Blooming Friday ~ Trees!

It really feels like Spring when the trees start flowering. Last Friday I posted pics of Weeping Cherry and Bradford Pear flower buds. The next day was very warm and both trees started blooming.



The graceful cherry





The hellebore still has blooms and plenty of plump flower buds waiting their turn.




Lorapetalum 'Ruby' has the most bloom buds this year that I've ever seen. A couple of flowers were open deep in the foliage. I'm not sure if the flowers will open in procession or all at once.



Our hostess Katarina at Roses and Stuff asked if we were enjoying anything pink. I guess the last two bloom pics were pinkish so~ yes. The pink that I've enjoyed the most this week though did not come from blooms. I broke my shades probably a month ago and since it has been so gloomy I had not bothered to replace them until our beautiful sunny day last Saturday. I have to say that the world really does look better through rose colored glasses:)

Blooming and Almost Blooming Friday~the late, late edition

It has been a beautiful day in my part of North Carolina, the kind of Friday that you dream of having off from work. Alas to work I went after taking photos up until the last minute before dressing to leave. I've finally stole enough time to share them here for my first Blooming Friday of 2010.

Katarina at roses and stuff asks us this Friday what photo means Summer the most to us. This picture from June 2008 in my garden is one of my favorite summer images~ Daylily 'Twister Time' with liatris and Salvia 'Black and Blue' in the background.





Presently I have nothing new blooming since my last post. The hybrid hellebore is still blooming. I was blocking the sun in this first shot so I decided to give it a glow to brighten it up a bit.




Same hellebore backlit.



The Forsythia is in full on bloom.






and the Helleborus foetidus is still hanging in there.



For the ~almost blooming~ part I have Prunus subhirtella, Weeping Cherry...







and daffs in the shade(!)...



and the ubiquitous 'Bradford' Callery Pear.




This last blossom is maturing at an alarming rate~ at least it seems that way to her caretaker;) Meike is starting to look like a little Pom instead of a fur ball. Here she is on the deck this morning, on the move...



and looking out at the garden that she is just learning her way around...



Happy Blooming Friday- well almost, I think I may have missed it by a smidge,lol.

Bloom Day~ March 2010

I'm very happy to be participating once again in the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I don't have many different blooms but I'll gladly share them. We've had some great mild days and the garden is coming alive again~ like Phoenix rising from the ashes since I haven't finished Spring cleaning yet.

Helleborus foetidus is still sporting her green bells with raspberry trim. The foliage is a beautiful contrasting dark green. This is not your typical cottage garden plant but I find it beautiful nonetheless.



The foliage can be seen in this photo.




This Forsythia was grown from cuttings from the bush that has grown at my Mom's house since sometime in the 1970's. Forsythia is very easy to root from softwood cuttings- probably the reason for a fellow garden blogger's "Hedge". This first photo is of the handsome fall foliage.





Can't you just feel how beautiful it was on Saturday?





The hybrid hellebore has made its grand opening. This is a passalong and probably not a named cultivar or strain~ if so I'm unaware of it. I do like the dramatic dark mauve blooms.







To see what's blooming in gardens near and far visit Carol at
May Dreams Gardens.

Who am I? and other stuff

Spring is right around the bend now and thankfully we have mild temps on the forecast for the next few days. I have tons of work to do in the garden since I haven't really done any this year. A short survey on Saturday found nothing new in bloom since my last post. The hybrid hellebore will open its flowers soon and the Forsythia is in full yellow bud. The main thing that I see when I look out there is~ yikes!~ the ornamental grasses need attention NOW. I love grasses but truly hate the mess that they can make, especially Miscanthus 'Cabaret'



See what I mean?

The reason for the title of this post is this little tuft of grass. Does anyone recognize it? I have a clump of Nasella tenuissima, Mexican Feather Grass or Silky Thread Grass about 3 or 4 feet away. I have not had reseeding from it before to my knowledge but could this be my first? For scale reference the plants surrounding it are common tiny winter weeds.



And now for something completely different~ photo play! This first image is of the winter stems of garlic chives( when do those seeds germinate, btw? That was a big oops.)I used a filter here.



Rudbeckia triloba seedheads~ what should have been my Feb GGW Photo Contest entry for winter light. A different filter used here as well.



I've been having alot of fun with those scripts that I mentioned in my last post. Like giving this garden bunny's fur some rich new highlights...




and making those same garlic chives look sophisticated in bloom...



A fairy tale glow for the Ruellia buds...



and softening this October garden scene.



For these scripts and more visit sheilsoft.com. I purchased the whole collection but many of the individual scripts can be downloaded for free.