Crocus

Welcome Spring! I went a little crazy buying crocus at Vesseys half price sale last fall, and they are blooming now. There's also a picture of my Camellia, a little early tulip, and my very first plum blossom. I espaliered a sucker from my neighbor's plum tree that was coming up on my side of the fence, and this is the first time it has flowered. I was so excited when I noticed this yesterday! I wasn't sure if it would ever blossom, being a sucker and all. There's also a photo of Chester, my new garden inspector in training. My first garden inspector has officially retired, and is soaking up the sunshine wherever she can find it and taking life easy.    

Blue Pearl

King of Striped

Pickwick

Camellia

Prince Clause

Plum blossom 

Chester

Tulip Violacea

February Happenings

Spring! Okay, it's not spring yet but it's been quite mild all winter long, and things are starting to grow so it feels like spring in my neck of the woods. Some of my perennials didn't even die down completely, like the hollyhocks, and the Nigella started to grow in the fall and stayed green all winter. The early crocus are blooming again, and the later ones I bought last fall should be blooming in a week or two. I can hardly wait. 

      I planted my first seeds of 2016 today, which is always fun. I planted some dahlia seed for the first time, and I also planted two varieties of cherry tomatoes. One from my own seed and one called Tumbler. I grew Tumbler last year and wasn't very impressed but I'll give it another try this year. I also bought a new shrub, Sarcococca ruscifolia and yes, I bought it for the amazing fragrance. It's supposed to be easy to grow too. I'd love to hear about what new plants or seeds you are growing this year. 

Crocus and Ivy

Crocus

Camellia buds

Hollyhock leaves that stayed green all winter

Nigella seedlings and a tulip coming up

Pink dawn Virburnum

Sarcococca ruscifolia or Sweet Box

Annuals for a Rainy Climate

     

Petunias, California Poppies, & Bachelor Buttons

     It's easy to find lists of plants that tolerate drought, but what about a list of plants that tolerate rain?  Here's a list of plants that I have personally grown, and found them to survive and thrive in our rainy climate. Don't forget to water them once the rain finally stops some time in July, ha ha. On another note, our crocus are busy spreading themselves throughout our back lawn, (much to my husband's dismay) and now cover at least a 1/4 of our back yard with their purple blooms.   

• Alyssum (my favourite are Carpet of snow, New carpet of snow. and Royal Carpet)
• Bachelor Buttons
• California Poppies (Purple Glean is a pretty variety)
• Cerinthe
• Coleus
• Cosmos 
• Dianthus (may live over the winter)
• Fuchsia 
• Larkspur
• Lavatera
• Lobelia
• Marigolds
• Morning Glory
• Nasturtiums (mine always get tons of aphids)
• Nicotiana
• Nigella
• Pansies/Violas
• Petunias
• Poppies
• Stocks
• Sunflowers
• Sweet Peas 

Crocus 

Crocus in the back lawn

Crocus

Happy Easter!

Spring has sprung and here are a few of the flowers that have been blooming in my yard. The first Camellia blooms were tinged with brown from the cool temperatures and rain but I was happy to see the later blooms lived up to their name, Pink Perfection.  I just love the anemone blandas and take way too many photos of them every year. We are planning on fixing our ugly, broken retaining wall that runs beside a part of our driveway, and I can hardly wait to see the end result. There will be a lot of digging, and a lot of mess, so I'm a wee bit concerned for my poor plants. My beloved hydrangea, young hibiscus and heathers are in that bed. Happy Easter!

Camelia

Anemone Blanda

Primrose

Crocus

Tulip Tarda

It's Not Spring Yet

Just when you think spring is on it's way....

Pink Dawn last Week

Pink Dawn on the weekend

Pansies

Fairy Garden

Spring!

Spring! Spring! Spring! After months of gloomy winter weather, I think we are all ready for spring. I was going to wait for a sunny day before taking a photo of the purple crocus, but then decided to take it in the rain and was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. The yellow violas in the next photo have been blooming all winter long in a container on my patio :)  The little blue/purple Iris surprised me with their blooms because I had totally forgotten I had planted them. Sometimes it's nice to be forgetful, ha ha. The next photo is one of my indoor plants moved outdoors. It survived the winter leading me to believe it is probably the common plant called Hens and Chicks.  Last of all are a couple of photos of one of my favourite shrubs, the Pink Dawn Viburnum. It starts blooming in November but puts on it's prettiest display in the early Spring. I fear for the life of this shrub because I have recently been notified that there is a manhole at the base of this shrub, a manhole that needs  to be raised. The manhole is covered in several inches of soil, completely hidden from view. So now I am dreading the arrival of the work crew that will invade my backyard. I can just see them stomping on my spring bulbs and ripping out my shrub, but there isn't much one can do but hope for the best. Anyways, happy Spring and may all your seeds sprout!

Crocus on a rainy day

Crocus and Pansy

Iris

One of my houseplants moved outdoors

Hazelnut Catkins

Viburnum and a pretty blue sky

A closer look at the sweet smelling blooms

March Blooms

While some parts of my country are experiencing warm March weather, on the West Coast it has been cooler than normal. Here are a few of the flowers blooming in my yard right now.  I also have a few seedlings growing on my kitchen windowsill,  a few more on top of my refrigerator, and many more waiting to be planted, once the weather warms up in April and May.   I also rejuvenated an old birdhouse by taking it apart, cutting off the rotten edges, reassembling it and giving it a fresh coat of paint. This makes it birdhouse number four hanging in my small backyard.  Only one of my houses is used every year without fail, and that is by the often dreaded house sparrow, but I am hoping  the chickadees will come back to nest in the birdhouse they used a couple of years ago.

Anemone Blanda

Crocus

Crocus

Crocus

Heather

Birdhouse Renovation

Signs of Spring

Crocus

Crocus

Crocus

Pink Dawn Viburnum

Skimmia Buds

Fresh New Growth on Chives

The Crocus are coming!

   The Crocus are taking over the world!  Or  at the very least, my yard.  When we moved into our home 6 years ago, that first Spring a few pretty purple crocus sprung up here and there.  Lovely, I thought to myself, a beautiful beginning to the gardening season.  A few years later, I was finding more and more of them, and noticed they were even growing in the lawn. This year, it seems they've put on a mighty surge, popping up pretty much everywhere,  including many in my back lawn. My husband noticed the crocus in the lawn for the first time  (he's not much of an outdoors sort) and he wasn't too pleased, to put it mildly. So now their secret is out, and I'm not planning on stopping them.  So be prepared, they are heading your way.

Crocus creeping into the compost pile & lawn