter with me who insisted we needed them to be pink?  I've seen pictures of both of these on blogs and am happy that they will now be in my garden too.

I hope you all had a nice weekend and maybe even had a nice surprise in your garden.  

First Fertilizer Friday of Spring!

Spring has started off nicely around here with several days up in the 60's. I had a little time to get some gardening done while it was nice, now we are back to rain which is very normal for us this time of year. I've taken the lids off of several of the wintersowing containers that either have perennials or annuals like Nigella and Larkspur that I know can handle any more cold we get.
A couple of days ago I planted a new rose 'Tamora' in an area that I've been wanting to add more roses to. The dirt in that area was pretty bad, but over the years I've been adding more and more compost which seems to have helped quite a bit. I worked in lots more compost around the planting spot for the rose. Then it was time to water it in. When I went to turn the water on that goes to the outdoor faucet I heard a very strange noise. As I walked outside to turn the faucet on I knew something didn't seem right. Walking back into the garage I saw water pouring from the ceiling and down through the wall. We had two weeks of record breaking cold back in December and we think that whatever water was left in the pipe must have frozen and cracked the pipe, but we didn't discover it until I turned the water on that flows through it to the outdoor faucet. We are lucky that there was a valve to turn the water off where the pipe comes off the water main and nothing was damaged. Looks like we have another project for the to do list, but luckily the soldering skills we learned this winter will come in handy for it.
Now for the good things going on around here:

These are my indoor seedlings. I don't usually start too much inside because of lack of space, but I do enjoy starting a least some. Here there are tomatoes, Morning Glory, Cleome, Verbascum, Nicotiana, Hibiscus, Amaranthus, Butterfly flower, Lupine and more. The only one that I'm having trouble with are the Morning Glories which germinate and then rot within a couple of days.

I've started two types of tomatoes; 'Black Krim' and 'Tigerella'. I really need to pot these up and see if I can separate a few seedlings.

The Amaranthus 'Love Lies Bleeding' has the prettiest colored seedlings. They germinated very quickly.

Lupines are doing pretty well. Not too many germinated, but I seem to remember that being a problem before too. I did nick all the seeds before I planted them.

Outdoors Daphne 'Summer Ice' is making the backyard smell delicious. This will bloom all summer and into the fall. I was happy to see it sent up a new plant which I'm letting get a little bigger before I try moving it.

Tulips have just started blooming. I planted these many years ago and they continue to bloom every year, where as others bloom one year and then never return. I'm glad these are the ones that return though, I love the coloring of them.

Visit Tootsie to see who else is "flaunting their flowers" this Fertilizer Friday.
It seems like once it's Spring it gets even busier around here and I haven't had a lot of time to visit very many blogs, but I will try to get to visit more over the next few days.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - Full of Promise.

Our record breaking freezing temperatures have finally gone, and while it's still very cold it's so nice to not see everything frozen. I was very concerned that many plants wouldn't survive the weather, but amazed as I went outside to see that many of those plants were tougher than I thought. The Hellebores and Pansies are already lifting themselves up off the ground. Many plants have buds that continued to swell despite the cold temperatures. Primroses still have buds on them and don't look like they were damaged by the cold.
Instead of being depressed over the roses and fuchsias and other flowers that were frozen in their tracks, I felt really happy about what was still there and not that far from blooming. I even managed to find a couple of blooms. So while not the showiest of months, the December garden pulled through with a couple of flowers to make 12 months in a row of blooms outside!

Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice' has quite a few flowers still on it, and a good amount of buds as well. This has been blooming since April!

A lone Pansy bloom. As you can see every other flower in the two window boxes were killed from the freeze, this one is standing proudly .

Inside Paperwhites are still blooming.

Another African Violet has begun to bloom too. It's amazing how easily they grow if I remember to water and fertilize them. In the past I've usually forgotten to water them until it was too late.

Sarcococcas and Hellebores aren't far off from blooming. I'm pretty sure that they'll both be ready for January's Bloom Day. Indoors the Lemon tree is getting more and more flower buds, and many are close to blooming, can't wait to smell them.
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is hosted the 15th of every month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Visit her to see what she's got blooming as well as what other gardeners from all over the world have.