African Garden + winter

March Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: Spring Strikes Back

Spring has arrived!!! I'm doing my Snoopy happy dance. All it took was a couple of sunny days in the 50s to melt nearly all the snow in the back garden. There's still snow along the south fence though. And the front? Don't even ask.

Yesterday, between bouts of tending to sick kids, I was finally able to do some gardening - Huzzah! I dead-leafed the Helleborus nigers and cleaned up the Iris and Hosta foliage under the crabapple. But the best part was just sitting on the swing (for about a minute) looking at my snowdrops.

This is Galanthus elwesii, the Giant Snowdrop, which blooms earlier than the Common Snowdrop, G. nivalis. I started off with three clumps of Snowdrops, but through dividing and self-sowing, there are now six groups (it's hard to call three plants a "clump"). Yesterday, they opened wide, looking like doves in flight.

The honey scent of these flowers is a powerful cure for the Winter blahs. As there are so many of them, I'll cut a few today to bring in for easier sniffing.

After lingering in a state of suspended animation since January, the Witchhazel has finally bloomed!

This is Hammamelis 'Sunburst.' Unfortunately, this is one of those fancy new hybrids that has sacrificed scent for bloom size. These flowers are all the more appreciated because this plant failed to bloom last year. There would be even more flowers here, but I found two bud clusters on the ground. As does Frances, I blame the squirrels.

(Round up the usual suspects!) And if all these flowers aren't convincing enough, I saw the first robin of Spring yesterday. That makes it official.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for coming up with Bloom Day. (Carol, you should trademark that.)