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| Euphorbia rigida |
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| Euphorbia x ‘Blackbird’ |
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| Helleborus x ‘Black Diamond’ |
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| Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ |
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| Helleborus x ballardiae ‘HCG Cinnamon Snow’ |
And the “good god, you’re STILL blooming?” award goes to Mahonia x media ‘Arthur Menzies,’ which has been blooming since October.
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| Mahonia x media ‘Arthur Menzies’ |
I’m getting excited for things to really start firing up next month. Thanks, as always, to our hostess Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
I missed bloom day in January, even though I had but three things to post. It doesn’t get much easier than January. Also, so many people are buried in terrible weather, why wouldn’t you celebrate having blooms in your garden?
Friends is on Netflix streaming. That’s why. Also, Greg pulled a quilt that his Grandmother made him out of storage and it makes our couch dangerously comfortable.
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| Sarcococca ruscifolia |
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| Hamamelis I. ‘Early Bright’ |
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| Mahonia x media ‘Arthur Menzies’ |
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| Arctostaphylos ‘John Dourley’ |
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| Daphne odora ‘Mae Jima’ |
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| Euphobia ‘Blackbird’ |
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| Crocus chrysanthus ‘Romance’ |
All of my hellebores are blooming and all of them look pretty terrible. I wasn’t quick enough to get Sluggo down this year.
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| Helleborus orientalis ‘Metallic Blue Lady’ |
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| Othonna cheirifolia |
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| Rosemary |
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| Arctostaphylos bakeri ‘Louis Edmonds’ |
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| Helleborus x ‘Black Diamond’ |
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| Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ with a bumble bee! |
I’ve always felt that February is the cruelest month. The only bright side is that it’s also the shortest. Thank goodness for bright spots like crocuses.
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| Crocus chrysanthus ‘Romance’ |
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| Mahonia ‘Underway’ |
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| Helleborus x ballardiae ‘HGC Pink Frost’ |
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| Sarcococca ruscifolia |
The last of the blooms are clinging to Mahonia x media ‘Arthur Menzies’, which got pretty beat up by the snow.
I’m so ready for spring and more blooms. I think the hummingbirds are too, they’re sick of fighting over my slim pickings.
Happy bloom day! Be sure to check out the fun over at May Dreams Garden.
“Thank goodness for Mahonia” edition.
I don’t have a lot blooming right now but my Mahonia ‘Arthur Menzies’ is putting in overtime, making sure that every hummingbird in the neighborhood has a food source to fight over. I love this shrub and it’s been blooming for over a month now.
My Mahonia ‘Charity’ hasn’t bloomed and doesn’t look inclined to, but a recently acquired Mahonia ‘Underway’ is just starting to bloom.
Just one hellebore has started blooming . . . the others are almost there.
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| Helleborus x ballardiae ‘Cinnamon Snow’ |
While I don’t have a ton blooming right now, I couldn’t be more delighted. Every day that goes by means more sunlight and every month will bring more and more blooms! How lucky are we?
Happy bloom day and thank you Carol of May Dream Gardens for hosting!
In the backyard I have a mature Western red cedar that has thwarted all my under-planting attempts. I’ve tried a number of natives, few of which have thrived. Of course, I never bothered to plant things that could survive with almost no water. One lonely hosta looks great until August, at which point it dramatically keels over. The sword ferns are happy but everything else malingers. It’s my fault.
There are sad neglected boxwoods in the corner that I leave only because they’re evergreen and they live despite getting no water. I really want something large to fill the space in the foreground but I’ve yet to find a medium shrub that can handle dry shade (but sometimes hot summer sun!) and fierce root competition. My next attempt will be gro-low sumac (Rhus aromatica), which won’t get quite as tall as I want, but should be able to survive here.
I consulted with a guy at Joy Creek about ground covers because my wild ginger just never took off here. He suggested hellebores and epimediums, so I’ll try that, damn it. I moved my hellebores here and thus far they are doing great.
I searched high and low for an epimedium I liked and found one called ‘Black Sea.’ It’s supposed to turn almost black, which I thought would look great interplanted with Hakonechloa macra.
The only problem is that this epimedium turns black in winter, when everything else is dormant. You can’t even see it, it melds with the mulch so well. During the warmer months it turns a very unremarkable shade of medium green. And I planted hakonechloa eight feet away. It’s like I’m not even thinking, some days.
So I’m not quitting my day job. What other dry shade (but sometimes hot summer sun!) workhorses am I missing?
It finally got really cold here in Portland. As a result, I finished all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls (spoiler alert: everything turned out okay) but I’m still working on my knitting project. I find my mind wandering to the garden and I’m starting to obsess over problem spots in the yard again. I missed that.
And things are blooming! Aren’t winter blooming plants the best?
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| Helleborus x ballardiae ‘HGC Cinnamon Rose’ |
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| NOID Penstemon |
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| Mahonia x media ‘Arthur Menzies’ |
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| Salvia ‘Black and Blue’ |
My daphne is budding and my crocuses are poking out of the ground, so I’m hoping the next bloom day should be a good one. Check out May Dreams Gardens to see what else people have blooming this month.
My hellebores are blooming! Oh happy day!
And then this happened. I’m assuming these are hyacinths that I planted last fall.
Though I’m kind of wondering where the rest of them are . . . it looks sort of dumb to have two random bulbs in a sea of brown.
And my daphne is forming buds!
Is it time to start gardening again? How about now?