LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Monday, March 23, 2015

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.


9 comments:

Cheryl said...

Beautiful blooms. I love pieris, and have many large specimens in the garden. Sadly in UK they are not popular. It was so good to read that you love their blooms too!! So pretty.....

Yes spring is here........very topsy turvy in this part of the world.

Ms. A said...

Looks lovely! I need to get my butt outside and see what's going on around here... but that would require getting dressed and I can't seem to muster the energy.

Anonymous said...

Love seeing what's blooming there. Things are in full spring mode here on the north coast of California. Lots of flowers and new shoots on everything!

Arkansas Patti said...

With the lovelies you have showing off, you should not feel remorse for a few daffodils. I may have to check out those helleborus, they are lovely.
Tulips are my oops flower that I keep forgetting to plant in the fall.

Stephanie said...

I can't wait for the snow to melt and the flowers to start blooming around here! It is a magical time of year.

KGMom said...

I love spring flowers. The first house my husband and I bought was sold to me (at least) on some blooming forsythia in the backyard. We went house-hunting in the spring, and there it was--glorious lovely yellow forsythia.
BUT it also had to be trimmed lest it take over the entire yard.
When we moved to our present house, my husband said--NO forsythia.

Tara said...

what shy blooms...they are sweet.

our region is famous for camellias, which grow like weeds and are forever in bloom. Blossoms abound and fall to the ground like snow.

Wisteria is in full glory now. They smell so good. Spring...ah...even in our drought, I love the spring.

The Bug said...

Lovely flowers! We had snow flurries yesterday :(

Love Daisy!!

NCmountainwoman said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone. Unfortunately we are expecting a freeze over the weekend. There go the camellias once again this year.

Donna - My husband has the same fear but I assured him I would keep them under control.