Sweet Blooms Of March 2012

Welcome to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day for March 2012, courtesy of Carol of May Dreams Gardens. The honeybees are busy, busy, busy in the Fairegarden right now. There are many spots for them to visit, including the purple leaf peach tree that my neighbor Mickey gave me several years ago. He struck cuttings from his tree and gave them to several of the people who live on our street. Seeing these trees in bloom reminds me of his friendship, sweet indeed.

Along the forty foot long, four foot high block wall behind the main house, groups of long ago planted Fritillaria uva vulpis offer sweet closed bells of purplish/brown with bright golden edgings. They are very overcrowded and need dividing but every time I dig down into a clump, trying not to disturb the multiple nearby plantings, all that happens is decapitation. So we let them be, with declining bloom numbers each year. One of these days…..maybe.

Ooohhhhhh! These sweet Crocus chrysanthus ‘Prins Claus’, a very late last year purchase at 75% off, were planted in a container after Christmas. The devil digging squirrels moved some of them around right after planting and before a wire cage was placed over the pot. Even now, with larger rocks surrounding the bulbs now blooming, the varmints still think they have buried walnuts in there and continue to search, throwing dirt all over. Soon the bulbs will be replanted in the ground anyway.

These are the flowers of Narcissus jonquilla simplex, a species miniature in the lawn/meadow. With grass like rather than strappy foliage like other daffodils, after blooming the leaves die back sweetly and unobtrusively. Note to self: Need more.

Also in the lawn/meadow are patches of Anemone blanda ‘Blue Shades’. Short in stature but still sweet, we need a kazillion more of these for a better showing. 100 does not go very far, believe it or not.

Unknown daffodils, again from neighbor Mickey bloom under the tall pine trees with various flowering and evergreen shrubs. The little Corylopsis spicata has been quite slow to grow, but the hanging yellow clusters are still sweethearts.

Narcissus ‘Lorikeet’ is a luscious combination of pale buttery yellow with a peachy pink trumpet. Unlike some daffodils with this unusual coloration, this one does not fade with age, nor begin differently hued. It is very sweet. I wondered why it had not increased at all and went nosing around underground. It turned out that some bits were completely covered by large rocks that had slid down the hillside. There was foliage, all white and yellow, but still trying to grow, even under the rocks. I dug them right up and replanted them out in the open. Poor little things!

I adore Hyacinths of all hues. The scent, the flowering, the form, everything about them speaks to my soul sweetly in early spring.

Multitudes of massing Muscari, most likely M. armeniacum came with the property. Seeing the pathways that are lined with these little blue sweetlings brings joy and pleasure beyond measure to the gardener.

Euphorbia x martinii ‘Ascot Rainbow’ has performed well along the above mentioned long wall behind the main house. Riddled with unsweet voles, there have been many losses of plantings there. The poisonous sap of the Euphorbia family is immune to the nibblers and squirrels keep clear of them as well. We are in the process of adding more of these.

After a sequence of close up macro shots, here is the long view from the wall up towards the shed. Spring is moving along at a fast clip. Blink and you might miss its sweetness!

Frances

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~ by fairegarden on March 16, 2012.