february bloom day 2013

Hello everybody!  Today is the 15th of the month, which means it's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.  Every month, on the 15th, Carol over at May Dreams Gardens hosts this event, and it gives bloggers all over the world a chance to show off what is blooming in their world at that particular moment.  I love reading new blogs, and seeing all the pictures.  I've found other blogs in my region, or with similar growing conditions, and I've gotten some great ideas for plants to put in my yard.  My favorites have been grouped together in the bundle you see on the right had side of this page.

The best part about bloom day for me is being able to catalog my yard.  If you're new to my blog, I moved into my Great Grandmother's cottage house just over a year ago with the plan of watching nature take it's course for a year without planting anything new.  I wanted to learn about my new yard and what my growing conditions were before I went crazy putting plants in the ground.  Bloom day has been great for me, because I can go back and see what things looked like at different times of the year, and plan my gardens accordingly.  I can also look back and see how far I've come, which is not a bad feeling either.  Last February was my first bloom day post at from my new house, and it's nice to see some familiar blooms, and my first additions to the gardens.

It felt like the blooms were coming early this year, but it looks like everything is on par with last year.  My daffodils are coming up, and the bushes near my spare bedroom are blooming.

 

The Vinca Minor is a little early though.  It showed it's first flower yesterday!

One of the best things I did last year was amend the soil in the beds beside my driveway.  I added mushroom compost & mulch, and this year I have mystery tulips coming up by my back door... in an area that was completely bare last year!

November marked 1 year in my house, and the first things that I planted were hostas and hellbores.  Like so many other areas around my house, the rock garden had been neglected for at least 20 years.  The soil was hard and dry, and nothing was growing here.  With my mom's help, we broke up the soil about 8 inches deep, then mixed in mushroom compost, topped it with much, and added additional rock edging to keep everything in place.  It was a lot of work to do it 'right', but the pass along hellebores are happier than I've ever seen them!

Thanks for stopping by today!