The usual suspects are blooming away happily indoors, paying no attention to the vagaries of Chicago area's typical mid-March weather. Pictured are oxalis, fuchsias, dragon wing begonias, and African violet. The violet bloomed for three months straight, took a 2-week rest, and is blooming again. The others have bloomed all winter. And the fuchsia is still healthy! I killed the last two with kindness the last two winters. Going easy on watering in winter seems to be the trick. They're thirsty outdoors, but indoors in winter they seem to like drying out thoroughly between watering.
With spring less than a week away, the garden is waking up! No blooms yet, but we have buds - snowdrops and hellebores so far. In the lower right corner, Helleborus niger has its first-ever bud! This is its third year in our garden. As you can imagine, I'm delighted it finally decided to bloom (even if there's only one bud so far.)A very happy (almost) spring Bloom Day to all, and thank you to Carol for hosting. For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, please visit her at May Dreams Gardens.
It has been cold and snowy the last two days in my garden and very few blooms.. Buds are nice though-they are a welcome sign of things to come!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and have a great GBBD :)
There's a lot of promise in all those buds - the wonderful thing about this time of year is how quickly all those buds can suddenly burst in to flower. Good luck with the recalcitrant hellebore, and Happy GBBD.
ReplyDeleteHi GG,
ReplyDeleteI was able to get out for some clean up yesterday. Parts of the garden are still frozen solid and I have this tiny patch of snow in the back bed.
Eileen
Exciting to see the first buds of the gardening season...I have successfully killed every fushia I have tried to grow.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda, and here I've been impressed with myself for not having killed either of my elephant ears, whose pots I just brought in over the winter. :) Zat middle photo in the second collage bleeding heart? SO sweet!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful collages, so many pretty things! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy GBBD! Congratulations on successfully overwintering your hothouse babies, and on your Helleborus niger bud. I thought I had a hellebore bud, but it turned out to be a tightly wound new leaf, ha.
ReplyDeleteNice collages and you have a garden a little more awake. Much more breaking the soil. Happy GBBD.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it exciting to see these first signs of growth in the garden? All of a sudden I see tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths emerging. They may not bloom for awhile, but it's exciting watching them wake up. Congratulations on your hellebore--I'm hoping for more than the one bloom I had last year:)
ReplyDeleteI am now wondering if the bud I thought I found on my hellebore is really just a leaf...well, we shall see! Happy Bloom Day!
ReplyDeleteYour garden is awakening. Happy GBBD.
ReplyDeleteNice pics, Linda. Spring's gonna bust out all over if it reaches 65 degrees as promised on Thursday!
ReplyDeleteAs a former Chicago girl, I'm a bit in awe of all of your buds--I don't remember seeing them this early in the icy north! I love buds almost as much as blooms, because they speak of so much loveliness to come! Happy GBBD!
ReplyDeleteThat first mosaic is so pretty with all those yellows in there! So glad spring is reaching you. Such a joyous time of the year.
ReplyDeleteHey Monica, it's actually a hellebore - the first one I added to the garden. I'm on the lookout for bleeding hearts - so far they haven't poked up from the mulch yet. Once they do, it's amazing how fast they grow!
ReplyDeleteI fell your excitment over the blooming Hellebores! Mine took 3 years to bloom also and I about lost it due to soggy conditions. Now she bloomed so she must be happy! I am happy as well as I just found one in the Garden Center today! I have never seen one in our GC before so I jumped on the chance to get it. Now I have two so starting a collection...
ReplyDeletelooks like its a helle time of year on the garden blog circuit! nice pics!
ReplyDeleteMaybe someone ate all my bulbs?? I live an hour straight west off 88 and I don't have anything showing!! I still have a large puddle of snow!!
ReplyDeleteYour AV is really a good bloomer! Happy to see those little flowers gracing your home. Have a wonderful spring and I hope lots of flower buds for you :-D
ReplyDeleteYou make me hungry to try hellebores in the garden.
ReplyDeleteSissy, it's a little colder where you are than where we are. Being a little further south and a lot closer to the lake, it's generally a wee bit warmer here. That can make a difference. You'll probably start seeing early stuff soon with the sunshine today and milder temps the next few days.
ReplyDeleteThe promise of spring shows in those beautiful buds. I can understand your excitement seeing the first ever bud on your Helleborus Niger! Things are beginning to awake from winters sleep here in Nova Scotia...thankfully))).
ReplyDeleteNice to see the bulbs creeping out of the soil! I just noticed my tulips are coming up today.
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