What Looks Good Now-Late February 2013

It is a battle royale.

Winter won’t let go but Spring is knock, knock, knocking at (the) Garden’s door.

To and fro the temperatures swing.

The plants are not waiting for the two seasons to work out their differences through mediation.

The are growing, even when sprinkled with frost.

There is no stopping the progress.

Right now, Winter rules in the darkness,…

But Spring has a secret weapon on it’s side.

The sun.

The Players:

1. Iris histrioides ‘Katharine Hodgkin’
2. Cornus sanguinea ‘Arctic Sun’
3. Muscari ‘Pink Sunrise’
4. Ilex x attenuata fosteri
5. Crocus chrysantha ‘Snow Bunting’
6. Lichen on the Knot Garden bench
7. Calluna vulgaris ‘Firefly’
8. The Gravel Garden
9. The Shadows know

Frances

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~ by fairegarden on February 22, 2013.

Posted in what looks good now

15 Responses to “What Looks Good Now-Late February 2013”

What beauty. It sure is interesting to watch nature at work. I’ve seen some of these happenings as tho they know what time it is better than we.

Hi Lola, thanks for visiting. Nature knows better than mere humans, for sure.
Frances

Lola said this on February 22, 2013 at 5:41 am | Reply
Your poor little crocus is frosty. Brrrr makes me cold looking at it. No…maybe the furnace hasn’t warmed the house yet this a.m. My poor garden is frozen in a block of ice this morning. It is to get to the 40′s today though so it will be warmed. It is so exciting to see your early spring things blooming. I know that it won’t be long and mine will be blooming too. Have a great weekend. P.s. What interesting lichen you have growing on the rail. I wonder what the tall one is??

Hi Lisa, thanks for visiting. The garden has been frosty this week with clear, cold nights. The sun is so welcome. I hope your block of ice melts quickly with no damage! The cold has not damaged anything here, the daffodils spring back up after taking a nap from the cold. I think the hairy lichen is the flowering of the flat lichen. You too have a great weekend.
Frances

Lisa at Greenbow said this on February 22, 2013 at 7:10 am | Reply
Go, Spring, go! I can hardly wait.

Yes, Carol, we are ready!!!!

indygardener said this on February 22, 2013 at 8:11 am | Reply
There is hope? I love those shots especially the clay pot. Yes we have sun here but all is still covered. Send that warmth north please.

Hope lives, Layanee, hang in there! The cold garden sometimes offers the best shots as winter gives way to spring. This year, winter is reluctant to let go. Warmth, are you listening? Go visit Layanee!
Frances

Layanee said this on February 22, 2013 at 8:16 am | Reply
My index finger got some good exercise scrolling up and down through your pictures multiple times. Love the luminescence of Arctic Sun (great name, also…so evocative of what it actually looks like). I got fooled by the pick muscari…I guessed it was a dainty hyacinth and was surprised it was so far along in bloom formation…actually, that surprise is true for the Muscari also. Are any of your blue ones budded up like that?

Hi Michaele, thanks for the kind words. Arctic Sun is by far the best of the colored stem cornus in my garden, and I have tried many of them. The yellow ones do well, but are not as pretty and get large. This one is smaller and so colorful. I was really surprised about the pink muscari. The blues are not even showing the buds, hardly.
Frances

michaele anderson (@meander1) said this on February 22, 2013 at 8:57 am | Reply
Hi Frances….love the picture of the crocus with the frost on it….it’s almost magical! Mother Nature keeps fooling us here…I will wake up to sunshine and get all excited that maybe I can get out in the garden. However once I open the door and get hit by the blast of cold air, I know it’s not going to happen. I’m dreaming of sunshine, no wind and a little bit of warmth! Soon!

Yes, soon, I hope for you and everyone, Christy, and thanks for the kind words. We have had the same sunny skies but with a brutal and cold wind. Finally, today the ground was thawed enough to do some real gardening.
Frances

Christy said this on February 22, 2013 at 9:29 am | Reply
I think that is one of the best posts you’ve written. Yes, it’s a tug of war, a battle royale. Spring will soon be the victor, and to the victor, go the spoils.

Thank you, dear Dee, that is so sweet of you to say so. The days and nights go from warm to freezing back and forth. In the meantime, the plants just keep on growing. I know who will win this one.
Frances

Dee said this on February 22, 2013 at 10:02 am | Reply
Our winter has been the same. And even though it’s cold, the sun makes everything better in my opinion. And the fact that daylight savings is 17 days away!

Wow, daylight savings so soon? As an early bird, that will mean that I will have to wait another hour before daylight. I do appreciate the light later in the day, though. The sun is The Boss!
Frances

the blonde gardener said this on February 22, 2013 at 10:24 am | Reply
I love your iris and the white crocus. Spring is less advanced here, but we are having the same back and forth battle between the seasons. It feels a little like being in a piece of territory that is contested by two great powers, kind of like Alsace Lorraine. It is comforting to know that in this struggle, spring’s victory really is inevitable.

Hi Jason, thanks for adding to the conversation here. The powers of the seasons are indeed having a war, but time is always on the side of the next one up. They do have to take turns.
Frances

gardeninacity said this on February 22, 2013 at 2:43 pm | Reply
That “artic sun” is a beauty! I’d love to have a bunch of that in a vase! Long live the sun!

Hi Jeannine, thanks for visiting. Arctic Sun is fabulous, even though I prefer my plants in the ground. I wonder if it might root in water, though? Hmmm
Frances

Jeannine said this on February 22, 2013 at 3:15 pm | Reply
These shots capture the essence of the season. I really enjoyed this post.

Hi Green Bench, thanks so much. I am glad you enjoyed the little pictoral essay. Sometimes fewer words are better than a lot.
Frances

greenbenchramblings said this on February 23, 2013 at 6:52 am | Reply
Frosty but undaunted. And such a pleasure to see these beautiful photos on a gray day while I am waiting for more snow.

Hi Pat, thanks for stopping by. I hope you can stay warm and dry, if not be out in the garden. May your spring come soon!
Frances

commonweeder said this on February 23, 2013 at 10:42 am | Reply
I think the colors on that pot look like they were painted on…such a beautiful sight

Hi Donna, thanks for visiting. The terracotta pots left outside here get a wonderful patina. They will break apart if planted so are used as decor.
Frances

Donna@Gardens Eye View said this on February 23, 2013 at 12:54 pm | Reply
Your pictures are beautiful. I love your Iris ‘Katharine Hodgkin’ and the Crocus ‘Snow Bunting’, which are both great ideas for early spring planting.

Hi Becca, thanks so much. There was a larger planting of this early iris, but voles ate almost all of them! I need to order more and make cages of hardware cloth to protect them. Chickenwire was laid over the crocus to protect it from the squirrels’ digging. These early bulbs are worth the effort, though.
Frances

Becca Duncan said this on February 24, 2013 at 9:48 am | Reply
Love that little Iris, what a treat to have one blooming this early. My irises are mid-April bloomers.

Hi Janet, thanks. It is indeed a treat and that one iris is quite lonely. I am thinking reinforcements will be ordered and planted next fall!
Frances

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said this on February 24, 2013 at 11:45 am | Reply

Fairegarden