Sunday, March 13, 2011

Early Spring Joys

It is not officially spring yet, but the garden does not seem to care. As I walked around in the yard this week I took some pictures and would like to share them with you. We had a couple of relatively cold days (for San Diego circumstances, of course), but since Tuesday this week the weather was lovely: just warm and sunny. The garden seems to really get into spring mood, but see for yourselves!

(you can click on the photos to enlarge)


My one and only alstroemeria is blooming nicely already. It took a while to get established, but after three years it is really taking off. So easy to grow, you just have to make sure it is watered enough and it appreciates a little fertilizer every now and then. I use organic fertilizer for roses for this alstroemeria with good results.



Brunnera macrophylla. I love this plant, but unfortunately it doesn't love me back so far. I moved one from a location it was not happy growing in and I planted another newly bought one from a container into the ground in the front yard. Both plants disappeared completely and by now only one has made a comeback. Brunnera macrophylla has very neat small blue forget-me-not like flowers. Hope I get to see them this spring!



Finally my two white camellias 'Nuccio's Gem' are starting to flower. This is a very late blooming variety for me here. As much as we needed the rain the camellias really do not appreciate getting their flowers wet. They turn into a very ugly brownish-yellow color and are basically ruined when they are hit by rain. That happened to some of the early blooms of mine but this one opened nicely.




I am totally fascinated by the chartreuse color of my relatively new 'Key Lime Pie' heucheras. They look so fresh, almost yummy. They are supposed to have very delicate white to light pink small flowers, which can be used efectfully in small flower arrangements. Can not wait to see them blooming for the first time in my garden.



My blue nemisia is flowering so profusely already. A very easy to grow plant for me here.




The gladioli are emerging from the ground and you can observe them growing a little bit more every day. This is a wonderful dark violet variety, which is coming back the third year. I would have hoped that they would multiply a little bit more, but so far they did not. I am still happy at least to see them again this year. 



The lizards are enjoying the warmer temperatures and are quite active. Many of them look highly pregnant, but I don't know if they really are. This one I shot in the morning and it did not move at all even though I got quite close. Maybe it was still cold...



Even though I do not want to make this another "rose post" I have to sneak in one rose photo. This is 'Baronne Prevost', the first rose growing in the ground that has opened her blooms for me this year. How exciting is that?



Geranium 'Rozanne'. I love hardy geraniums, but they are not easy to grow here in San Diego, inland. This variety is supposed to do well in my neck of the woods, but when I transplanted it from the container I bought it in into the ground at the end of last year, it disappeared completely and I thought I lost it. So I was even more delighted when I saw it coming back this week.



Finally my green cymbidium orchid is starting to flower. Somehow its blooming period is much delayed in comparison to my other red variety that I showed you in a previous post (click here). In a way that is a good thing, since I can enjoy a longer orchid growing season. For me the cymbidium orchids only bloom once a year. I really like the pale green-cream color of this one. It also provides me with good cut flowers for indoors that last a long time.



Basal cane from one of my 'Pierre de Ronsard' roses. This is what most gardeners are waiting for in terms of roses, the precious basal growth, which helps the rose to renew herself. Although in this case I am not sure if  this is the Pierre de Ronsard coming up there (the color and the shape of the leaves look a little bit wired) or the rootstock, most likely' Dr. Huey'. Only time will tell.



I would love to say that these are my emerging flower seedlings, but nope, this is just the typical selection of weed varieties that are very common in our area. They sprout like crazy at this time of the year, especially with all the rain that we were having. You really have to stay on top of them or they take over a flower bed within a blink of an eye.

See you in the garden!

Christina


8 comments:

  1. Oh wow, I am so loving your cymbidium. I wish it was warm enough to grow it here! Yours is lovely.

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  2. meemsnyc, thanks for leaving a comment. I am glad that you like my cymbidium. I guess, unfortunately in your climate they are "greenhouse only". Indoors they don't do very well with the low humidity.
    Christina

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  3. I am jealous- alstroemeria is not hardy here. Yours is beautiful. Spring is certainly here with your lovely parade of blossoms. I also looked at your pink roses in the previous post. It would be hard to choose a favorite with so many nice ones to choose from.
    P.S. I love the mercury glass ball that sits next to the arrangements on the side table.

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  4. threedogsinagarden, thank you so much for stopping by at my blog and leaving such a nice comment! Too bad, that you can't grow altroemerias in your garden, but you probably can enjoy them bought from the florist if you wish, as they really do make good, relatively long lasting cut flowers.
    I am happy, that you liked my rose blooms in the previous post. More and more roses are starting to bloom in the containers, so this month I should have a nice collection of rose pics to share.
    The mercury glass ball in one of my favorite decorating objects, too!
    Christina

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  5. I love seeing what's happening in your garden! Your post reminded me of several things: I want to try Alstroemeria, I need to plant my gladiolas, check to see if 'Rozanne' is coming back. How nice to see roses already!

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  6. Cathrine, thanks for leaving a comment! How interesting that you are also growing hardy geranium 'Rozanne' in your garden. I have to plant some more gladioli, too. This time it will be a white variety. Here it is really time to get them in the ground...
    Christina

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  7. Oh Christina its looking so nice. I am really loving the green cymbidium orchid. It is really pretty.

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  8. Stephanie, I am glad you stopped by my blog, again. The green cymbidium is also one of my favorite plants right now and it has produced so many flower stalks this year. Very rewarding orchid to grow. Maybe you want to try cymbidiums, too. They should do well for you!
    Christina

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