March Bloom Day: An Early Spring

According to the calendar, the first day of spring isn't until next Tuesday, but you could have fooled me.  We have had record-setting temperatures this past week, and the garden is bursting forth with blooms and all kinds of new growth, just in time for this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Flowers and gardeners are not the only creatures feeling the stirrings of spring.  Even a lone hoverfly was out last week enjoying some early blooms and frolicking in the pollen.

Checking through past years' records, I did have a few tiny crocus blooms opening last year.  But this year the crocuses have been in bloom since early February, which also sets a new record in my garden.

I noticed in my past March Bloom Day posts that three years ago I was wondering what had happened to all the crocuses I had planted, because only a few had appeared.  I'm not sure if the crocuses blooming now are from that mystery year or from later plantings, but they seem to be multiplying everywhere.

 I'm glad because although each tiny little bloom is such a welcome sight, especially after a long winter, they look so much better in groups.

It's also early for daffodils in my zone 5b garden. On Monday I took a few photos of the buds, but by Tuesday, they had opened up completely.

In the coming weeks there will be other varieties of daffodils coming into bloom, small tazetta blooms and ruffled doubles in different hues, but the first unnamed yellow stalwarts are always the most appreciated, for they signal the true beginning of spring for me.

Spring bulbs are slower to emerge in the shade garden, but the hellebores are capturing all attention right now.  Taking a picture of the white blooms requires some contortion and playing with the camera, as most of them are the downward facing variety.

A few years ago, I purchased a collection of five plants in different colors but all the same species from a mail order company.  I'm no expert on hellebores, so I don't understand why the white ones look like this . . .

. . . while the purple ones look like this. 

The upright blooms of what I think is 'Red Lady' are definitely easier to see and photograph!

Cleaning up the flowerbeds this week has revealed more budding growth and a bonus surprise--the first primrose bloom.

Hydrangeas are budding early, too. After seeing these on the macrophyllas one day, I've been checking all the other hydrangeas and new shrubs nearly every day for buds.  I've had my fingers crossed about a few plants that didn't do so well last year, so any sign of new growth brings a sigh of relief from me.

This morning I noticed one of the flowering crabapples is beginning to leaf out as is the lilac.  Looking at the garden shows that it will soon be time for the parade of tulips.  Yes, spring has definitely arrived early this year!

I hope you are enjoying some early blooms in your garden as well.  For a look at other signs of spring, check out the list of participants at Carol's May Dreams Gardens.  And yes, I know I'm late to the monthly meeting, but I spent the day yesterday at the Indianapolis Flower and Patio Show.  More to come on that later ...

Awards and Celebrations

I do believe that spring has arrived!  We have been experiencing a mini-heat wave this week, and I've finally gotten some time to work in the garden, although today was the first day that the March winds haven't been at full force.  These warm, sunny days are a reminder that I'd better get a move on and finish all those leftover winter projects soon before garden season gets into full swing.

Sophie's windswept look

I have managed to clean up two flowerbeds, and get a good start on a few of the others. Daffodils are budding and other bulbs are emerging, and I thought it would be nice if when they bloom, they would actually be visible to everyone instead of hiding behind coneflower stems and seedheads.

It's hard to appreciate these little crocuses when the view is obstructed.

Ahhh, much better. Now it just has to contend with tulip foliage:)

 I think the bulbs appreciated, too, not having to fight their way through a thick layer of oak and sycamore leaves as well--just where is that sycamore tree whose leaves always land in my garden anyway??  I also started my first indoor seeds today: they're resting comfortably on a heat mat, and once they sprout, others will be started and get a little babying before being put under the grow lights.  As tempting as it is to start seeds earlier, I've learned the hard way that mid-late March is soon enough.

First Hellebore blooms--more were hiding under the leaves.

Another project to complete today is this post.  Some time ago, Beth at Plant Postings awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award, and I feel badly that it has taken me this long to properly thank her and acknowledge this award. The rules of the award ask you to post the award and to include a link back to the blogger who gave it to you.  I've gotten to know Beth only in the past year, and I enjoy her beautiful photography and her polished prose; not only that, she's a fellow Midwesterner--thanks so much, Beth, for thinking of me.

