Spring!

The definition of "spring" is "to leap forward," and while this is not the definition of the season, it could be! In the past two weeks, my garden has vaulted firmly out of the slipping clutches of winter and firmly into the lively, new season. Almost all trees and shrubs are awakening, and colors are becoming vibrant. 

Redbuds, dogwoods and Japanese maples create a tapestry of pink, red, white and purple.

The white flowering shrub on the lower right above is Pieris japonica 'Cavatine.' Below is a close-up of its blooms:

I have about twenty Japanese maples in my garden, and I love them all! Here is emerging foliage of four of them:Clockwise from top left: Butterfly; Vitifolium; Orangeola; Sango-Kaku

Hellebores are wonderful late-winter bloomers, but their blooms persist for months, gradually fading to shades of green. That double one on the left, by the way, is a chance seedling!

Looking toward summer, this scabiosa, or pincushion, bud will soon be ready to open:

The color of Deodar cedar 'Feelin' Blue' is especially vibrant this time of year:

A scene inside the woodland garden:

I am grateful for these flowers that grow wild in the woodland garden:

Cultivated flowers in the woodland garden include these sweet pinks:Top: Korean spice viburnum, in bud and bloom. 2nd row: Magnolia 'Jane.' 3rd row: Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection.'

Most of my daffodils finished blooming weeks ago; these in the woodland garden are among the last to flower:

Finally, I am newly smitten each year when I see the emerging fronds of autumn fern, Dryopteris erythrosora:

Happy spring!

Early Spring, 2015

It happens every year, but I greet the arrival of spring with the delight of an infant who has never seen a blossom before. The garden is awakening. I wander along damp mossy paths, smiling at each swelling flower bud and each lime-green leaf that unfurls. The light is gentle, the breeze is energizing, and the air is filled with chirps and chatters and trills and calls. There is a mockingbird in a tree, and his incessant happy song declares the wonders of season. 

Many limbs and branches are still bare, and on a rainy day the land looks as cheerless as any winter day; but not for long, as every morning adds new color to the landscape. Forsythia was late blooming this year, put off by freezes, but at last it opened its cheery yellow bells:

Chaenomeles, or flowering quince, bloomed through the hard freezes and continues to be beautiful:

Corylopsis spicata, called winterhazel, is a plant in the witch hazel family, or Hamamelidaceae. Its clusters of yellow flowers hang on bare branches and glow like little lanterns:Fothergilla is one of my favorite native shrubs. I recently planted several new ones near the base of some river birch trees. This variety is called 'Redneck Nation,' after Fred Nation, the botanist who found it growing in south Alabama. My new shrubs look sparse now, but they will soon grow and be filled with foliage. The fragrant, white bottlebrush blooms are just beginning to open:

My daffodils were a bit disappointing this year. They bloomed just in time to be hit by severe frost, then weeks of rain. They lay low to the ground during most of this time, but bravely stood tall when the sun was shining:

These trilliums grow wild in my woodland garden. The deep maroon petals in the center have not yet opened:

Hepatica nobilis, also called liverwort, is a beautiful woodland wildflower. I planted these next to a path, so I can appreciate its small, delicate blooms:

Another spring wildflower in my woodland garden is Sanguinaria, also called bloodroot. It has taken a long time to become established; the first couple of years I thought it had died! I am glad to see several blooms this year. It is shown on the upper right in this collage of spring bloomers:Clockwise from upper left: Sanguinaria, also called bloodroot; Grape Hyacinths; Pieris japonica, also called andromeda; Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection'; Leucojum aestivum, also called summer snowflake, although it blooms in spring; Magnolia 'Jane.'I am just as pleased with beautiful foliage as I am with flowers. Strawberry begonia and Heucerella 'Alabama Sunrise' are two new additions to my woodland garden: Strawberry begonia is a vigorous ground cover.

Heucerella 'Alabama Sunrise' is a cross between Heuchera and Tierella. Throughout the year, life continues in the decaying crevices of Stump World:

On a fallen log I find a surprisingly beautiful arrangement of lichens, which have flourished in abundant rain:

As day's end approaches, I find these blooms silhouetted against the sky:

The woods still look bare in evening's glow, but tomorrow more buds will open and more color will show. Spring is here!