Buds, Bald Eagles and buddies.

We are nearing the end of the kids Spring Break from school.  So far our weather has been anything but spring like.  Yesterday alone we had sun, rain, hailstorms, thunder, lightening and then snow.  It's still been close to 10 degrees below normal.  Finally today we had a break in the rain, although very cold, I still wanted to see what the garden was looking like after all this crazy weather.  I was really happy to see that despite the weather the garden is still moving right along, a bit behind, but it's still going.

The first year for me to have the Greigii tulips bloom.  Are they usually this short?  The yellow is so bright.

Lots of tulips getting close to blooming.

One of the new Frittilarias from last year is close to blooming.

More Fritiallaria or Checkered Lily.

One of my new plants from the Northwest Perennial Alliance plant sale is this Tulipa turkestanica.

Magnolia 'Vulcan' is finally going to bloom.  This is it's third year in our yard.  Last year the buds were damaged by a late freeze.

Camellia japonica 'Kumasaka' with it's first flower opening.

Old-fashioned Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) are about a month behind, but they are finally close to blooming.

Yesterday I saw two Bald Eagles flying above our yard, today there were three and one seemed a bit smaller than the other two.  They appeared to just be soaring around and then eventually flew off.

Poor Gracie and Cookie haven't had much time to play because it's been so wet.  Sweet Pea got Cookie out to at least hop around the deck for awhile.  Gracie has gotten so good being around the rabbit, mostly just following Cookie around to smell him.

Tomorrow looks like the one and only day of sun this week so we'll be finding something to do outside.  Hoping that some of you are getting some spring like weather and enjoying the sun.

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

Something to look forward to...

Is it spring yet?  Just kidding... sort of.  After the freeze we had last week the garden doesn't have much blooming besides some cheerful Pansies and Violas.  I see lots of buds have formed on Hellebores, rhododendrons, Sarcococcas and Camellias but it will be awhile before I get to see them blooming.  It's been very rainy and the ground is too wet to do much in so I've already been going through my garden photos to remind myself of what the first blooms will be.  These spring bloomers have always been very reliable in my zone 8 garden, I would plant all of them again and if I have room I'll gladly add them to other places.
Here are some of the first flowers that will be blooming in early spring:

 Hellebores (H. orientalis) are usually the first to bloom and can be blooming as early as January.  Last year I added a double and am very excited to see how it looks this spring.  I've already made room for another double in the entry garden.  Hellebores can get very pricey, but the good thing about them is that they reseed freely and will give you lots of babies to move or share, they don't usually look like the parent plant though.  The flower buds come up from the ground in late winter and seeing those buds are one of my favorite discoveries in the winter.

 Corsican Hellebore (H. argutifolius) blooms a little later than the ones above.  They also bloom on the end of the flower stems, they already have set quite a few buds.  This was a seedling from a friend and has already started reseeding in my garden.  This type can handle quite a bit more sun and gets to be about 2 feet high and 2 to 3 feet wide.

 Tete-a-tete daffodils seem to be much easier for me than the larger daffodils.  These have been multiplying like crazy over the last few years.  I love how they look popping up from the snow, the yellow seems extra bright then.

 Pulmonaria is another favorite.  It starts blooming very late in winter and then continues to bloom for several months.  This is another that will reseed which is great because they tend to be a little expensive too at most nurseries.

 Winter Hazel (Corylopsis) 'Buttercup' has the sweetest flowers.  They are hard to photograph with my camera because of how light they are.  The whole shrub is covered in the dainty yellow flowers, then it leafs out after.  It's very slow growing, which is good since it probably doesn't have much growing space where it is.

 Old Fashioned Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) is another flower I look forward to seeing.  It seems to start showing signs of life in late winter and once it starts coming up it grows quickly.  These remind me of my mom because when I was living in an apartment and didn't have a garden I asked her to plant one in her garden so I could see what they looked like.  I had only seen the name and was dying to know what the flower would look like.  Of course under my mom's green thumb it grew larger than any of mine have ever dreamed of growing.  I also grow the 'Alba' variety which is pure white and just beautiful.

 Camellia japonicas are early spring bloomers in my yard.  I see them blooming a month or so earlier in other gardens, I think it must have to do with the amount of sun mine get.  I know not everyone is a fan of Camellias, but they do well in my garden and I appreciate their evergreen leaves as well as the pretty flowers.

Pink Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) is not only my favorite spring blooming shrub but also the hummingbirds who fight over it.  It took a few years to really get settled in under the pine tree, but now it is loaded in flowers every March.

A few other late winter/early spring blooms are Sarcococcas, Water Hawthorn (which grows in the pond), Tulips and Crocuses. 

What are some of your favorite early spring bloomers?

March 2010 Bloom Day!