The third rule of the award to list seven random things about yourself.  I feel as though I've shared much about myself in the past few years, but in case you're a new reader, here are a few personal details about myself:

1. I often refer to my husband as Mr. P, which stands for Mr. Procrastinator.  However, in all fairness, I have to call myself Mrs. Procrastinator.  That is why it has taken me over a month and a half to write this post and respond to this award:)

2. I'm an incurable clock-watcher and "to-do" list maker.  I thought I'd cured myself when I retired, but I still find myself being ruled by the clock far too often.  As an example, if I have an appointment or meeting in two hours, I'll think "there's not enough time to vacuum and do laundry; I might as well as sit and read blogs for awhile":) 

3. I'm addicted to shows like "American Idol," "The Voice," and "The X-Factor," which means I waste far too much time in front of the tube in the evening.  But I can't stand most reality television shows--no "Real Housewives of Wherever" watching here.  Now if they produced a show like "Real Gardeners" of Illinois, Tennessee, North Carolina, anywhere at all...now that would intrigue me.

4. I'm not an early riser--I enjoy watching a pretty sunrise, but not if it comes before 7 AM.

5.  I grew up on a farm; my dad was the third generation to raise corn and soybeans on the land first cultivated by my great-great and great-grandfathers.  My mother tended a small flower garden and a huge vegetable garden every year.  In other words, I grew up in an environment that was all about growing things.  I have no idea why it took nearly 50 years for the gardening gene to kick in for me.

6. I'm becoming overwhelmed with keeping up with social media sites. I enjoy blogging and wish I could spend more time here; I like to get on Facebook occasionally to keep up with family and friends; and I recently joined Pinterest after my daughter introduced me to it.  But I don't own a Smart Phone or a laptop, and I can't justify sitting here at my desktop computer for hours and hours just to keep up with them all.  As I see people everywhere (sometimes in my own home!) with their eyes glued to a tiny screen, I have this eerie feeling of being in a Ray Bradbury story where no one looks each other in the eye anymore to communicate.  Ah well, that's a rant for another day...

7. Finally, I'm a proud mother of four grown children and grandmother to six beautiful grandchildren.  That's not a new revelation to anyone who has read this blog for awhile, but of all the roles I've played, this is always the most important one in my life.

The fourth and final rule of this award to pass it on to several other people.  But, as much as I am usually a rule-follower, I just can't do this.  I know that some people prefer not to accept such awards, and I respect their wishes.  As for the rest, I simply can't choose a few of the many blogs I read over others--you all are worthy of an award in my book! 

Bloggers are so good about sharing, too.

On a related note, I realized while writing this that this past Saturday, March 10, was the fourth anniversary of my very first blog entry.  Who would have thought four years ago that I would still be writing here . . . and that some people would actually read it:)  I've learned so much about gardening from fellow garden bloggers, and I've enjoyed the personal stories and anecdotes of other bloggers.   I want to thank all of you for sharing your experiences and often encouraging me; your friendship has meant so much to me.  And I'm looking forward to meeting some of you in May in Asheville at the Garden Bloggers' Fling!

Saying Goodbye to Arizona

Everyone I know seems to have gone on a vacation lately.  One good friend spent a week in Florida, while another friend, my Tai Chi/lunch buddy, spent last week lounging on the beach in the Bahamas.  And Daughter and her husband just came back from a week in paradise, i.e., Hawaii.  As for me, a couple of trips to the grocery store were the highlights of my week:)

Yes, I admit to being just a wee bit jealous.  Usually I get to travel somewhere between the end of January and mid-March, but not this year. Mr. P and I had tentatively planned to visit Daughter and Son-in-Law this March as we often do, taking in some Cubs' spring training games and soaking up some Arizona sun.  But it was not meant to be.  Just before Christmas, Daughter received a promotion and was being transferred. By mid-January they had packed their belongings and headed--with the two granddogs in the car--to Houston, Texas. Since the move, Daughter has been so busy settling in and traveling for her new job that a visit from us just didn't make sense this spring.

Looking back, I am so glad now that I made the decision to visit Daughter and Son-in-law back in November.  It gave me a  chance to spend some time with them, especially since I hadn't seen them since their wedding reception last June, and to meet my new granddog Eddie.

That's Ed trailing behind his big brother Bear after a hike through Papago Park on the southern edge of Phoenix.  Ed is a much livelier pug compared to the late Odie, who was more laid-back.   Both Ed and Bear have lived all their lives in Arizona, so they're used to the heat, but I'm not sure how they will adjust to Houston's much more humid climate.

A trip to Arizona is never complete, of course, without a visit to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Having toured the garden on every visit to Daughter over the past four years, it's become a familiar place to me--I know where to find the Butterfly Pavilion, the Wildflower Trail, and, of course, the gift shop without any guidance.  I remember my first trip here: the desert flora seemed like alien life forms to me.  But my tours of the DBG have helped me to understand much more about the environment of the Sonoran Desert and to recognize many of the plants.

