Outside and Inside

Every spring I look lovingly at the daffodils and crocus my neighbors have.  And every spring I tell myself that I will plant some bulbs come fall.  And every fall I fail to do so.  So I miss those early blossoms every spring.

OK, so I don't have daffodils or crocus.  But I do have plants that bloom in early spring.  The Lenten Rose (Helleborus Orientalis), contrary to its common name is not a rose at all.  It's in the Buttercup family.  Their only negative is that the blossoms face downward rather than up toward the sun.

A profusion of blossoms

 Such lovely plants requiring very little care

 Much less reliable than the hellibores are our three camellias.  On the very outer edge of their comfort gardening zone, the camellias do not always blossom for us.  Many years the buds come out far too soon and are frozen.  Other years we are rewarded with the lovely blossoms.  It's hard to tell which it will be this year.

 A limb laden with buds lies almost on the ground next to a smiling Daisy.

(No, not the flower...it's way too early for daisies.)

 A reliable shrub is the Pieris Japonica.  We have several of these planted on either side of the front porch steps.  They are early bloomers and the bell-shaped clusters are gorgeous.

We can always count on the pieris

 One of my favorite plants is the forsythia.  While it is blooming downtown, it is only budding here on the mountain.  Every year I bring some clippings inside and we enjoy watching them blossom out.  I have learned that I can stick these clippings in the ground to propagate new plants.

 What says spring better than forsythia?

I hope you are enjoying your first full week of spring.