Friday, March 15, 2013

March GBBD: Signs of Spring

It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day once again,
 time to share our excitement over signs of spring in our gardens.


What is blooming in your garden?  Do you share my passion for pink tulips like these?


Or do you prefer masses of every color competing for attention like these?  Before you leave a comment complimenting me on my beautiful spring garden--don't!  I wish I could claim all these tulips as mine, but both of these photos were taken on Tuesday at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show.


Actually, the tulips in my own garden look like this.  And I suspect most tulips in real Chicagoland gardens look like this as well, perhaps not even this far along, considering Chicago has had much more snow and colder temperatures than we have had.


Still, I am happy to see these promises of spring; I know it won't be long before these daffodils will be sporting golden blooms.


A year ago, after the crazy mild winter we had, I had hellebores, crocuses, and daffodils blooming at this time in March.  This year is more typical, and the hellebores are full of fat buds instead of blooms.


I'm hoping for some mild--and dry--weather one of these days to trim the foliage back on all of these so that their lovely faces can get the attention they deserve.


One lonely little snowdrop still remains.  I've been waiting for more of these to appear each year, but instead the numbers seem to be dwindling.


The first buds on the crocus are another welcome sign.  In mid-March of last year, I had crocuses in full bloom everywhere.  But I won't complain--this hasn't been a bad winter at all, compared to many places.  I don't remember a day when the temperature dipped below zero, and all the winter snowstorms passed us by, leaving no more than an inch or two of snow at a time.


Still, I am ready for spring . . . I just need a little patience.

Having been pretty much out of the blogging loop the past eight weeks (just finished my eight-week stint of teaching!), I realized that this past week marked my fifth-year blog anniversary.  The second post I wrote that first year, back in '08, was a Bloom Day post, and the only "bloom" I had was some green foliage on the yarrow.  Today is my 61st GBBD post--I haven't missed one in five years--and I'm so happy to have this invaluable record of how my garden has changed over these past few years.  A big thank-you to our hostess Carol at May Dreams Gardens for being such an inspiration and reminding us all that we "CAN have flowers all year long."

31 comments:

  1. A lovely taste of what's to come Rose. lovely photos too. It won't be long now...well I hope not! It sounds like our Winter has been more severe than yours, we've had lots of 'minus' days this time. Those Hellebores look like they are going to be beautiful soon but it looks like you have as much luck with Snowdrops as I do!

    I hope you enjoyed your recent spell of teaching. Many congratulations on the five year anniversary, it has been such a pleasure getting to know you Rose and I look forward to many more years of friendship :-) You have reminded me that I completely missed my fourth year anniversary last month!

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  2. Congratulations on five years!
    You have such lovely buds on the Hellebores - soon there will be blooms!
    Love the crocus, too!
    Happy GBBD!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  3. Your beautiful promises of Spring actually look like the real deal to me. But then I walked through my gardens exploring every inch before I saw a tiny bit of color. Happy GBBD!

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  4. Your garden is further along than mine. Sorry to hear your snowdrops are dwindling. After your snowdrop is done blooming, I'd dig it up and divide it. Put one bulb back where you have it, and put the rest in other spots. If it's currently growing in sun, try some in shade. If your snowdrop is in a dry area, try putting some in a moister spot. Supposedly animals won't eat them, and you have the right general climate, so try moving them around.

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  5. Congratulations on five years of blogging and bloom days. Isn't it wonderful to have such a consistent record to look back on? Here's to many more!

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  6. Congrats on five years! We do have to be patient, but it's just so darn hard. I can't wait to see everything blooming!

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  7. Lucky you! I'm happy to see those signs in your garden --hopefully they'll start showing up a bit farther north now. Although I think we have snow in the forecast for next week!

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  8. Songbird, Today was much warmer, and I actually did a little clean-up outside--and some of the crocuses are fully opened now! A belated congratulations on your blogaversary, too; it's been a delight to "meet" you, Jan.

    Lea, I did have one hellebore bud open, but it wouldn't cooperate for a photo. The red/purple ones are my favorite. Thanks for stopping by!

    Carolyn, These signs of spring have just appeared in the last week, so I'm not far ahead of you.

    Kathy, Thanks for the tips on the snowdrops. They don't seem very happy where they are, so I think I will try your suggestion to move some of them to see if they like it better elsewhere.

    Laurrie, Thank you, and I agree I'm so glad I have this record. It's fun and informative to look back at other years to see how bloom times can vary. My garden journals aren't nearly so helpful:)

    Christy, I can make it through January and February, but come March I am ready for spring! Unfortunately, here in central Illinois, true spring often doesn't arrive for another month.

    Cassi, Every time it has snowed in northern Illinois, it's missed us. We got hit the hardest just last week, so I know winter may not be over yet.

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  9. Five years-congrats! Boy how time flies!

    I too have trouble with snowdrops. I have much better luck with the snowflakes (leucojum). The Chicago flower show would be so fun!

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  10. Ah, tulips are so gorgeous and seeing those beautiful colors makes me want them, but I've never been able to grow them here. Just too hot and humid, I guess. But, thank goodness for leucojum! At least I can grow them.

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  11. Tulips look good in any combination, I think.
    Love that pink Hellebore.
    Maggie x

    Nuts in May

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  12. Congratulations that's a long time 5 years. The signs of spring are in your garden. Overhere every flowers is 3 weeks later as it was last year.
    Have a wonderful day Rose.

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  13. Hello, Rose,

    I've been mia for some time now and I guess you've been rather occupied too. ;)

    Interesting that our crocus are not yet up; daffodils in bloom and the Hellebore, but no beautiful tulips. Pink_ smiling here because I was just thinking yesterday how pretty some pink tulips would be in front of the house.