Thanks to the DBG, I can now distinguish between the iconic Saguaro . . .

. . .  and the equally huge Cardon cactus.

Nor do I need a tag to identify the lovely Baja Fairy Duster, which always seems to be in bloom no matter the time of year I visit.

Still, there is always something new to be learned; this time I was on a mission to find the name of some plants growing in Daughter's backyard.  It didn't take me long to find several specimens of the plant, an Ocotillo, a cactus indigenous to the Sonoran desert and commonly seen from California to western Texas. It's a deciduous cactus, so it wasn't particularly attractive during this November visit, but later research informed me that in spring it produces beautiful red blooms that are especially attractive to hummingbirds.

Plant specimens may be the main attraction at the Desert Botanical Garden, but they're not the only interesting things to see. I knew something was up when I walked in the entrance and saw this huge praying mantis standing guard. The Garden often hosts art exhibits, particularly sculptures on display throughout the garden.  My favorite from the past was "The Nature of Glass," an exhibit during the winter of  '08-09 which featured the works of  Dale Chihuly,  which you can read about here, if you wish.
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This time the Garden was hosting the exhibit "Big Bugs," a collection of larger than life insects crafted from all natural materials. 

This lady beetle, for example, was made primarily from bent willow with black walnut used for its head and spots.  A mere 150 pounds, it wasn't quite as imposing as the mantis in the earlier photo which was 17 feet tall and weighed in at 1,200 pounds!

One of my favorite areas to visit within the garden is the Butterfly Pavilion.  Usually, it doesn't open until March, but I was lucky this time--a guide informed me that the Pavilion would be open because a shipment of Monarchs had just arrived.  The butterflies are flown in from a supplier in Florida, encased in waxed-paper-like envelopes kept at a cool temperature.  I arrived just in time to be handed a paper envelope, along with other eager participants.  We opened the envelopes carefully . . .

Once the butterflies felt the warm air, they revived and made their escape!

It was truly a breathtaking sight to see dozens of them flying about.

Eventually, they found plenty of bright blossoms to provide some nourishment after their long trip.

Cacti, art, butterflies--the Desert Botanical Garden is the perfect place to spend a delightful morning in Phoenix.  Little did I know at the time that this might very well have been my last visit there, so I'm glad I had the chance to see it again.  I'll miss visiting Arizona every year, but I'm sure Houston, Texas must have some interesting gardens as well--I'm already looking forward to discovering new places to see next fall!

Wildflower Wednesday and The GBBC

Is it just my imagination, or is this winter whizzing by?  Normally, I would be counting the days until spring by now, but it was a surprise to me to look at the calendar this morning and discover that it was already the fourth Wednesday of February, meaning it's time for another Wildflower Wednesday.

I'm sure the mild weather we've experienced this year is the main reason I haven't suffered from my usual winter blahs.   Sunny days in the '40's and '50's hint that spring may be just around the corner, and the sight of crocuses in bloom again today add to that feeling.  Most of the garden is still waiting for confirmation of the beginning of spring, but there are some spots of green here and there, like the hollyhocks ready to get a jumpstart on the growing season. Technically, I suppose, hollyhocks don't qualify as wildflowers, but these are the old-fashioned single bloom species that have been here forever, so that I've come to think of them as natives in my garden. 

While it's much too early for any wildflowers or natives in my area, you need only look around to know that there will be plenty later in the summer. I haven't taken advantage of the weather to do any garden clean-up yet. We could still be hit with a blizzard or some sub-zero temperatures, so I hate to remove any leaves or plant debris protecting tender shoots and leaves--that's my excuse rationale,anyway, and I'm sticking with it.  Seedheads of Monarda above(though not our native Monarda fistulosa), goldenrod, and asters, along with other natives still standing tall throughout the garden, will soon release their bounty, ensuring another generation in the coming season.

Even after hungry finches have had their fill, there will definitely be plenty of echinacea seed to go around.

I'm hoping, though, that self-seeders will not be the only natives this year.  Seeds of Downy skullcap Scutellaria incana, Cutleaf coneflower Rudbeckia lacinata, and "yellow coneflower"--which I'm hoping is actually the gray-headed coneflower Ratibida pinnata--are being acclimated to Illinois winters in hopes of producing some sturdy offspring this spring.

