Exciting News in the Garden
Thursday, February 20, 2014 at 11:40AM A friend, who lives a few miles away from here, emailed me the following photos, taken just last week:
This was a beautiful, gentle snow, lacking the dangerous icy edge of the snow event we had a few weeks ago. The snow was gone within a couple of days, and now we are heading full tilt into spring with warmer temperatures and birds singing by the thousands to announce the coming season.
I have never heard so many birds. Cardinals, bluebirds, sparrows, mockingbirds, robins, thrushes, wrens, towhees, crows, geese, doves, chickadees, and many others are warbling, twittering, chirping, calling, chipping, whistling, peeping, squeaking, and squawking. Even the hawks are up there, screeching out of tune, but nevertheless contributing their voices to the symphony.
Overnight the hellebores have begun to emerge, overdue by at least a month. I love the embryonic quality of their new leaves and buds:
Hellebores are best appreciated up close. The details of each individual bloom are fascinating:
Other flowers are more cautious, remembering the frigid temperatures of recent weeks. Daffodils are poking their heads up, their blooms soon to appear. Quince buds are swelling. Within days these shrubs will be covered with thousands of blooms. I found the first forsythia flower, and tips of camellia blooms are showing.
This is very exciting news. The birds proclaim it. I know it. Spring is almost here! Finally!
camellias, daffodils, early spring, flower buds, flowering quince, forsythia, hellebores, snow in spring
Reader Comments (21)
Those are very beautiful Winter pictures. Its just great to feel a hint of Spring in the air. Love your Hellebores, we don't have any in our new garden, think I will be more choosy when I get around to selecting new ones.
I love the colors of nature and I'm very excited because of the arrival of spring.
Lovely pictures :)
Greetings
Lucky you! The arrival of spring is always so exciting and any signs the pertains to its arrival is always welcome! Your area is remarkably well advanced than ours but we do have our fair share of signs of spring, just not as much as yours yet but we're getting there :)
Your snow photos are beautiful, especially combined with all those spring blooms following the snow. Recently, I have noticed new growth on deciduous trees, new color in their branches, and lots of birdsong. These are all clues that spring is coming, but your flowers provide much-needed reassurance. I hope you are enjoying spring more for having that extra anticipation.
What a beautiful start to your nascent spring! Enjoy the birds and the early buds! Spring is well underway here in southern California and, this week with temperatures soaring back into the low 80s yet again, I can feel summer's hot breath on my neck.
Hellebore love! Your photos are exquisite, Deb. We will have another blast of the polar vortex next week, so I'm glad to have the snow covering my Hellebores and other perennials until it gets warmer. Brrr. Oh my gosh! Those photos your friend took of the winter sunrise (sunset?) are incredible!! Thanks for sharing two seasons in one post. Stunning!
Exciting yes! Noisy too :) Bring on Spring!!!
Wonderful photos...they almost make me wish I was there to see the snow again! Beautiful photos of the hellebores, too.
What a contrast between the beautiful snow pictures and the wonderful signs of spring now appearing in your garden. I imagine you on your hands and knees taking the beautiful Hellebore pictures, I hope you were able to get up OK. Christina
Gorgeous photos. The chorus of birds has reached deafening levels here as well. It is very exciting!
Deb - I thoroughly enjoyed the snow pictures because I just don't get to see snow down here in North Florida. It was 85 degrees here yesterday and 66 today (after some rain). I thought your 11th photo -- a close-up of a hellebore -- was fantastic! Can't grow those here.
The snow photos are really beautiful like.a postcard and the close ups of the hellebores are amazing. Looks like spring is on the way after all!
I almost stepped on a snowdrop today, the first to sprout and bloom. I was so glad I looked before I stepped! I was so glad to see something coming up green! Yay!
Oh, that is exciting! Lucky you! We're still buried in snow, so it will be awhile yet. Hellebores are beautiful!
I am now fully convinced that you live on a different planet! Spring? If only. The hellebores are lovely though, especially the newer hybrids like Merlin, Champion and Pink Frost
Beautiful pictures of the snow, and of the coming spring, too! We are just about the same here - hellebores just beginning to bloom, and the quince full of buds but no blooms yet. I never know if February will bring a late freeze, but I do believe spring is well on its way! I'm ready!
Excellent choice and variety! Our plants have been delayed by about a month, and began opening before our last cold snap only 4-5 weeks ago. Have you see the 'Teddington Gardener'? http://teddingtongardener.com/ He talks about plants in England, but his posts on hellebore this are great, in our opinion. — The Healing Garden gardener
It's the same here. Loud birds early in the morning and blooming hellebores. Spring!
Oh how it warms my heart to see the signs of spring returning! I can't wait till it makes its way up here.
Those snow images are divine! Our snow has finally melted but any signs of Spring are still quite elusive. There's a whole lot of brown going on in my gardens. Enjoy your beautiful colors!
Deborah I hope you are doing well. I love your spring bloom pics...it seems the snow has revitalized the gardens down there...lots of great nitrogen in that snow. The birds are beginning to wake up here even with all our snow.