Wednesday, March 31, 2010

First Blooms of 2010!

Houston, we have flowers! The crocuses are in bloom, and it is so lovely to see them. The dark purple are the first up, they seem to be a little more vigorous than the other colours, and are my personal favorite.


These pictures are for Northern Shade. Here is a crocus in the lawn, I lifted a few patches of sod last fall and tossed in a few handfuls of mixed small bulbs to see what would happen. I love the look of flowers in the grass, and if it goes well I will plant more later this year. So far, so good.



These are some new shoots of Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum), I think their shape is absolutely adorable.
Also new this week are the first shrub leaves In The Garden, on the little cotoneaster hedge. I really like the way this photograph turned out. The lilacs & willow look like they aren't too far behind.
Here, Old Fashioned Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) is emerging...
...as is D.spectabilis 'alba'. I was quite relieved to see it growing since I had moved no less than 3 or 4 times since planting it last summer. I think I finally found the perfect spot for it.
And here is a mini rose that I recently brought home, I really like the blended pink/apricot colour, they remind me of the lovely 'Morden Sunrise' that I hope to add this year. If I can keep these growing, I will plant them in my Miniature Garden, which you can see here, it is the one around the Weeping Birch.


(Why won't blogger let me add spaces between words & pictures? It looks ok in the preview but then when I 'Publish Post' it squishes them together :/)

23 comments:

  1. There is just something about seeing green shoots and bright splashes of color that just scream spring to me. I love purple in the garden :-)

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  2. Lovely crocuses! I have planted purple and yellow last year and now they are in full bloom.

    I have also notice this issue with spaces on blogger, I resolved it by making enter + space and then it stays also when published.

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  3. They look so great Rebecca, looking forward to seeing what comes next. Have a great Easter (don't eat too much chocolate, lol).

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  4. Wonderful to see you have Crocuses at last! It must be such a thrill to see the colour in the garden.

    I need to move my Dicentra's, all are now growing and I'm a little nervous about trying to move them now, so it looks like they'll have to stay put for yet another year... I really need to stop being so lazy!!!

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  5. Woo-hoo ! You're officially sprung ! My crocusses are still just shooting at the moment, no blooms yet. You've inspired me to add some J's Ladder to the garden (previous post). Mine will be variegated (seed trade). I was delighted, this morning, to see it's coming up.

    Love that rose colour !

    When I mentioned your pic links being broken last time, I was going to ask if you were still using to old editor. I found it often didn't respect format with spaces, pics and links, (eg. moving pictures around or even backspacing to close to a pic could break a link). The new editor seems more user-friendly that way.

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  6. Isn't it great to see those first wonderful blooms? Each spring I think, "I'll have to plant even more bulbs next fall." The purple crocus are a great spring colour. The ones in your grass don't seem to mind at all. I've been wanting to try some in the lawn, and now I'll give it a go next fall. It looks like they would bloom before my dandelions. :)

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  7. Hi Noelle, it really does feel lijke spring now, tulips & daffs are poking through everywhere and the perennials are waking up. Dark purple is one of my favorite colours.

    Hi vrtlarica, your crocuses sound lovely, I have always had a hard time getting different colours to bloom together, even if they are suppose to. Thank you for the tip, I'll give it a try.

    Hi Deborah, Thanks for your message, Happy Easter to you too!

    Hi Liz, it is a welcome sight! Good luck with your dicentras, I think I read somewhere that they don't like being moved or divided (but I could be wrong).

    Hi miss m, sounds like you aren't too far behind and will have blooms soon. Yes, I am still in the old blogger, I dislike change lol. I'll give it a try though, since it does sound more user friendly.

    Hi Northern, I'm so glad you stopped by. The ones in the grass seem happy enough, they are smaller but were only planted last fall, the others I photographed are 3-5 years old. I wasn't sure if they would make it up through the sod, it was a solid 4 inches of grass and roots - much deeper than you would normally plant them, but they made it! :)

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  8. Hi Rebecca. Isn't it wonderful to see those first blooms and see things starting to grow. Your crocuses are so pretty. I do not have one crocus. That has got to be remedied this Fall. LOL! I have been drooling over every one's pretty blooms.
    Before I forget I want to wish you a good Easter weekend.

