There are early signs of Spring in the garden, and I am so excited to share them with you! Bulbs are peeking out of the ground and Heather is in full bloom!
We had snow again earlier this week, covering everything for a day. I love the snow, and love the Winter season, but I’m becoming a bit restless as a gardener — especially when I see lovely pictures of blooming bulbs I wish I had planted like Winter Aconite and Snowdrops.
There’s always next year, and I am definitely planting all kinds of additional bulbs to enjoy!
Yet there are early signs of Spring in the garden, which I’m thrilled about!
Kramer’s Red Heather and . . .
Yesterday we went shopping for groceries. As we returned home and slowly pulled into our driveway, I noticed the Kramer’s Red Heather in full bloom.
I eagerly jumped out of the car for a closer look. (And I swear it wasn’t to get out of helping carry the groceries from the car.)
As I approached the Heather, I suddenly noticed the gorgeous bits of green on the right . . .
Do you see them?
. . . Tete-a-Tete Miniature Daffodil sprouts!
There, peeking out of the mulch, was the loveliest site to my eyes: Tete-a-Tete Miniature Daffodils pushing up to say hello!
My husband was left to unload the groceries by himself because I was way too ecstatic!
(Sorry!)
I quickly walked around every inch of the gardens beds — with probably a slight maniacal look in my eyes — hunting for signs of more Tete-a-Tete happiness.
I planted 200 of these pretty little daffodils in November, and so far, I saw them in just about every spot!
Popping up, sprouting up, peeking out. Confidently, tentatively, and every way in between.
And I took thousands of pictures of these bulb sprouts. And I said hello back to them. Oh yes I did.
I’ll spare you multiple Daffodil-bulb-sprouting photos. You might think they all look the same.
Except for this next one…
The Crocuses are busting out too!
I’m equally over-the-moon excited about my 100 crocus bulbs planted around the Crepe Myrtle tree in our center garden bed.
Be still my heart. These are Blue Pearl crocuses and I can’t wait for them to glow around the base of the tree. (Yes, glow. These are supposed to have an absolutely stunning color!)
I couldn’t really see these crocuses sprouting through the mulch from outside of the bed. I stepped into the bed — which was saturated with all the melted snow — just to get this shot.
Definitely worth it! To me, but not my shoes. Hah!
Fellow gardener The Propagator previously teased me that I wasn’t trying hard enough with my 2019 Bulb Watch.
Well Mr. Propagator — I succeeded! Whoo-hoo!!
I will continue to watch these little guys closely.
2019 Bulb Watch continues!
Limelight Hydrangea Dried Flowers
There is still so much beauty in our gardens, even without any blooming bulbs.
I love this vignette of one of our Limelight Hydrangeas right now.
The dried flowers stand out in front of the Red Twig Dogwoods, the River Birch trunks and the Helleri Japanese Holly.
The Winter Gem boxwood in front is a rust color from the wind and elements, as it isn’t protected by anything. However, its color contrasts nicely with the dried hydrangea flowers. In this instance, I love the rust color!
But wait. Look closer at the image above. On the right side. On the small boulder.
Those shadows!
Shadows and Light
It pays to slowly take in your garden, to clear your mind and just immerse yourself in what you see, only then do you find the almost-hidden things, for example how these dried hydrangeas have almost perfect shadows on this boulder.
How pretty! It was also very fleeting, as the clouds came in and this moment was gone.
I’m glad I saw it and captured it!
Side Yard Stepping Stones
Our side yard is one of my favorite makeovers, as it was once a soggy and gross mess of grass.
You can see the transformation and year-round pictures here: Side Yard Makeover: Easy Care and Attractive.
Yesterday, each stepping stone was outlined from the melted snow, with only their edges remaining wet.
A neat effect from Mother Nature!
The Winter Gem boxwoods are a nice vibrant green, but the Aborvitae color has a very slight hint of yellow. Arborvitaes green up in the Spring, so I’m not worried.
Think about it: melted snow counts as one of the early signs of Spring in the garden!
—– I need transition music here! —–
Don’t forget to pop over to The Propagator garden blog.
Those are my Six on Saturday garden photos for this week!
Visit The Propagator blog to see his six garden photos, then scroll down to the comments to see many gardeners from all over the world sharing our photos!
This is part of my Saturday, enjoying a cup or two of tea and taking in everyone’s garden projects!
Question: What are some early signs of Spring in your garden?
Happy gardening!
Nice effects of light and shade. Full of promise to come with this emerging bulbs
Impressive rust color your boxwood ! I didn’t know it exists : I thought a pet had pee on it (that’s how one of mine changed color)
LOL No, there was no pet accidents on the shrub. The boxwood is supposed to stay green all Winter long, but I’ve noticed that the ones which are exposed to the wind and not as protected tend to get some rust coloring to them. Hoping you don’t have many more of those pet accidents on your shrubs!
Excellent bulb whispering! I don’t have any tete a tete. Perhaps I should…
I just KNEW you’d approve! LOL I’m excited about these little daffodils because they supposedly won’t bend over in the wind like the larger sizes might…which I’ve had happen in the past. Fingers crossed!