Friday, March 20, 2009

Yay! Spring Has Sprung!


I am so tickled that today is the first day of spring I just got up and did a happy dance all the way from my desk to the fax machine and back! How shall I celebrate the arrival of spring tonight? Hmmm… any suggestions?

Okay, on with the blog. Yesterday, I was walking around the garden doing little things here and there that needed to be done in preparation of my lawn mowing this afternoon. I looked around and noticed so much was going on, I needed to go get my camera (which is about to depart to camera heaven BTW) and take some photos.

All the redbuds are blooming right now and up until yesterday I had never noticed the subtle difference in the bloom colors. The Texas redbud is always the first one to bloom. It’s quite prolific in its show and the flower is two shades of purple, the base of the bloom being much darker than the petals.

Texas


‘Forest Pansy’ is the last to bloom in our garden, but I wanted to place these photos side by side so you could more easily see the difference between it and the Texas Redbud. The flowers of this redbud have a slightly darker base that its sister the Texas Redbud and the petals are a lighter shade of purple, almost lilac colored.

Forest Pansy


The second redbud to bloom in our garden is the good old fashioned Eastern Redbud. Its blooms are a beautiful shade of pink with purple highlights. The base of the bloom is a darker shade of pink. All three are beauties to behold and hopefully we will be making room for a fourth tree soon. Annie at the Transplantable Rose has gotten me all keyed up to find a Texas Whitebud now and I won’t rest until I find one! (And make a place for it.)

Eastern


The Japanese magnolia is still holding on to some blooms, even though it’s begun to push out foliage.

Magnolia


These yellow irises have been blooming since the first of January and will continue to bloom through this month. I don’t know what the cultivar of this iris is or where I got it from, but it is a work horse when it comes to blooms. Sometimes it even starts to bloom in December!

Yellow Iris


The Spirea is starting its show of lace like flowers. It’s going to get a haircut after the blooms stop in an effort to produce more dense growth.

Spirea


Last but not least of my discoveries yesterday afternoon was this fine new robin’s nest just waiting for eggs to be laid. I had seen the robin making trip after trip to the site, so I figured I would find a nest here. I’ll get pictures of the eggs and the babies as everything unfolds, that is, unless the stray calico or Possum, the Siamese next door don’t find them first.

Robin Nest


Everyone enjoy the first day of spring! Tell me what you plant to do in celebration!

15 comments:

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

What a good start for this SPRING morning - to look at your gorgeous pictures! Redbuds are outstanding, I can't take my eyes off them! Thanks!

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

I can't tell you how it exciting it is for you to post photos of plants that actually grow in my area--every single one! Not yet in bloom of course, but at least I'm not all jealous of camellias and nandinas and whatnot for once! Equinoxes are tricky to celebrate. I have a bonfire for the winter solstice and a BBQ for the summer solstice, but have not celebrated either equinox.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Never realized there was such a difference in redbuds. I have the Eastern but it struggles here with damage most winters. Like Monica said, it's great to see some familiar blooms that I will have in my garden in May.
Marnie

Unknown said...

Great photos...........YIPPEE for spring!!

Anonymous said...

Your redbuds are beautiful! I have a post planned for Arbor Day on the "Oklahoma Redbud."

Randy said...

Tatyana,
I thought it was a good way to start spring too! I never tire of looking at flower pictures!

Monica,
You and I have to put our heads together to come up with a annual way to celebrate spring. I’m glad you enjoyed the photos!

Marnie,
I never noticed the difference either until yesterday. With them all blooming right now in such a small area it was easy to notice.

Darla,
“YIPPEE” is a good way to describe the feeling!

Zach,
Welcome to our Eden. You are really going to enjoy your Bridalwreath. When they get a few years growth on them they will cascade with beautiful white falls.

Chandramouli S said...

Well, when they said, Spring is the season for Lovers, they REALLY meant it and your photos prove it. Robin nest! Good luck, Randy and Happy Spring!

F Cameron said...

Happy Spring! You have so much color already. I love the yellow irises. I noticed the redbuds starting up here today.

Cheers,
Cameron

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Your garden is way ahead of mine this time of year. No wonder you are doing the happy dance. I will still be cleaning out flower beds in anticipation of blooms. Happy Spring!

Unknown said...

Now THIS is what I would call spring! Totally glorious, guys. I haven't planted anything, obviously, but you're right, we are in "it's melting...it's MELTING!" mode. And we'll get there eventually. The potted plants and the cut flowers in my office will keep me grounded ti then. And visits to spring-filled blogs like yours, of course.

Cindy, MCOK said...

Hey, J&R! Spring looks mighty lovely in your garden. I have a bird-seeded Redbud in one area of my front garden, but it didn't bloom this year. I suspect it's the very pale lavender-pink-mauve variety like the one in my neighbor's yard. I'd really love to find one of the darker, richer colored hybrids I've seen planted out and about. I need to go looking!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

We had a skiff of snow last night .. so it is really hard in one way to look at these fabulous pictures : (
BUT .. it is nice in another way because they are such pretty pictures to feast my eyes on .. so thank you ? LOL
It is hard being conflicted like this !! haha

Wayne said...

Even though we have several weeks before our first color. Seeing your pics helps me through!

Anonymous said...

I know you are so glad that spring and warmer temperatures are finally here. The redbud photos are wonderful. I never realized that the blooms were actually two different colors. That iris is lovely, too. Enjoy Spring!

Jan
Always Growing

Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog said...

So many gorgeous colors. I can't believe you have iris blooming in January and even sometimes December! Interesting to see the different redbud colors too.