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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day February 2014

Even though it's still winter, spring is so close I can taste it!  This long weekend is traditionally a time for me to get out and get going on the winter projects I've been putting off.  Because we've had some wonderful weather this winter, I'm not as far behind as usual so should have some fun doing a little editing out there!  Can you believe that spring is only a little more than a month away?   Here's what's blooming in my garden today.

Galanthus that I inherited with the garden. 

They seem to pop up or reseed themselves everywhere.  Here are some coming up in a crack between bricks in a garden path.
 
 Chimonanthus (wintersweet) is supposed to have an intense fragrance.
 Maybe I shouldn't have planted it so close to Lonicera fragrantissima whose strong and gorgeous scent wafts over the parking strip that I pass each day.

Garrya elliptica is past it's prime but will still look lovely for a few more weeks.

The stars of my garden right now are the Hellebores blooming everywhere!


A little damage from our last freeze on the earliest blossoms of this one.

Love this one that I got last year at Bark and Garden on my first visit there.

Too shy to show her face.




 
The first Camillia japonicas are showing up on the ground but I haven't yet  seen them on the huge old bush I inherited with the garden.


Viburnum x bodnantense 'Pink Dawn' has been blooming since November.  Don't understand how it can do this but am sure glad that it does!

Hamamelis 'Diane'  shares her lovely deep red blooms.

Cyclamen coum.  Does it count if I've been too lazy to get this in the ground yet.  Um, I mean, container gardening is the wave of the future and I'm just ahead of the trend.

Jasminum nudiflorum continues the blooming it started months ago.
 



Carol at May Dreams Gardens hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the fifteenth of every month to help us keep track from month to month, year to year of what's blooming in our gardens.  Please visit her blog to see what's blooming around the world today!

40 comments:

  1. All so pretty! I am so far behind right now it's making me anxious. I hope we get some nice weather this weekend so I can at least plant some shrubs. I hope my two little baby Garryas grow up to look as luscious as yours some day. The Helly-o-bore from Bark and Garden is beautiful. There's not much other than Hellebores blooming for me right now.

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    1. I was going to get outside today but the weather didn't cooperate. When I was younger, it wouldn't have mattered, I'd have gotten wet and muddy but would have completed tasks. After having perfected the art of procrastination, I'll use the weather as an excuse. There's always tomorrow, right? Went to Swanson's today and got even more "Helley - o - bores." They had some great ones and all perennials are 25% off right now - 40% off on bare root stock! A great first visit to that nursery.

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  2. Oh I enjoyed your cheering February blooms on what is a foul afternoon on this side of the pond. Could not find my way here via your link over at May Dreams Gardens but got here via your comment. Happy GBBD.

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    1. Thanks, Anna. It was pretty fowl here this afternoon so we visited some nurseries and I got another Helleborus 'Anna's Red.' Must have been thinking of you! Happy GBBD to you!

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  3. Beautiful Hellebores! You seem to have spring. We still have some snow, but temperatures are higher than usually at this time of the year. Happy weekend, Peter!

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    1. I'm glad that your winter temperatures continue to be mild! We like to think of these plants as signs of spring but in reality, they bloom in the winter in our climate. Happy weekend to you, Satu!

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  4. I can't believe how many blooms you have! Well done!

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    1. It's nice to have some color going on at this time of year when we are craving it so much!

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  5. Did you take Link Lessons at the Nell Jean School of Computer Correctness? Your link at May Dreams brings up May Dreams. Do Over. I do that all the time. Delete this comment when you get it fixed.

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    1. Thanks Jean! I couldn't figure out how to correct it so I just posted a second time.

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  6. I wish I'd gone to the city and bought Cyclamen before Valentine's Day. I always search out a fragrant one.

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    1. They are such sweet things with their beautiful foliage all winter and some blooming in the fall and others in the winter.

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  7. So many pretty hellebores! Happy GBBD!

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  8. Spring, yes it's almost upon us all! Not long now. And how nice to see sone snowdrops popping out in between pavings stones!

