Thursday, March 30, 2023

Early Spring Garden

 

Ceanothus

Because we have had a colder and much wetter winter than usual, everything in my garden is at least two weeks late. When I compare today's state of the garden with the photos of last year at the same time, much more was already in full bloom in 2022. 

But there are sure signs of spring and I can see how the garden is waking up - not that it was ever fast asleep during the winter months. There is always something in bloom here. Like this lavender - "Davy's Love" - that has been flowering all winter long.

At the beginning of last fall I got rid of two of my camellias because they were too close to the house and therefore a fire hazard (I have been fire scaping for two years now). But there is one in the back that is doing spectacularly every winter (other than the remaining one in the front, which is clearly struggling and I might take that one out as well). See for yourself.


Right beneath it is the little bird angel that I took home several years ago. No one wanted it because it has a broken toe. I love it. This is my contribution to Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Forget-me-nots are in the same shady area.

The potato vine has been blooming for a few years now. I planted it last spring and the rainy winter really helped it to get established. It has grown a lot.

Sweet Alyssum is a favorite - I love its beautiful scent that always remind me of my childhood.

There are two California Lilacs (Ceanothus) in my front garden that I planted 10 years ago. I was a bit afraid that the winter would have been too wet for them since they don't need much irrigation, but they have been doing great. One is in the top photo and one in the following one:

The French Lilac looks promising as well - French lilacs have been my dad's favorites, so of course I had to have one (actually three) in my garden, just like the peonies that were my mom's favorites.

The native pink flowering currant Ribes sanguineum var. glutinosum is flowering happily. This is such a unpretentious plant, thrives on neglect and provides both for pollinators and our native birds. I have five of them and wouldn't mind another one.

Tulips don't really do well in California, at least not after the first year. They need the freeze over the winter which usually they don't get here near the coast (they most certainly get it in the mountains). So I didn't even plant any bulbs last year because the years before had been kind of disappointing. Last spring I got about 50% of what I had planted. I decided to save money and labor and just passed up on tulip bulbs.

What a surprise when I saw tulips peeking out of the soil after our colder-than-usual winter! And most of them carry flowers (often only the leaves appear, but this spring there are FLOWERS!!!). I had forgotten how many bulbs I used to plant. They're coming up in places I had completely forgotten about. This probably has been the best surprise this spring so far.

Are there any beautiful happenings in your garden?





20 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Loving your garden. So much. I would love to wander round and breathe deep.
The ceanothus is known as a Blue Pacific here and they were very popular for a long time.

Tom said...

...your spring flower are fabulous, they are things that I'm looking forward to seeing here. How I wish that I could grow camellias. Always stop to evoy the flowers and have a wonderful weekend.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

A wonderful array of colour, Carola. Even here there are now many signs of spring, catkins bedeck the trees and green shoots are coming out of the ground everywhere. The temperature is predicted to be in the teens by the end of the week. Hugs - David

Valerie-Jael said...

Love your beautiful plants in the garden, and the tulips must have been a wonderful surprise. Too funny that they bloomed after you had decided to get rid of them! I don't have a garden, just a rather scruffy balcony - needs cleaning and organising! Have a great weekend, hugs, Valerie

Gene Black said...

The little bird angel looks perfect in your garden.

Jeanie said...

Oh Carola, what promise I see in your beautiful early garden. Promise for me, that is, in knowing that one day I'll be able to see more than sprouts coming out of the ground. I can guarantee they will not even come close to the beauty you share here. It's clear you must spend a good deal of time with this and I'm in awe.

DVArtist said...

Ohhhhh I love seeing your garden. You have so many beautiful flowers. I wish I was 2 weeks behind in gardening. We are supposed to get snow again this next week. No one knows how much I hate this weather. Snow at the beach, give me a break. LOL Thank you for joining FFO and have a lovely day.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

What stunning photo, Carola. I think I have lost my lavender again. I should learn that even when I bring it in in winter, it eventually dies. Yours seems to bloom even in the dead of winter.

