Still, when I set my February date, I imagined pictures of emerging crocus and camellia and narcissus and hellebores. But like many of you, we've endured a colder winter than normal, and most of the early spring plants in my garden are still in bud.
This was the first little bloom I found, where I planted a new germander last fall. I think this might be the germander--it's semi-evergreen and the leaf looks right. But then germander normally doesn't bloom until August--so I may be delighting in a weed--I mean, wildflower.
A few pansies survived the great deer onslaught of 2008:
And the narcissus are starting in the sunnier spots:
I did expect my hellebores to be in full bloom right now, but I guess the cold winter delayed them a bit. The Helleborus foetidus is farthest along. By the way, mine don't stink--except maybe to deer (yay!)--so I'm not sure where the name comes from.
I think Lenten Rose--Helleborus orientalis--is pretty all year long, and the buds are a gorgeous shades of mauve and pale green.
They look kind of like the plant in Little Shop of Horrors right now, don't they?
So anyway, we're waking up slowly to the gardening season--this picture of Ranunculus and his teddy bear coming out of hibernation pretty much captures the mood at our little house in the woods:
And like my Euphorbia lomi, I have my nose pressed up against the window, waiting for it to be warm enough to go outside.
Happy Belated Bloom Day--thanks, Carol, for the inspiration.
I'll be visiting your blogs again soon. I don't know that I'll get back to posting as frequently as I did last summer before, well, this summer--but I look forward to reading about everyone's return to the garden.
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27 comments:
Happy Bloom Day to you! Lovely photos and flowers, and of course the cute little (big) dog.
Hi, Cosmo, welcome back! I've been wondering if you had been extremely busy this past month. While your garden may not be as far along as you had expected, seeing those narcissuses (narcissi??) blooming and the hellebores budding is a welcome sight to me.
Ranuculus is probably ready for spring, too:)
Welcome back indeed! We missed you. Love the Hellebores.
Janet
Happy Bloom Day Cosmos! We missed you! My garden is slowly trying to awaken from it's winter slumber too. Your Helebores are going to be pretty when they open. Another plant I need to add to my garden. :)
Glad to see you out of hibernation! Welcome back! :-)
Great blooms!
Cameron
Nice to have you post about what's blooming! Love the mauve hellebore...just lovely:) Ranunculus is pretty cute too! I love your euphorbia, also. What an interesting plant that is!!!!
Happy GBBD!
Good to see you're posting again, Cosmo. Funny comment about hellebore buds looking like "Audrey II" in "Little Shop" - I've always thought that, too. Maybe that's why I like them so much - I played for and conducted about 60 performances of that show one summer!
Welcome back! Travel is good and returning home is often better~~ This winter has been colder than usual so flowers aren't up like they were last year! Lovely narcissus and hellebores...I named one of mine Feed Me Seymour for the very same reason...they look like Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors.
Gail
Glad to see you are among the blogging. Ranunculus looks like he loves his Teddy. Patsy never liked stuffed animals, but did enjoy the occasional discarded sock. Loretta has several "babies" she plays with when the mood is right.
Hi, Tina--Oh, I can't wait for the lovely flowers, but the little buds will do in the meantime. And I do have the lovely Ranunculus to tide me over . . .
So Rose, is the plural Narcissi? I guess it must be. Anyway, I can't wait until I have to worry about plurals--any day now . . .
Cosmo- McD's in Hampton has a bunch of Edgeworthia. Worth a trip down there.
Janet
Cosmo, great to have you back. your blooms look great to me anything green is a dream here yet. The euphorbia is a beautiful plant with gorgeous blooms. It seems to be enjoying the sun.
Ranunculus is a darling. Also when your helaboris starts to bloom PLEASE post some pics, I would love to see them, I have some in my yard but they are not old enough to start blooming.
So glad to see you back. So many people talking and showing photos of their hellebores. I'm going to have to try these.
Marnie
Cosmo,
Great photos, but I'm sorry, Ranunculus always steals the show for me. Every time I see a picture of him he makes me giggle for some reason!--Randy
Welcome back home even though to cooler temps then out west! You are seeing signs of spring so hang in there. Oh, just look at big boy Ranunculus snuggling with his wittle teddy bear, how sweet....
Cosmo, what a delight to have you back! The pansies are so cheerful. Happy GBBD!
Hi, Janet--Oh, I love hellebores, too--most of my favorite plants are spring bloomers--another month until flower nirvana!
Racquel, if you have room for them, hellebores are just gorgeous. They're slow growing, but Lenten Rose do get large--wide, anyway--my older clumps are about 4 feet wide, but they're evergreen so they're great in the winter.
I'm glad to be back, Cameron--I don't think I'll be able to get on more than a couple of times a week this semester, but just the brief visits are wonderful. I like the changes you've made to your blog.
Hi, Jan--My euphorbia is almost a pet. I've had it for about 12 years--it was about 6" high when my friend Jack gave it to me. Ranunculus is actually jealous of it!
Hi, Jeff and Gail, fellow LSH fans! I'm only partly embarrassed to say that "Suddenly Seymour" is one of my favorite songs (maybe not yours, Jeff--if you conducted 60 performances, how many rehearsals did you endure?) But yeah, since I'm vaguely frightened of carnivorous plants--Audrey II's influence, no doubt--I like the docility of the hellebores.
P.S. I'm not that comfortable with dentists anymore, either . . .
Hi, Les--Ranunculus has a very powerful jaw--and the softest mouth I've ever seen in a dog. He won't even look at a Kong toy, and he's had the same rawhide candy cane for two years (he carries it around but won't chew it). But he's like Linus with his teddy bear--we have to sneak new ones in from time to time.
Janet--Thanks for the tip about McDonald's--I love that place--I'll have to make an early trip this year!
Beckie, that euphorbia keeps me going in the winter. It just asks for a sunny window, a little water (VERY forgiving there), and a 180-degree turn once in a while--I love the thing!
Zach--I will absolutely show off my hellebores very soon. By the way, if you want to see some fabulous ones, check out Gail's and Jeff's bloom day postings (on my bloglist, "Clay and Limestone" and "The Transitional Gardener")--they have some really cool ones.
Marnie, Hellebores are so glorious in the early spring because they're pretty big and the flowers can be really exotic. And they like shade. I'm glad to be back, trying to steal time in BlogLand whenever I can . . .
Hi, Randy--Ranunculus makes me giggle all day long--can't have a bad day with him around. I think he looks like the kind of dog you'd draw if you were drawing a cartoon dog.
Skeeter, yeah, the teddy bear is a little silly, especially considering the dog's size (he's about 55 pounds), but it's definitely a mark of his personality--he's a lover, not a fighter . . .
Hi, Sarah--Are you still snowbound up there? Anything peeking out?
Your garden seems to be so much further ahead! My crocus just started blooming last week and it still is going to take several weeks for the daffodils..
Hi, Bek--It is funny what a difference a few miles can make--I can't believe what Cameron in NC has going--or even Racquel in Newport News. And weirdly enough, my crocus are just emerging even as the daffs start to put on their full show. Anyway, we're getting snow tomorrow--I think it will stay south of you. Hope so.
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