Bloom Day February 15 2017

A mild winter means we have early blooms.

Tulip magnolia:

Star Magnolia, Leonard Messell:

Azaleas are opening much too early. Frost could ruin these but others are holding back, just in case. Mostly it depends on whether they're protected from cold wind.
This is Pink Pearl azalea:

Back when Loropetalums were first popular, the famous hort guy at UGA dismissed the white as not of any consequence. I did not agree and when Miss Billie offered me seedlings, I took them. Later he changed his mind as to whether they were worthwhile in the landscape.

White Loropetalum:

Rose pink Loropetalum:

Loropetalums tend to make trees when not kept harshly pruned into hatboxes and meatballs as landscapers in town do.

I let mine grow into trees and prune the bottoms:.

Some daffodils are just beginning to come up. The season is long if you plant different ones.
The early ones like Ehrlicheer and these Sweetness jonquillas are blooming:

This was not a good year for Hyacinths for lack of chill but some are blooming, just not very tall.
The darker pink one had an earlier bloom; this is the second bloom.

It's fun to have something besides the usual daffodils, hyacinths and iris.
Snake's Head Iris:

 The 3 Camellias below are seedling plants that I planted seeds some 15 years ago. They're not outstanding but they are a novelty.

The Camellia below is more than 40 years old and embarrassingly gaudy when cold doesn't take out the blooms:

White Camellias are my favorite.

Long may She Wave!

Happy Windy Bloom Day.

Bloom Day links are Here.

Camellia Seedlings in Bloom

A member on the Camellia Group to which I belong on Facebook asked that members post not just a beautiful Camellia blossom but the bush on which it grows to give a better idea of the structure of that plant when out of bloom.

This is one of my seedlings.

The blossom above grows on this plant.

Yellow leaves are not abnormal, old leaves are shed as new growth starts.

 

The same plant again on the left.

On the right  is the shrub on which the bloom below grows.

Compare the color of the two plants. They are the same age.

This seedling is unlike either of the pod parents.

 

White Camellias in To Kill a Mockingbird

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird the boy Jem takes Scout's baton and destroys Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes. As punishment, Jem must go to the Dubose house every day for a month and read to her. He and Scout endure Mrs. Dubose’s verbal abuse and peculiar fits, which occur at the end of every reading session. Each session is a little longer. Mrs. Dubose dies a little more than a month after Jem’s punishment ends. His father reveals to Jem that the reading was part of Mrs. Dubose's successful effort to combat an addiction to morphine. Mrs. Dubose had given her maid a box for Jem. In it lies a single white camellia, waxed to preserve it.

The camellia mentioned in the book is 'Snow on the Mountain'

a Camellia sasanqua. These are Camellia japonica.

Last year I wrote about the movie Camille and

the camellia connection when my white camellias bloomed.

Weather has not been kind to the early to mid-season pinks.

Camellia season will end when the weather gets hot, usually mid-April 

when the dark red Blood of China is in full bloom.

Last Camellias of the Season

Camellia season ends when the weather warms.

I was finally able to get a pic of last-to-bloom

Blood of China that looks almost true to color.

It was a good camellia year despite February's cold.

Open blooms are destroyed by freezes; tight buds can tolerate cold.

As Camellias end their season, Azaleas are getting ready to bloom. Hydrangeas have tiny buds.

Spring Brings Frequent Changes

We're nearing the end of camellia season. As camellias end their season, azaleas are opening. I saw two dark swallowtail butterflies this morning. They appear as the azaleas open.

A few years ago, I noticed the absence of good nectar sources for butterflies when the azaleas finish blooming and before the spring annuals open. Dianthus species fill this gap.

Bath's pinks are almost ready to open.

I planted more today, rooted cuttings that are also ready to bloom.

Redbud tree, buzzing with bees.

Boxwoods are all bright green and blousy with

new growth needing pruning.

Fallen blossoms and petals carpet the ground

under the camellias.

What's next in your garden, now that spring is here?

There's a certain Slant of Light

When it comes, the Landscape listens --

Shadows -- hold their breath --

                                                   Emily Dickinson

More rain brings the budding flowers to the forefront. The mid-winter blooming Camellias are saying goodbyes. The late-winter Camellias are fully budded and showing color. Cold was not kind to the paler ones. On Friday we had rain early and again after lunch, scattered showers that passed through quickly. The big box stores are putting out plants, I noticed from the truck window. We needed cough syrup and catfood, not more work just now.
 
Seedlings are coming on fast: Three kinds of Poppies; Larkspur and Catchfly. They will hide some of the maturing daffodil foliage which will need lots of hiding cover. Hyacinths take longer than daffodils to go away, but this year's blooms show the value of patience while they linger.

Poppies and some interesting fungi.

Lilies are coming up prematurely. Must protect from frost.

My first parsley seedling is up.

Watching for nasturtiums any day.

Outside, the redbud tree on the north side is starting to bloom.

The one at the southwest corner of the house looks bare.

I noticed pear trees blooming between here and town, and tulip magnolias.

Buffy finds joy in rainwater.