Thursday, March 15, 2012

march bloom day


I feel like I'm bragging by showing off this photo.  But Carol's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day is all about sharing what is blooming in your yard, and this picture is too good not to share.  It was taken with my iPhone on Tuesday and then filtered with "low-fi" on instagram. Nothing fancy, but it makes me happy, and I love it!  I'm thinking I will even have this picture printed on coasters.

It seems like every evening when I walk in my yard, I find something new! (If you are visiting my blog for the first time, this is my first year in my great grandmother's cottage house.)  This is great, because I'm on a tight budget with not much room for new plants.  My plan for this year is, with my grandmother's help, to document what is growing where, and see how much little sun I have once the trees fill out.  Then I can divide plants this fall, and start planning for next year.  I'm also trying to nurse a few plants back to health, and clear the very old and settled in ivy from around the house.

Now on to the surprises!!

The first surprise this month has been the blooming ground cover.  I have these wonderful wildflowers all in the moss and in the front yard, and it's just beautiful.  I also have vinca minor near the house and in the back yard.  I think it's so pretty near the trees, and I love the fact that it doesn't climb up them! My goal is for the yard to be as maintenance free as possible, and since there is little sun, I don't think that will be too hard.  I'm encouraging the moss to grow and spread, and I'm letting the vinca minor run free.  If I don't have to mow anything I will be one happy girl.


The other fun surprise this month has been how 'helpful' and friendly my neighbor's golden retriever, Brady, has been.  He thinks that my yard is his yard, and now that he knows I belong, he always comes to keep me company when I'm working in the yard, and even greets me when I come home.  All the benefits of a dog without the vet and dog food bills!!  In these pictures he's standing in the garden between our houses.  My forsythia is in the shade, so the blooms are a little behind the rest of the area.  Also, next to the forsythia is a similar drapey shrub, with white blossoms on the end.  It's on my list of things to look up soon :)


Since it has been so unseasonably warm, my dogwoods have started blooming and the first hostas are coming up!!  I feel like this means that spring is really here, and there is no chance that we'll see snow or even have another hard frost.  This is fine with me, bring on the sunshine and warm weather. :)
 

I have found violets in my yard, and also these silver leaved flowers starting to spread and bloom.  Another groundcover maybe?


 Even this morning on my way to work I found a new bloom, and had to snap a picture.  I believe this is a type of woodland iris.  If so, this is a kind of iris I can learn to love.  The foliage is a lot softer than the traditional, stiff leafed irises.  Edit: My mom has informed me this is a spiderwort.  I like it and it grows in the shade.  Perfect! My daffodils, or jonquils as my grandmother calls them, are still blooming too.  I like how someone planted the different varieties together.  Just as a few start to fade, new blooms appear. 


 And the best surprise I saved for last.  Tulips!  They are some of my favorite cut flowers to have in the house, and I've always wanted to have some.  I was THRILLED this Tuesday when two shots of red appeared in one of the gardens.  There is one more spot where I think more will appear, and I can't wait to see what color they are.


And that's it so far, I can't wait to see what comes up tomorrow!!

10 comments:

  1. It looks like things are blooming all over and early too. The weather we are having has started the growing process. Even our grass is growing early.

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    1. Everything Is going early. My mom took one look at this post and said "That looks like spiderwort, and it is very confused."

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  2. Rats! I typed in a comment and it disappeared! In a nutshell: Your flowers are gorgeous and it's so much fun watching you document their discovery!

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    1. I *hate* it when that happens. Thanks for the encouragement Dava, I'm glad other people are enjoying it with me :)

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  3. How fun to have every day a new surprise in the garden! I love dogwoods, although I don't have one. And I love your tulips! So pretty! Your white drapey shrub sounds like a spirea.

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    1. Spirea, I will have to look that up! Thanks for the help :)

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  4. Pretty, pretty! You are quite a bit ahead of my garden in PA... probably a month. How nice to have tulips again.
    Thanks for your visit to WMG! Looking forward to reading more about your garden discoveries this year.
    Julie

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    1. Thanks for visiting here! I've added your blog to my 'list' and I look forward to reading more about your garden. I'm sure I'll learn a few things!

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  5. Wonderful blooms! How exciting!
    Now that Spring is here, new blooms will be opening quickly!
    Happy Gardening!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  6. How lovely that you're in that cottage. Great idea to spend the year marking eveyrhting. Maybe you could draw a diagram and mark what's sparse during each season so that you can buy bulbs to plant this fall? that's what my plan is for tomorrow.

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Sooooo, the spammers have finally discovered my blog. I'm not sure if that means I've 'made it', but it does mean that I have turned on comment moderation for my older posts. Don't worry though, I get the notifications quickly, and promise to read and publish anything that doesn't include random comments or suspicious links.

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