It's already mid March and just 5 days until Spring is officially on the calender. It's also time for March Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. I looked back to see what was happening last year for March's bloom day and was reminded that it was snowing! I also saw that about all that was blooming were Hellebores, Pansies and Pulmonaria. This year all those and then some are blooming. This looks more like an April bloom day post, but I won't complain about that.

Blooming near the pond is Old Fashioned Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis), the White Bleeding Heart is behind this one. The short yellow flowers to the left are Leopard's Bane (Doronicum orientale) and to their left are Tete-a-tete Daffodils.

In the pond Water Hawthorn (Aponogeton distachyos) is blooming although they look a little beat up after the freeze we had about a week ago.

Behind the pond are Daffodils 'Dutch Master' and Drumstick Primrose (Primula denticulata).

Out front the Weeping Cherry is in full bloom. It got a very short haircut last year, so it's a bit shorter than it should be. We thought it looked like a "Who" from Dr. Seuss.

Camellia japonica 'Kumaska' is covered in blooms and buds.

Lots and lots of Muscari is blooming. They've spread like crazy and are overtaking the Heucheras. Guess I'll have to divide and thin them out after they finish flowering.

In the back corner of the path garden it's never looked so good. There are several different types of Hellebores blooming, another Bleeding Heart, Muscari, Pulmonaria, Corylopsis 'Buttercup' and the Camellia japonica 'Marie Bracy'.

Not too bad for it being the middle of March. Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Join her to see what she and other gardeners around the world have blooming today.

The waiting is the hardest part.

I'm having such a hard time waiting to buy plants right now. My shovels are calling out to me to start digging holes for plants in the bed that we enlarged a couple of weeks ago in the side yard. Sometimes I stand and stare at a spot trying to envision what I want to grow in it. I'm trying to wait and see what the sunlight will be like in another month or so. It seems unusually sunny in this new area right now, I seem to remember it being shady during the summer. Even though I've gardened here for almost 11 years the lighting definitely has changed in this side yard. The neighbor's trees have been limbed up and thinned and a 5 foot tall lattice panel has been removed, both allowing quite a bit more sun into this area. I also know this soil can be very dry and I really want to continue to amend the soil before I plant much. So, I will continue to wait a little longer. I've told myself the selection will only be better at the nurseries in another month too.
While I wait to plant and see color in the blank places, I'll enjoy the color that is going on in other parts of the garden.

Daffodil 'Dutch Master' is my first ever Daffodil to bloom from a bulb I planted. I love how bright it is.

Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) blooming in the pond. I just repotted it a few weeks ago and didn't even see a bud, just noticed the flower yesterday.

Camellia japonica 'Kumasaka' is full of flowers.

The Hellebores in the front yard.

One of my fall containers still looking bright and cheerful.

Heuchera 'Berry Smoothie' has the prettiest coloring on the new leaves.

Heuchera 'Marmalade' has just taken off with new growth. Most of the Heucheras have really started putting out a lot of new leaves.

Mock Orange (Philadelphus) is one of my favorites right now. The color is so bright, not sure which variety it is because it came unnamed. I've been peeking between the leaves looking for signs of the fragrant white flowers that aren't too far away.

The weather predicted is much cooler this week with highs in the upper 40's and lows in the mid 30's with rain. I usually check our weather forecast through NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). There is a place on the left side of the homepage where you enter you zip code and they give you a forecast based on your latitude and longitude and elevation.

February end of the month view.

February flew by so fast for me I hadn't even paid attention to what the date was. It wasn't until the evening of the 28th that I saw The Patient Gardener's Weblog end of month view and realized I had forgotten to take my pictures.
Here are how things are looking now:

I've been working on cleaning this bed up. I recently removed the dead flowers on the Hydrangeas and they've leafed out quite a bit more. I've been on the look out for just the right grass for in front of the tree. I'm still deciding between a Carex or Acorus and if I want variegated or gold foliage.

While looking for any surprises here I found the first Crocus has begun to bloom. These are the first I've ever planted in my yard. I'm not sure what took me so long, but I have them coming up all over now and just love them. I think I'll add some white ones this fall.

And these are some very big surprises. There had been a large Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectablilis) years ago that I transplanted to the backyard because it was in a bad spot. These are just two of the most recent babies that have come up here.

These are two others that came from the original plant a couple of years ago. Is this unusual? I can't figure out if they came up from pieces of root left behind or how they got here. I'm going to transplant the two newest to my backyard when they get a little bigger.

And the Camellia japonica 'Kumasaka' is already blooming. It does have a light fragrance but not until the blooms are fully opened. Right now the scent of the Winter Daphne (Daphne odora) is so strong I wouldn't be able to smell it anyway.

By the end of April I'm hoping to have made a few changes here. I know there are a couple of perennials that will be moved out. The Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium) will probably be blooming as will some of the Heucheras and the Bleeding Hearts.