FIRST OF ALL, MY condolences to all of you patient gardening friends who see a carpet of white outside your windows. I hope my post will inspire hope in you. Although it's still only January there are signs that spring is not far off.
As you know, I've been lamenting the constant fog but last Thursday, the skies opened up and we've had glorious sunshine since. Cold mornings, but sunny days in the low 50s.
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| Coral Bark Maple (Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku') |
The plants (as well as the people) have responded favorably to the sunshine. My Wintersweet blossoms are not all that exciting to look at but catching a whiff of scent stops me in my tracks.
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| Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) blossoms |
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| Sweet Box (Sarcococca ruscifolia) is also in full bloom and smells delicious. |
These early-blooming daffodils are so reliable. Every January I see those plump buds! They're planted beside an Escallonia shrub that lost all its foliage after the December freeze.
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| Early Daffs |
And more:
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| Snow drops (Galanthus ssp.) |
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| And my favorite Daff, Narcissus 'Geranium' is the last to bloom in early April. |
There are other signs of activity:
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| Stupid moles! Another reason to do away with the lawn. |
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| Clematis foliage is alive and sprouting |
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| The flower buds on 'Sunshine Blue' Blueberry are starting to plump up. |
My Hebe 'Pink Elephant' is blushing a little.
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| Hebe 'Pink Elephant' |
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| Little leaves all lined up like soldiers. |
I am surprised by the vigor of this golden Feverfew plant. Somehow it survived the single-digit temps of December and looks no worse for the wear. How'd that happen? Probably because it is a volunteer growing in the pathway. Tenacious little thing.
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| Golden Feverfew |
One of my coworkers brought "Denver" his new golden retriever puppy to work. His fur is downy soft. Isn't he adorable?
And on the subject of pets, I captured a keeper of Taz yesterday. He's such a lover!
Stay warm my friends. Spring is coming!
We are getting days right now similar to yours, except it is only teasing us with temps near 50, not actually into the 50s. I recently bought some lily bulbs that need to get planted, but there's only about a 2-hour (at most) window when it's comfortable to be out there. You're so lucky to have Clems sprouting buds. No sign of that here.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy for you seeing signs of spring in your garden. We are still under a blanket of snow here on Long Island with no sign of relief so I have been writing a lot of gardening posts to pass the time! Thanks for sharing your hopeful post!
ReplyDeleteI worked on the garden in town yesterday and it was delightful. Today I headed out to enjoy same in my own garden , but, wuss that I am, the cold drove me indoors. Nice to see that hebe blushing (for your benefit?). How lucky you are to have a puppy-friendly workplace.
ReplyDeleteSigns of spring here too, Grace. Crocus and daffodils are up! And what a glorious and sunny, though cold, weekend it was! Let the gardening begin....
ReplyDeleteLove the kitty pics! That Coralbark maple is stunning...thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSigh. This is so encouraging. Maybe I will make it through the winter, afterall. ;-) Hopefully, we're seeing the coldest temps tonight and that things will improve tremendously from here on out. Your glimpses of spring really help! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that signs of spring have appeared up there in the frozen north! Here down south we're still awaiting our version of winter (i.e. rain).
ReplyDeleteSpring is coming, is it true Grace? I don't see it through the snow in my garden. Yours green yellow and dark sprouts are so lovely!
ReplyDeleteWow spring really is showing signs there!! I'd say your garden is ahead of us here, but I'm definitely seeing signs here. We had some beautiful sunny days here, but the rain is back for now.
ReplyDeleteOMG Gracie .. are you rubbing my nose in my 4 feet of over here ? .. the COLD BLOWING STORMY WINTER weather we are stuck in for weeks upon weeks yet ?
ReplyDeleteBIG sigh ... if it isn't the renovations getting to me it is "some one" living a temperate climate with SPRING popping out!!
I'll just have to live vicariously YOU girl ! .. can we have cookies with our tea when I drop by?
Joy ;-)
Actually I wouldn't mind some snow, it's just way too cold this winter season. It's the worst flu season I've seen also. I'm glad for your signs of spring.
ReplyDeleteHi Grace!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is a sight for sore eyes! We're so far from any signs of spring here yet and immersed in such an ugly inversion it's difficult to remember what blue sky and sunshine looks like. Thanks for posting these lovely pictures of your garden, they really help.
We'll be heading up for our annual yurt trip soon so we hope to see some sun up there.
I must saw that even your trees were bare but truly colourful.
ReplyDeleteMore likely from a different plant - Mars perhaps?
And what you know...
pink elephants!!
This is truly out of the world.