It’s really hard to believe that it is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day once again. Surprisingly, as I walk around the property I find numerous things popping up all over the place. I have daffodil sprouts everywhere, as well as grape hyacinth. There are snowdrops, with dragon’s blood sedum in the foreground just starting to sprout.
Let’s see a close-up of those snowdrops.
Beautiful! They’ve got some competition in the lawn down at the end of the driveway. There the micro-climate provided by the street and driveway asphalt and the south facing bank has convinced this group of crocuses that it is absolutely and definitely spring.
This in spite of the fact that it was 20°F last night.
Out in the vegetable garden, you can see the garlic coming up strong, and the cold frames are propped open.
Have a look in the cold frames. Look at that spinach!
There’s lettuce in the other one. That sustained a lot of cold weather die back, but there are some red romaine lettuces that are starting to resprout. In a month there will be more lettuce in there than we can keep up with.
That’s not all that has sprouted in the yard. Those of you who have been checking in at the Havens on a regular basis know that the Stroll Garden is really starting to take shape. This is how it looked a couple of days ago.
We got busy and started putting in the bed that is outlined by the hose in the above picture. This is what we accomplished today. If you come back tomorrow, I am planning an explanatory post on exactly how to create a set of beds like these.
Jim went up on the roof to capture this shot. You can see the edge of the rose garden to the left. Just above it is The Bench. You can see me standing on the new pathway, I am calling Ruby. Behind the fence, you can see the brushy forsythia that is the waiting room for baths at the pond waterfall. In the far background, you can see the vegetable garden, complete with the fence. On the west side, you can see the table grape arbor.
In the new garden behind me I am intending to plant two pawpaw trees that my niece gave me for Christmas. They will go at each node of the “ellipse” that garden forms. In between them on the mound of dirt I will be planting about four blueberry bushes, which I will treat like ornamental shrubs and garnish with penstemons, salvias, and other beauties.
I can not leave this post without sharing what my lover and husband and friend got me for Valentine’s Day. No cut flowers to wilt and die and feed my compost for this Garden Girl. I was presented with THREE of the perennial flowers I crave for the garden area directly in front of and to the south of the driftwood piece.
And last, but not least, as Jim and I were admiring the results of the hard work we put in today, we had proof positive that: 1. Robins are not at all suspicious of change, and 2. “If you build it, they will come.”
Now, thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget to visit Carol and see who else is sharing what is going on in their gardens this beautiful February day.
Beautiful little snowdrops and crocus today. Spring is trying to make an appearance in your garden. Looks like you & hubby have been very busy lately creating a new garden area. Can’t wait to see the results this summer. Nice Valentine’s gift. I love those Acidanthera or Peacock Orchids as I call them. They have a lovely scent. 🙂
Ah, snowdrops! I miss them so! All we’ve got is snow with a side of ice and a liberal garnishing of brown grass.
Yet again, that Jim’s a keeper.
Love your snowdrops. I would love to grow them, but they won’t grow here in the Deep South. I have to grow summer snowflakes instead.
Jan
Always Growing
Interesting to see that you can be at least a week ahead of us in Missouri. I know that Maryland gets your weather a few days later but I would have thought that we would have a milder climate. A cold frame is seeming like a pretty good idea right now…
Hi everybody, thanks for stopping by.
Interesting that Maryland and Missouri are about at the same latitude, so the weather must be affected by the bodies of water nearby. I’m not sure, but I think there is a cold upwelling off the Chesapeake Bay. Anyway, in Missouri, a lot of our weather comes up from the Gulf of Mexico. There are times around here where we can be in the balmy 60s and as soon as the jet stream changes and the Arctic air mass gets superiority over the Gulf air mass, it can drop into the teens. We have very squirrelly weather around here because of that dynamic between those two air masses.
Looks like Spring is tiptoeing into your garden…
I love those galanthus. Carol @ May Dreams Gardens has one, too. They don’t do well down in the south and we grow summer snowflakes (leucojum) instead. The flowers are not quite as showy.
The stroll garden looks like a fantastic project. I feel hampered by never being able to commit to a large project like that. I’m not at all good at “making” a garden and I envy people who can. My garden seems to follow a slower, more evolutionary progress.
Mss, for a long time my garden followed an evolutionary process. But a couple of years ago we got big dreams for some reason and the result is the stroll garden. It has been a huge commitment, but a lot of fun. I’m thinking that this will probably be the last big formal garden area we develop on our two acres.
We are still planning a raspberry patch and a blueberry patch, plus there will be a strawberry tower in the near vicinity of the new stroll garden. But huge developments like this? I think not.
Loved seeing your crocuses in addition to the snowdrops. I’m a wee bit envious because none of my crocuses are blooming yet. I hope they show up soon!
Thanks for joining in for bloom day!
Love that Jim went up on the roof to get the overlook photo, Healing Magic Hands – you’ve made some wonderful shapes in your garden and two acres seems to be a great size for your dreams.
How cool to have a south-facing bank of crocus!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I think 2 acres is about the perfect amount of space, except when we are having to mow it. Needless to say, every installation reduces the amount of mowing required, and at the same time increases the distance that needs to be weed-eaten. I’m not sure if that helps with the work load or not.