Early March Garden Colors

Would you like a walk through my garden? We are having an early spring in our area and with that is the bursting forth of colors and leaves of all shapes. I love the garden’s treasures and each time I take a stroll I find something to enjoy. I forced some forsythia blossoms in the house this year but nothing beats the sprays of yellow that decorate the front corner of my yard. The birds love to sit in the top of the limbs and pick out the dried blackberries that share this space in the garden.

I can never remember the name of this shrub that lines the border between my neighbor’s yard and mine. It has these amazing blossoms that attract bees by the dozens. Yes, we have bees even now in the early spring. Bees in this shrub, in the rosemary, and around the opening California lilac!

The side of the house has its usual daffodils, narcissus, and bleeding hearts all making their usual appearance at the beginning of the flower season.

The pittosporum is coming alive and soon it will have its fragrant blossoms to scent the spring air.

My candytuft is full of blossoms and insects. Look closely and you will see an insect poking into the center of a flower cluster. This must be one happy little insect. The flowerbed with this plant is slowly filling in year after year with more and more of this pretty flower.

I am thinking this is a holly hock volunteering to grow in the middle of one of my garden boxes. I don’t remember planting anything in this spot last year because of our drought conditions but it sure is springing up nice and healthy so we will leave it for awhile to see what comes later in the year.

Our day lilies are pushing up their fan-shaped leaves and will soon be shooting up some flower stalks with their pastel colored flowers to come later in the summer. It is like an old friend and I welcome its appearance.

At the end of last summer, I chopped my rose bushes back with a hard pruning. They were so pitiful and ugly then and I decided anything that happened would be better than looking at those scrawny bushes that had not endured the drought very well at all. And look! They are coming back with a pretty shape and even have buds! The way it has made a comeback makes me smile.

Do these leaves look soft and fuzzy to you? In real life they are amazingly soft and this plant is such a great choice for our dry climate. I may just need to plant a few more Jerusalem sages to fill in where other plants have completely died from lack of water. This one just keeps on going!

My wallflowers were very sad at the end of last summer but now look at how many flowers and buds there are to enjoy! I love the little teeth on the leaves and the purpleness of the buds.

The birds have once again come through with some sunflower plantings. I have about six sunflowers all growing in pots on my deck which you know I will be watering through the summer.

 

The zinnias have self seeded in the pots again this year and I will be adding in a few more as the spring progresses. These are some of my favorite cut flowers for my kitchen table and I hope I end up with a variety of colors to enjoy.

That is a quick tour of the garden….hope it cheers you up and inspires you to start thinking about the up-coming flower season in your part of the world.

Happy garden day!

 

Are you ready for your spring greens? You may want to do a “spring green” nature journal.

Here is a link to the original entry: Spring Green Nature Journal.