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?

Path garden preparing for it's peak time.

The path garden in our backyard which runs along the back deck is revving up for it's best time of year, Spring! This is when most of the flowering shrubs and perennials bloom and my favorite time of year to enjoy it. Once it's gets warm and drier the plants under the large evergreens tend to die back a little and since I would be out all day everyday watering it if I wanted more to bloom back there. I've tried soaker hoses and more mulch, but those big evergreens really take up all the water.

Everything is really starting to pop up now.

I was really happy to see the Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) returning. Last Spring I was surprised by them blooming after I thought they had died the year before.

This part of the path garden is already looking good. The Hellebores have really filled in. There is a Currant bush, Deutzia and Hydrangea just leafing out here. The Clematis growing up the birdhouse pole is 'Miss Bateman' that I moved over in the Fall.

The blooming shrub that you can see in the previous picture is this plant Corylopsis or Winter Hazel 'Buttercup'. Last year it barely bloomed because of all of the cold weather. If I were to plant this again I would plant it in front of an evergreen of some sort, it's hard to appreciate the flowers against the light wood fence.

The flowers are so pretty and delicate.

Pulmonaria just loaded with buds and flowers near the Hellebores.

These are always an exciting sight, Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum) is really beginning to spread out now under the Rhododendron and near the Corsican Hellebore. These are slow to get established and they are native to North America. Apparently it has all sorts of herbal uses. Mine has been here about 5 years and this is by far the most spread out it has been.

Camellia 'Marie Bracey' is blooming ahead of schedule. Primroses are blooming and Crocuses are just starting. I love the view of our neighbors Forsythia at the very end of the yard.

And look what else is blooming back at the beginning of the path garden, Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectablilis) 'Alba', I love the yellowy green of the foliage on it.

It's supposed to be 60 today and that will only encourage these plants along. I looked up our average highs and lows for the month of March to remind myself what it usually is like here. Our average high for the month of March in the Seattle area is 54℉ and low the average low is 39℉. April has an average high of 58℉ and an average low of 43℉. It'll be interesting to see if our pattern stays on the warmer side and if we're closer to the April weather averages.