Loved that you have tulips this year. Mine are just trying to peek through the ground. No worries that mine won't freeze. Sometimes they freeze after they are above ground, too!

I love your awesome garden and all the beautiful plants and flowers. I would have taken that angel, too!

Christine said...

Gorgeous spring flowers!

MELODY JACOB said...

Your garden is gorgeous, and those tulips must have been a pleasant surprise. It's so amusing that they started flowering.

WWW.MELODYJACOB.COM

kathyinozarks said...

Sooo beautiful-gorgeous blooms-thank you for sharing with us
Kathy

My name is Erika. said...

My garden is still covered in melting snow, and so there is not much going on right now. I will enjoy your garden photos instead. It is so green and full of color. It's just lovely Carola. Hugs-Erika

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

I am amazed at the blooming garden you have already ... I have a few bulbs that are starting to poke up through the cold, probably still frozen ground and that is it. How beautiful and how I envy you ... though I know this has come from years of hard work. It sure is well worth the effort, Carola ... truly beautiful.

Andrea @ From the Sol

Gretchen Joanna said...

I've had a big ceanothus bush in the past, and love them very much! I think they don't mind lots of precipitation in the winter, as long as they don't get too much in the summer.

In my new landscaping I had three of the most beautiful ribes, just like yours, in a corner of my garden under the birdhouse. I still don't know why they only lived three or four years, and then expired. Because I don't know what ailed them, I haven't wanted to risk planting more.

It's lovely to get peeks into your garden, and I am thrilled along with you about the tulips that survived long enough to benefit from this cold winter!!

Mae Travels said...

Your garden is beautiful! We have a few shoots each an inch high at most. It's still very cold here. So I especially enjoyed your blossoms.

best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Lowcarb team member said...

Beautiful photographs of your spring flowers, everything looks very nice.
We have quite a few daffodils and tulips flowering, I keep meaning to take photographs!

Have a lovely month of April.

All the best Jan

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

There are absolutely no spring blooms in our garden, mainly because we no longer have one. However, there is a garden in the small park near the mill apts and nothing is showing as of this week. So, thank you, Carola, for showing what is beautifully blooming in your yard. The tulips are my favorite in this grouping!

Rostrose said...

Liebe Carola,
dein Vorfrühlingsgarten sieht traumhaft aus! Ich freue mich sehr mit dir, dass es nach diesem längeren Winter tatsächlich blühende Tulpen bei euch gibt – und bin begeistert über das BLITZEBLAU des Kalifornischen Flieders. Herrlich! Auch sonst hast du einen wunderbaren Garten, die Kamelien, die Vergissmeinnicht, Sweet Alyssum, so viel schönes Blühen! Ein bisserl neidisch bin ich, weil bei dir der Lavendel durchblüht - eine meiner Lieblingspflanzen, weil sie gut duftet, hübsch aussieht und ein wahrer Insektenmagnet ist. Ich wusste nicht, dass Kamelien nahe am Haus ein größeres Brandrisiko darstellen….
Ich wünsche dir und deinen lieben frohe Ostertage! 🐣🐰🐥
Ganz herzliche rostrosige Grüße
Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2023/04/ruckschau-auf-den-marz-2023.html

Barwitzki said...

Dear Carola, your garden looks fantastic... we still have to wait a bit, this night there was another frost, but soon all the colors will come out :-)) Yes, I love lilacs too and I have a big bush in the Garden, the tulips are showing their first buds... well I've been enjoying myself in the nursery for the time being.
Viele Grüsse zu dir. Ich wünsche dir ein frohes Osterfest.
Sei umarmt von Viola
Danke für deine herrlichen Blütenträume... so schön.

Barwitzki said...

Liebe Carola, ich habe auf deine Frage in meinem vorangegangenen Beitrag geantwortet... wir haben viel besseres Wetter als vorausgesagt wurde für Ostern, ich kann den Tulpenknospen beim wachsen zuschauen :-)) bald wird es die ersten Blüten geben... wunderschöne Waldspaziergänge machen wir derzeit... einen fröhlichen Ostermontagsgruß sendet dir Viola.