While I wait for the seeds to germinate . . . I have been practicing a little with my new camera.  I've been wanting a new camera for a long time, and a few weeks ago I finally bought myself a belated Christmas present.   I'm not ready--and may never be--to purchase a digital SLR, nor can I afford one right now, so I purchased a Nikon Coolpix 500. It is still a digital camera, but has so many more features than my old Sony Cybershot.  The two photos of the seedheads above turned out pretty well, I thought, but I'm still trying to figure out how to use the macro setting without half the photos turning out blurry.  What has me excited right now, though, is the zoom capabilities--finally, I can get a decent close-up of a bird from 30 feet away.  In other words, I can actually snap a picture before he has a chance to realize there's a human nearby! 

Having the new camera was perfect timing for this past weekend's Great Backyard Bird Count.  I could take photos and count birds.  One sparrow in the dogwood tree . . .

Two sparrows in the dogwood tree . . . whoa, hold that camera steady!

Three sparrows in the dogwood tree . . .

 I think you get the idea.  This was my third year to participate in the GBBC, but it was such a disappointing result that I'm not sure I'll even turn in my count--a grand total of 10 sparrows.  This year I have seen very few of the usual species that visit us each winter.  No dark-eyed juncos, which are usually plentiful, no chickadees, no nuthatches, nor any of the other visitors that occasionally come for some nourishment during the cold months.  I suspect it has something to do with our mild winter.  One nature columnist in the newspaper mentioned that many birds that usually migrate from farther north have stayed put this winter because of the warmer temperatures.  The lack of snow cover may also be a factor--the nearby fields still have grain and seeds easily accessible to foraging birds, though this is just a guess on my part.

While the weekend's bird count was pretty much a bust, I was happy to finally see this male downy woodpecker come to the suet feeder a few weeks ago.  The Downys come every winter, and I had begun to worry even they wouldn't show up.

Not only did he make several visits, but his mate also came along.  Impressed that I can identify their gender?  Don't be; it's very easy--notice the lack of a red cap on this female.

Even more exciting was a visit from the red-bellied woodpecker, which appears much more infrequently here than the Downys.  I think this might be a female, too.

As if to tease me that the Bird Count is now over, this morning I heard a familiar call and looked up to see a cardinal high above in the locust tree.  Ah, I love my zoom lens!

I'm glad I didn't have my head in the clouds all morning, though, because look what I spied below--the first hellebore bud!   Yes, it won't be long until spring is here for real.

For other thoughts on wildflowers, be sure to visit the champion of natives and pollinators, Gail at Clay and Limestone.

February Bloom Day

A belated Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Bloom Day to all!  Yes, it is time once again for the monthly celebration of what is blooming in (or out) of your garden, hosted faithfully for over five years now by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  I'm glad it's Bloom Day, because I've been a little under the weather for the past week and haven't felt much like blogging.

Speaking of the weather, here in the Midwest we've been reminded that winter is far from over, despite rumors to the contrary.

A week and a half ago, I was taking advantage of the mild weather and sunny skies to take a walk.  I happened to look down and to my surprise saw these daffodils emerging in the garden.

Looking across the driveway, I also noticed some spots of yellow scattered underneath the pine trees.  Dandelions in February??  No, they were yellow crocuses in full bloom!  Looking through the photo archives and old blog posts, I confirmed that these were indeed at least a month ahead of schedule. 

Just when I was beginning to think spring might arrive early this year, Mother Nature brought us back to reality.  The very next morning the crocuses had closed up and everything was covered in hoarfrost.   The yarrow, which was showing signs of green growth on the balmy Sunday, was an interesting arrangement of silver and white on Monday.

The butterfly garden, which has looked more like a mass of dried-up weeds most of the winter, once again looked rather eye-catching with the white plumes of goldenrod.

So once again, we must turn indoors for any signs of blooms this February, which is not that easy, since I'm not much of a houseplant person.  I do have a few blooms, but mostly what I have is foliage.  Notice the amaryllis on the right which has very tall leaves--I measured them at 31 inches!--but not a single bloom.  This happened a few years ago, too, and I'm not sure if it's because the bulb wasn't chilled enough this fall or something else, but I was certainly disappointed not to see the pink and white blooms I had last year. 

The paperwhites next to them seem to be in a race to see who can grow the tallest, but at least they are blooming!  This is the first year I've grown narcissus indoors, and I have to say they're the easiest of any bulbs I've tried to force.

That's it for any blooms here this February, but while pickin's are pretty slim, I know it won't be long till some real blooms appear once again.  Several containers filled with seeds are sitting outside waiting for the snow to melt and the sun to warm them up.

 

Hopefully, it won't be long until the icy "blooms" on the clematis turn to real ones instead.  

It is another gray February day here in the Heartland, but somewhere the sun is probably shining and real flowers are blooming--check them out at May Dreams Gardens.