    Hope you're having a good weekend.

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  14. Congratulations on 5 years!! that is a major accomplishment. it's so nice to have the blog as a record of your garden's progress. It will be something to treasure for years to come.

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  15. Congratulations on 5 years! I love pink tulips but alas the voles love them even more.

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  16. Congratulations on five years Rose :) Even though we live so far apart in different countries it's so interesting to see that you too are having a much colder year.

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  17. Thanks for the hopeful signs of spring, Rose! I noticed the other day that my Daffodils are poking up through the snow. So once it melts... And I also noticed that the Hellebores were budding back in December. Amazing plants! Now they're covered with snow, but I'm sure they'll be blooming soon! Thanks for the encouragement!

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  18. Well Rose your garden certainly is coming along further than mine.
    We are presently getting another snowfall! I don't mind as I have NOT experienced a Canadian winter in 5 yrs. due to our hibernating in sunny Arizona! This yr. I chose NOT to go but dear Hubby is there golfing for a few months.
    Nothing grows in my garden but the garden structures are constanly getting covered in snow which makes it interesting to look at.
    I always seem to forget about posting on the 15th of each month.
    Have a wonderful week!

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  19. I hope you'll soon have blooms aplenty to bring you smiles!

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  20. Congrats on five years of bloom day posts and for completing that 8 weeks of teaching. Your garden looks about like mine, bloom-wise. Soon, soon, we'll have more blooms than we can ever hope for.

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  21. Wonderful flowers, beautiful colours. I am greeting

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  22. Our snowdrops and cocuses are all fading fast now but our daffs are still lovely. No tulips yet. Still a long way off.

    But my hellebores, which I planted last year, are looking good! I'll try and take a photo.

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  23. Definitely, your patience and hardwork pays off now. As hellebore take 6-18 months (or more) to germinate.

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  24. How wonderful that you were able to visit the Chicago Flower and Garden Show, the photos are so cheerful looking.

    I have a special fondness for snowdrops, especially when there's only one bloom.

    61 consecutive GBBD posts? That's very impressive. I don't do anything 61 times in a row except breathe. lol

    I'm surprised to see how far ahead your garden is compared to mine. We are quite literally still buried in a few feet of snow. Our day will come, so they say. :)

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  25. Congratulations, Rose! We did join the blogging scene about the same time. You are to be commended for participating such a long time in Carol's meme. It is nice to have the record of your blog to remind you how far you've come in the garden (and in life too!). Thanks for being such a faithful friend over the past five years.

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  26. Tina, Yes, it's hard to believe it's been five years already. Maybe I should try snowflakes instead of snowdrops, too.

    Dorothy, Tulips usually do pretty well for me, but last year's warm spring had a downside--the tulips didn't last long at all.

    Maggie, I didn't even know what a hellebore was when I started blogging:) Now they are such a welcome sight this time of year.

    Marijke, We are definitely later than last year, too. Snow is in the forecast for the weekend, so it looks like I'll be waiting even longer for spring!

    Diana, There are times when it's just so hard to keep up with blogging! Right now my computer is acting up so it's even harder...I will drop in for a visit as soon as I can.

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  27. Marguerite, I'm not very good at keeping a written journal, so all these Bloom Day posts have been such a valuable record for me.

    Sweetbay, There is always some critter out there that likes tulips, isn't there? I think the squirrels have gotten a few of mine, but otherwise I've been pretty lucky.

    Rosie, I remember last year, it seemed like everyone across the Northern Hemisphere had a warmer year. I guess we should be thankful that some normalcy has returned this year. Thanks for visiting!

    Plantpostings, I think one of the hardest things to endure this time of year is seeing all these pretty spring bulbs on other people's blogs when we're still in the dead of winter. I can empathize--we've got more snow in the forecast this weekend:)

    Naturegirl, You don't know how much I longed to go to Arizona this year! Even though Daughter has moved to Texas, I intend to visit Phoenix again. You were very brave to endure a Canadian winter!

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  28. Cindy, It may be awhile for blooms--more snow in the forecast!

    Carol, Thank you for hosting this for so long--it's proved to be an invaluable record of my garden. I know spring will be here one of these days, but it sure is hard to wait:)

    Zielona, Thanks so much for visiting--I'll be by to see what's blooming in your garden very soon!

    Liz, I'd love to see your hellebores! I didn't even know what they were five years ago:)

    Nelson, I did have to wait a year or two after planting to see some blooms.

    Donna, I'm surprised, too, that I have stuck with this record of blooms; wish I could be so perseverant in dieting:)

    W2W, I'm always so glad to hear from you; I've appreciated getting to know you, too. Maybe one of these days we'll finally meet!

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  29. The trees here in our garden is now blooming and flowers as well. Those flowers are so beautiful.

    monument landscape

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  30. Happy 5th anniversary Rose! I bet you are glad to have a little time to yourself after finishing the weeks of teaching.
    Your garden is ahead of mine. All I have to show is snow! The tulips in Chicago are so beautiful! Hopefully the tulips in our own gardens will be along shortly.

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  31. Congratulations on your blog anniversary! Last year, I posted about my, I think, 3rd year, and then later, posted again, forgetting I had already done it. This October, I completely forgot about it! I really don't like being so scatterbrained!

    Yes, we need spring to get here! It's time! Those hellebore buds are pretty, and soon will be open. I am thankful for the ones I have. They give us hope, knowing that the blooming has begun for the season.

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