MARCH toward Spring

"Daffodils,

That come before the swallow dares, and take

The winds of March with beauty."

- William Shakespeare

Last Fall I planted a hundred more daffodils to add to my existing ones and they bloomed beautifully this sunny, rather warm March.  

Last August I planted the PJM rhododendron ( above ) and it rewarded me with this display of lovely lavendar blossoms.  Rhododendrons are difficult to grow in the sunny South and do not like our heat and humidity.  I had the PJM in my Chicago garden and it survived some very cold temperatures so I'm hoping that it will also be able to take the heat.

The Edgeworthia bloomed early this year due to the unusually warm Spring we're having.  I love to sit on the bench and smell it's fragrance.

This is the first year that my evergreen Clematis 'armandii' has bloomed.  It has a wonderful fragrance as well and I like the fact that it is an aggressive spreader as I planted it in front of an unsightly chain-link fence that I want to block out.

And, still blooming since January is the formidable outstanding Hellebores which I am planting through-out my woodland garden.  This has to be the longest blooming Spring perennial of all time.

With few exceptions March has been a very busy one in the garden.

   

FRIVILOUS FEBRUARY-Let the Gardening Begin

"Late February days; and now, at last,
Might you have thought that
Winter's woe was past;
So fair the sky was and so soft the air."
-  William Morris

 Yes, Margaret, there is life in the garden in February -here in the Piedmont of North Carolina.  This February was a mixture of warm one week, cold the next but fortunately without extremely cold winter storms. Of course my granddaughter and many her age would love to see a great big snow storm.

In the vegetable garden I have hearty bok choy, spinach, cabbage and kale growing.  Below are my herb beds located next to the chicken coop so I can pluck some oregano and give to the chickens as a treat.  It's an antibiotic as well.  

Since Janurary I've enjoyed seeing the Hellebores and their cheerful blooms lining my driveway garden bed.

I've been very watchful of the deer and I spray all my new plants but I didn't get to  my 6 new camellias in time and they were nibbled.  I've since covered them with deer netting and they seem to be recovering .

My five girls have continued to lay eggs but not as often as before the cold set in.  Here's the "chicken whisperer " Lea getting their undivided attention with a treat. Star, the last chicken on the left was a rescue from last year.  I found her half dead in a dog's mouth and made him drop her.  I brought her home and nursed her back to health and she is now the biggest chicken in the flock, lays the biggest eggs and eats the biggest meals.  It took one month before the other chickens would accept her into the flock.  I swear chickens are more selective in whom they allow in their social circle than humans are !

Farewell February.  March come right in.  One month closer to Spring !