Tulipa

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Garden bed at All Saints Episcopal Church in Peterborough, NH

I was pleased to see this bed of tulips looked so healthy. It is not the case in my garden. After a mild winter, my daffodils and daylilies sprouted a bit early. Around Easter the daffodils had well developed flower buds, just on the verge of opening.Then we got an unseasonably cold evening in the low teens. The plants went limp, not dead but hurting. Even the daylilies which are as strong as iron show signs of yellowing.

I’m not sure if any damage was inflicted on my Star Magnolia flower buds, but hopefully not. There is just no way to depend on New England weather.

 

Wesołego Alleluja

Wesołego Alleluja  (Happy Easter)

Easter is the season of rebirth, what is more emblematic of that than the first flowers of spring.

Crocus

 

Green Jade Hellebore

 

Primrose

 

 

Helleborus 2016

Find Hellebore plants at Amazon.com

Spring arrives for me when I see the first blooms of the season. The first bloomers are the crocus and Hellebore. Both plants aren’t bothered by the cold or eaten by some critter. The hellebore is one plant that is deer resistant. Spring officially arrives on March 20th, 2016 and the weather prediction is for the heaviest snow of the season. Welcome to New England.

Hellebore

 

Rebirth

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Spring is a time of rebirth. New growth appears amid dead leaves, leaf litter and othe detritus.

 

 

First Crocus of 2016

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I can tell that spring is just around the corner. Maple sap is dripping on my driveway, the chickadees are singing a different tune and I saw a few crocus in bloom.

Purple Crocus

 

Yellow Crocus

 

Crocus

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Good Morning,

On Friday I missed posting photos for the theme #FloralFriday.  From the archives I picked a few crocus photos. For me these are the blooms that signal that Spring has finally arrived.

Purple Crocus

 

Crocus

 

Crocus

 

Fothergilla gardenii

You can find Fothergilla at Amazon.com

I try to pick plants that are a bit non-traditional for the garden. A while back I chose a Fothergilla. This shrub is in the witch hazel family which can be found along the streams in New Ipswich. I have been very happy with this plant over the years. It spreads slowly into a large thicket and has these cool bottlebrush flowers that the bees love. In fall the foliage turns a nice reddish color. Insects leave it alone so it is care free. I have added another variety in my lower garden and I hope it does as well.

 

 

 

Living with Dandelions

These plants are incredibly tough and omnipresent. We spray with chemicals, burn them and attempt to pull them up breaking off enough taproot so they can regenerate. How can you not admire them?

You can eat the leaves, make wine from the flowers and grind the roots as a form of coffee. Try to do that with your perfect lawn of grass leaves. And they really are quite beautiful.

A natural flower arrangement in my “lawn”, a mixture of dandlelions and violets (which are also edible)

The bees were happy, I expect a bumper crop of seedheads

I took these photos on May 14, 2015 using one of my favorite lens

Olympus MSC ED M. 60mm f/2.8 Lens