Winter is Behind Me and Spring Ahead

It rained during the night.  We had no sleet, no freezing, no snow.  When I looked out the living room window I could see that I could reach the shade garden and more without wading in the icy remains of the snow.  I still needed my purple hat, my big coat and my pink boots, but outside I went with the camera.  I was not disappointed!

It is no surprise that  Snowdrops are the first flower buds to be seen in the shade garden.  They don't wait for the icy snow to leave, they push their way right through it.  I was elated to see them.  Even the green of the dandelion was nice to see.  I will deal with it later.

Here is a classic photo, Raindrops On Snowdrops.  It is my first  garden flower portrait of many to come in 2018.

I'm calling this one Daffodils with Giant Bunny Berry.  I'm guessing the huge rabbit pellet was on top of the snow and accidentally landed on my plant when the snow melted. It is very unusual to find just one rabbit pellet or one rabbit for that matter!

Iris and alliums are looking so good!  The iris rhizomes look fantastic.  They are either Joann's yellow iris or Mom's purple and white iris.  The dark green alliums are purple.  Perhaps later they will bloom together.  That would make me happy!

Behold the Bluets.  I'm so happy to see them again!   Those tiny pale blue flowers are a special favorite of mine.  It felt so good to be out there.  I caught a brief glimpse of a pair of cardinals and a bluebird.  The twittering of the birds seemed happy too.  Even the very slight wisp of the aroma of cow manure from the big farm down the road seemed welcome.  Spring in upstate New York is an exciting event!

Flowers For Me?

Sometimes I forget what a lucky woman I am.  This very week I am celebrating my 73rd birthday.   There is no need for Ed to send me flowers.  The garden is filled with blooms and that is not all. The butterfly bush right in front of the house has beautiful plumes of flowers and attracts butterflies like this tiger swallowtail.

Liatris has taken  over now that the pinxter has finished blooming.  I could never have too many of these plush purple plumes.

Ed's magnificent Spiritual Corridor is so lovely you hardly notice the catnip and milkweed.  Looking out the window from the house even the spent blossoms look colorful.  It all depends on your point of view!

Lemon basil, red basil and nasturtium leaves and flowers all make their way into my salads.  The fragrance makes plant identification a snap.  Yes, there is more milkweed here.

Sea holly is a fascinating plant that draws all kinds of pollinators.  It's purple too!  It makes a great cut flower, but I like to frustrate myself trying to get good pictures of any new visitors that might show up.

I love Alliums! This one, purple again, reminds me of fireworks.  Except for the Clara Curtis mums  the lush green background consists of weeds.  I prefer to see the flowers.  The butterflies, birds, bees ... and weeds are extra.  Oh, I forgot!  I love to pull weeds too!

Take It Off...

Progress is being made in the garden. It is teasingly slow, revealing just a little bit at a time, not unlike a strip tease. I think it's more exciting that way. These beautiful allium plants are a welcome sight. The nearby river is staying in its banks. Flooding in the area has been minimal. We are fortunate indeed!

March Rain

Clearly the garden is enjoying this all day rain. Green shoots are coming up fast. The gardener is not quite as thrilled. I took these pictures through a very wet window pane. I chose not to suit up and rescue the watering can from the picture. Obviously it is not needed in the garden today.



My Alliums in the bed in front of the house are growing every day. I'm so pleased to see them, and I got a really special surprise. Last fall when I was cleaning up, one of my two A. gigantium plants, one of them smelled rotten. I was expecting to see nothing on that side of the bed. Instead of that, several small rosettes have come up. While it's true I'm not expecting anything gigantic, a couple of small plants are very welcome, whether they bloom or not. Sometimes when you think a plant is dead and gone, you get a happy surprise. On the other hand , sometimes when you think a plant is dead and gone, it is indeed dead and gone.

Alliums Love The Rain

The Alliums are making an appearance now that we have had some rain. They love water. Their leaves collect it to save for later. This one has grown a lot since this morning. Bulbs are wonderful that way. I find my excitement building. We put in some new bulbs last year. They are just getting started and have some serious growing to do.
When you plant bulbs with a name like A. gigantium it's hard for a gardener to contain their enthusiasm, but then why should they?

A New Bed for Spring Bulbs

New bulbs are safely tucked in their bed for the winter. After a nice long nap they will provide excitement in the spring. This bed has two Beau Regard alliums, Drumstick alliums, Firecracker in the sky mix and A. albopilosum bulbs.The cages are necessary here to keep the turkeys from rolling in the newly disturbed soil. It's comical to watch the large birds roll in the dirt, but the bed suffers. You can see the uncaged portion of the bed has had some digging going on. I suspect a skunk, but the evidence is circumstantial. At least there were no bulbs lying on the surface to be replanted. I hate that!