The Garden Awakens
Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 10:30PM The Garden awakens.
March brings color back to the landscape, and I wander about, exclaiming over each new sight as though I had thought the dreary monochromes of winter would last forever. Spring is not completely entrenched yet. There are still many bare branches, but every day brings more plants out of their slumber. With a last frost date of April 15, we could still have freezing temps to spoil it all, but I hope not!
I took all of these images today:
Clockwise from top left: Loropetalum; Variegated Winter Daphne in pot under old camellia bush; Unidentified camellia bloom; Azalea Karume 'Coral Bells'
Forsythia blooms were disappointing this year. We had unusually warm weather at Christmas, and many shrubs began to bloom then, only to soon have the flower buds killed by frost. This happened to forsythias, azaleas and even dogwoods, so their performance this spring has been affected. 
The above two images are of mushrooms I found in the front garden.
The camellia blooming in all these woodland garden photos is called Gunsmoke.
By next week there should be even more dramatic changes in the landscape. Get ready for the garden party!
Reader Comments (18)
The garden party is well underway here but I enjoy seeing your garden wake up too. Our party is more like a rave with everything jumping into bloom at once, whereas yours seems a more elegant dinner party affair where the gardener has an opportunity to enjoy each participant before moving on to the next.
How big was that first mushroom? It looks huge!
Hi Kris, that mushroom was huge, about 5 inches across! As for my garden party, it may start off as an elegant affair, but after a while, believe me, the participants get rowdy! Have a great week! Deb
I think the bunny is looking forward to the party too. Looks like it's already started, love that red camellia with the yellow inside.
You have lots of color already! I love your moss path...gorgeous! Once the first blooms emerge spring seems to be on a race to the finish line. Every day I'm discovering new blooms popping up. Love this time of year!
Things are starting to wake up here, too - tulips & azaleas blooming, leaves popping out on snowball bushes and birds checking out every birdhouse for a suitable home!
I share your excitement! You have so many lovely flowers now blooming, I hope your weather behaves and doesn't spoil your party! Love the flowers on your Loropetalum
I knew it was going to be stunning in your garden in Spring - and this is just the beginning! Everything looks lovely and you have so much gorgeous color. What amazing mushrooms - I have never seen anything that size before! I think I might have been intimidated if I had seen that! Lol! So looking forward to more lovely spring photos!
- Kate xx
and we have Plectranthus flowers, which tell us autumn is coming.
Your photos are beautiful!
Ha, I just left a post about the garden awakening, but your garden beats them all. Lots of bloom and much more exciting than here in the Northeast.
I love to see all that wonderful spring color; it gives me something to look forward to.
I'm amazed that your last frost date is as late as it is -- only a few weeks before ours.
I feel the breathless excitement in your words Deb; spring is such a wonderful time - enjoy every moment.
Clearly we are thinking along the same lines, even if you're spring is further advanced than ours. I do love those pictures of the light on the ferns.
Nothing dramatic here yet, as spring creeps in at first. Forsythias are just starting, crocus are mostly gone, and now daffodils are coming up. My fear is that the flowering trees will be hit by frost, because it's too early for them. I have seen magnolias in bloom, but I'm pretty sure those lovely trees get zapped by frost every single year!
That purple mushroom is something else. I realize you took a close-up but it looks to be 12-14 inches wide.
The bloom on the forsythia's were a bit disappointing here as well, although my bush is covered with foliage. Your flowers are beautiful! Things here are just starting to pop.
The interplay of light and color and greenery in your garden is beautiful! It looks like a really good year for camellias as well as loropetalums. They look wonderful.
Wow Deb your spring is stunning...love all the blooms in the trees and on the ground!