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    1. Like all of us, I'm very much looking forward to another spring and especially summer, I am hoping for some mild weather while it's still winter to get some projects done outside!

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  9. Your blooming Jasminum nudiflorum reminds me to worry about mine, which is nothing but a bunch of green sticks! So sad...

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    1. Don't worry, they sometimes take a little time to get established before they start blooming.

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  10. Isn't it wonderful that we can go out and find lovely little blooms in the middle of February. Bless our Puget Sound climate! Even in winter there is growing and blooming.

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  11. Oh, my! So much to comment on! I'm jealous! I'd love to inherit a garden with galanthus already included! I planted some at my parents' house a few years ago and haven't been able to visit when they would be blooming. I don't even know if they survived or were dug up in the recent remodeling they've done. I love Garrya elliptica. One of my favorite PNW natives. You have some beautiful hellebores, too. When I went to school at WSU, Pullman, the Viburnum farreri (a parent of V. x bodnantense) would bloom in February or March, but it was planted against a north-facing wall so was slow to wake up. I loved the scent. I love the sweet, spicy scent of Chimonanthus. A large specimen will waft it's scent through the garden for several yards, but it might be covered up by the scent of that Lonicera, which is also wonderful.

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    1. I was very fortunate to inherit so many galanthus! They have ended up all over the garden as they tend to get transplanted along with other plants when I've forgotten that they're there! Fragrance in any garden always makes me happy but the scents of winter are especially nice!

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  12. So many beautiful flowers, such a wealth of hellebores and I like that your snowdrop is seeding around for you.Your Garrya has had so many flowers, mine didn't flower at all this year, so hopefully will do so next year, usually it puts on a good display in the corner of the garden.

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    1. Thanks, Pauline! I wonder why your Garrya took the year off?

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  13. Love your double Hellebores..I really need to expand the collection here. Happy bloom day !

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    1. They always make me smile as I remember when Dan Hinkley first brought his Heronswood doubles to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show and they cost fifty bucks a gallon. Back then, I just couldn't bring myself to spend that for one. A few years later, I got in on a wholesale co - op buying group and got a whole flat of double seedlings for a very low price. Those make up quite a few of my doubles but I continue to add a few each year. There always seems to be room for another hellebore or ten.

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  14. I haven't been out much to see if anything is blooming yet but enjoyed seeing all of yours, I think Seattle/Tacoma is ahead of SW Washington. Your Galanthus is wonderful, I finally planted some last year so hope to see it back, if the voles don't take a shine to it. I'm glad you haven't yet perfected the art of procrastination!

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    1. I may not have perfected the art of procrastination but I'm pretty darned good at it! Southwest Washington/Portland got hit harder by both freezes this winter than we did further north so that may explain it.

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  15. Peter, all the blooms are beautiful. Cyclamen coum actually looks good in a pot! Why not?

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  16. You've got lots of lovely things out. What gorgeous Hellebores and nice healthy clumps. I'm not usually keen on double flowers but I make an exception for Hellebores. They look like party frocks- so pretty.

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    1. I share your feeling toward most double flowers but the doubling doesn't seem to ruin hellebores the way it does to many other flowers.

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  17. So many blooms for this month…I 'm really going to work on getting more winter blooms this year!

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    1. It sure helps a gardener get through this pre spring season!

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  18. I'm so out of it I completely forgot, so Happy
    Valentine's Day, Happy Bloom Day and Happy Foliage Follow Up. I'll get back on the bandwagon soon, I hope.

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  19. You have some really lovely hellebores. Plus the petals on 'Diane' are so dense, and with that color they really stand out!

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    1. I admired Diane at nurseries for her fall foliage and when I saw her in bloom last month, decided that she needed to come home with me.

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  20. It does seem very spring-y over your way, Peter. Lovely blooms, and so many. I love the wintersweet, the scent and the look of the flowers. And hellebores are among my faves, such interesting foliage, and so tough. Happy bloom day.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.