Everything was sunny yellow this morning.
The hue was not due to the yellow sun.
It was caused by a coat of pollen on everything.
The pansies were dusted.
The pond was powdered.
I tracked some in on my socks
after taking off my yellow-toed shoes.
I tried to sweep it up.
But that just stirred it up.
It was thick enough to write in.
What a mess to greet my guest.
Please, pardon my pollen.
FLOWER
I was away for three days. I came home to a different garden.
The change is a tribute to the power of sunshine and rain.
The azaleas started blooming.
The Lily of the Valley is reaching up and budding.
The Solomon’s Seal is ringing its bells.
Ascot Rainbow Spurge lifted its blooms.
My ‘Expensive Stick’ turned into a tree.
The best surprise was the ‘Juddii ‘Viburnum blooms.
I wish I could share the scent of these lovely flowers.
My garden was busy while I was away.
Don’t blink or you will miss something. It’s spring in the south.
FLOWER
I do adore all my plants, especially the tiny ones.
This yellow Epimedium always stops me in my tracks when it blooms.
I have to go sit on the ground beside it.
It is so complex and delicate.
It needs close examination to have a full appreciation.
It is one of my two “Darlings of spring.”
Stay tuned for the other tomorrow.
I want to add a photo of my male bluebird friend who now comes to visit me as I work.
I LOVE spring!
Flower
For an April Fool’s Day joke, we sprinkled Ruth with glitter.
She thinks it was pixie dust.
I hope she realizes those wings aren’t real.
Guess not.
I’d better find myself a really good lawyer.
Flower the Fool
It’s not all flowers here in my garden.
I found this little colony of cup fungi while weeding.
I have looked in all my books, but there is no perfect match.
The white stalk and jelly inside do not fit with all the photos.
Anybody out there know their name?
FLOW
For those of you that do not love sunny yellow, there are mellow daffodils.
Ice Follies Narcissus has a pale yellow fluffy cup.
Thalia is pure white and pointy.
I found a ’60 Days of Daffodils’ by Simple Pleasures that has many varieties.
This one with pink cups was a surprise mixed in a pack of others.
Love this double!
These Tazetta cultivars have a mystery source also.
If you are too mellow for yellow, there are many other daffodil colors.
Mellow Flow
I have a shrub circle down the hill from the house.
The shrubs are planted around a huge oak tree.
I have included one special specimen of each of my favorite types of shrubs.
I planned each to bloom in its own time.
The first to bloom is my one and only Quince.
It is the Quince of dreams.
Chaenomeles ‘ Double Take, Orange Storm’.
I found it while plant shopping with my sister.
It was in a too small pot full of weeds. I had to rescue it.
I told the worker that I was reporting them for abuse and neglect.
He gave me a discount.
My ‘Orange Storm’ has recovered nicely.
Stay tuned for more from the shrub circle.
FLOWER
If you are reading this blog, you all ready know that I am obsessed with plants.
Not the big-box garden center, common, cheap variety; but the expensive search-the-world-over kind.
My obsession sometimes leads to sinning, as in coveting someone else’s plants.
I am ashamed to admit this is true. Breaking a commandment over a plant.
(Yes, Gail K. I coveted your Edgeworthia.)
I have always wanted a paperbush shrub, but feared one would not survive in zone 7.
When I saw one blooming in a neighbor’s yard I almost ran off the road.
Thoughts of coming back late at night with a shovel crossed my mind.
Do they have a dog? Would the chickens squeal on me?
So I was thankful to find an Edgeworthia chrysantha at one of my go-to places for the strange and obscure.
It was dormant. It looked like a stick. There was no tag. I had to buy it on faith. Lots of faith.
Mr. Flower looked at the pot with the stick in it and the expensive price tag with a puzzled look.
“It’s on my LIST.” I said. “Gail has one…”
There is no arguing with a woman obsessed.
My new baby is sprouting leaves.
I hope these don’t end up being expensive snacks for our herd of deer.
But that’s another story. (Stay tuned)
P.S. Here is a picture of the bunnies. (Gail doesn’t have bunnies.)
FLOWER
I think we love daffodils because they show up just when we need them.
Flashes of yellow appear as winter is loosening its grip on the land.
I welcome the bright yellow blooms as they foreshadow the bright spring sunshine.
I have many types of daffodils in a variety of colors,
but my favorite is and always will be the Tete-a Tete.
It is named for having two flowers on some of its stems.
Some of mine even have three!
This make them look like bouquets in the garden.
FLOWER
floweralley 