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  9. Rebecca, it looks like you have a colourful kick-off to the garden season! I am excited to see your bleeding hearts emerging. I have an 'alba' as well that has been planted, dug up, potted and planted again. I am so hoping to see it this year - although I may move it! :-)

    Enjoy this lovely time!

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  10. I bet you are very happy to see those blooms. I love the Crocuses in the grass, I've always wanted to try that. Jacob's Ladder does have pretty leaves. I love the grape smelling flowers they have.

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  11. Hi Lona, Thanks for your message, I find crocuses very easy to grow, return year after year and are always the first to emerge, I highly recommend them. I hope you have a good weekend as well. :)

    Hi MsS, Funny coincidence! I wonder what it is about 'alba', poor things lol. I'll try not to move mine again..

    Hi Catherine, Thanks for your message. I didn't know that Jacob's Ladder smells like grape, I'll have to remember to sniff the blooms. I'm surprised at how easy the bulbs in the grass were to plant, and delighted that they have come up, I'll certainly add more this fall..

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  12. I love the bulbs in the grass. I'll have to go see if my bleeding hearts are pushing up any foliage yet.

    Daisy and Busy Bee are cute as can be. It's great that you're taking up guitar. I'll have to look for that songbook.

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  13. I get mad at blogger too with the strange ways it puts my pictures up too. I have never figured out what it's doing. ;)
    I am as excited as you about spring ! Beautiful crocus!

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  14. Hi bloominrs, Thanks for your message! The songbook is great, tons of pics (all of the cover art from all of each bands albums, pics etc.. lol). I got mine on ebay.

    Hi Rosey, I'm glad it isn't just me & blogger, I hate when my posts don't show up as expected, but there isn't much you can do. I'm glad you are as excited as I am, nothing like a cold snowy winter to get a person to appreciate the little things!

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  15. Crocuses - the Princess of Spring! That's the first thought that came to me when I saw the crocuses photos all over the blogland. Though other colors look lovely, this violet shade is my fave.

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  16. Hi Chandramouli, sorry for the delay in replying, I thought I had a few days ago but it disappeared into the blog abyss. I really like the term 'Princess of Spring', it's charming & appropriate. :)

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  17. Rebecca, I love the crocus in the yard. Also the mini rose is lovely! Spring has arrived! Happy Easter to you and your family!
    Beth

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  18. I just popped by to wish you a very Happy Easter,

    RO xxx

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  19. Hi Beth, thank you for your message, the rose is turning yellow and is even more lovely! Hope you had a nice Easter.

    Hi RO, Thanks so much for you message, I hope you had a Happy Easter too! :)

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  20. A great time of year to see all the new shoots appearing - I love this time.... so easy to forget all the things you have during the wintertime till they all emerge again! Have a good week Miranda

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  21. Hi Rebecca..super lovely..so exciting to see the first new blooms and plants growing! I LOVE those apricot roses..gorgeous! I want some !! Have a beautiful day!
    Kiki~

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  22. Hi Rebecca, Great looking Spring photos!! :-)

    I love having the very early crocus and grape hyacinth in the grass.

    I did a happy little jig a couple of weeks ago when I discovered a polemonium had returned for the first time! I think I've planted 7 of them over the last 3 years! :-)

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  23. Hi Miranda, you're absolutely right about forgetting, I planted so many extras here and there last year, it's wonderful to have little 'suprises' all over the garden.

    Hi Kiki, Thanks so much for your great post,and your positive energy, always appreciated.

    Hi Shady, I planted 4 polemonium last year, and I think this is the only one to return. I had a really fabulous one last year, big and full of blooms, overnight it became covered in powdery mildew and collapsed! Some plants are definitely more difficult than others.

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