I’m just not able to jump back in with a post today… maybe in a few days I can come back.
My sister Cindy and her hubby are coming in tomorrow from PA…
SO….I decided to give you a question to discuss amongst yourselves while I’m away.
What is blooming in your area?
I’ll see you as soon as I can!
Blessings, Jeanne
I live in the greater Seattle area (actually north of Seattle, a town called Mountlake Terrace), and I’ve heard on the news that a lot of the flowering cherries are in bloom at the UW campus. I know there are lots of flowering trees blooming around here, too, as well as our neighbor’s forsythia bush. Up further north, in Skagit Valley, it’s tulip time!
I’m looking forward another month or so, when our lilacs and azalea will be in bloom. I think the Creeping Phlox will bloom about then, or shortly afterwards.
In the meantime, inside my house, the orchid plant that my son and family gave me for Mother’s Day several years ago, is in bloom again! Three flowers so far, with several buds coming! I’m usually one who kills all the house plants I get. Just goes to show, “add 2 ice cubes once a week” is a pretty easy and almost foolproof plant-care guide! LOL (at least, one that *I* can handle!)
I just realized, I meant to say I’m glad to hear that Cindy and her husband are coming, too. Have they decided what is the matter with your mom yet? Prayers continue….
Mud (and more mud) at my house. My husband’s orchids are blooming inside though.
God morning, Jeanne! I’d love to say we have flowers and shrubs galore blooming, but that would be a good April Fool’s joke! However, we do have daffodils in our yard, and lots of things coming up, but as far as blooms, that’s it. Looking around the neighborhood, you see forsythia blooming, and a few, very few, magnolia bushes coming out. It is very hard to have tulips around here, which I used to have, because the squirrels dig them up and apparently find them very tasty!
Yesterday morning, when driving up to church, the magnolia trees around the church were starting to come open. These are the very early ones, that sometimes the frost gets the best of, but so far, they are doing just fine, along with the purple snowdrops, and again, tiny yellow daffodils, a very pretty sight, plus the grass is greening up. I even saw tiny flowers on the pear trees, probably ready to open in a week or so. It’s amazing what can happen in a small amount of time in the spring!
We will be going to the Mo. Botanical to see the magic that happens there every spring soon! That is something I cannot miss!
Good luck in the following days in decisions you have to make regarding your momma. She has the best caretakers she could ever wish for, and prayers continue for all of you!
I’m glad Cindy is joining you. This may not be your happiest time, but if you are all there, it will be ok. I hope your mom is all right and it would be nice to think that her memory might recover enough to recognize her own furniture. I hope she’s happy to see her girls together. Whatever was happening with my parents, there were always good moments. Susan and I were having lunch at the hospital while my brother sat with Mom, when I realized the cafeteria had just started serving hot roast beef sandwiches. I told Susan that I’d clear our table and pay if she’d go back for a hot sandwich since Dad was on the way and might eat some of his favorite foods. He insisted on eating the low-fat diet my mom was on, and he hated the food and was losing weight. We got upstairs just as he arrived and he inhaled the sandwich along with coffee and milk and juice — as much food as he normally ate in two days. He was so glad to see and eat what he preferred, and we just watched him do it. The good moments matter. I hope you’ll have several to remember from these days.
What’s blooming? There are tiny blue flowers with white centers that are the first ones to bloom and get snowed on every spring. The daffodils will start any day now if they don’t get frozen. The iris are about 3 inches tall. Spring has a ways to go here, but it will be beautiful — it always is. The grass is turning green here so I’ll bet your yard is starting to look wonderful, as it always does. That will help.
Wonderful story about your dad. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Marilyn,
The flowers you mean are chionodoxa glory of the snow.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/glory-of-the-snow/glory-of-the-snow-bulbs.htm
We have a whole patch of them and I agree, they are so pretty. My favorite flower color is blue so I love them.
Those are so beautiful! I can see how they get their name!
Good morning everyone,
Well wishes for you Jeanne and your sweet family. Continued prayers for your Mom. I pray the upcoming days bring answers and good news. Enjoy your time with Cindy and her hubby.
What’s blooming in Western New York? Well not much yet… we woke to 3 inches of snow Sunday morning. Luckily it mostly melted from the black top drive and sidewalk. Saturday was a lovely sun shiny day and I spotted some snow drops from the kitchen window. Normally by now the crocus’s are blooming but I think something (probably the chipmunks) found them. That’s about all that’s blooming at my house right now. I love hearing from you all that spring is definitely on it’s way. Makes me happy to think flowers will soon be here too!
Glad you have family there already or arriving and also hope that your mom is better today. Don’t forget about taking a moment for yourself in the midst of it all. Stay strong.
On this special April Fool’s Day, our daffodil’s are about done blooming. The heavy rain didn’t help them at all. The apricot and peach trees have been blooming throughout the storms. Poor things. We’ve had forsythia, quince, and just about every shrub in bloom. The only orchid left from my mother has a large spray about to bloom. It resides outside on the deck all year long. I haven’t seen it bloom in years. Perhaps it likes cold CA winters and flooding rain. And none of the above is a joke at all.
Patiently awaiting your return. 🙂
I live in Southern California, about ten miles back from the beach. I have about two dozen orchid plants, most of which are children of the first orchid which I was given by a friend about 25 years ago. They now are in bloom on the small fenced-in back patio. I understand the climate in this narrow strip of land is exactly like that of Thailand where the largest orchid farms in the world are located. There are 10 climatic zones from the ocean to the mountains which are 70 miles inland! There are also white fruitless trees in full bloom outside the gate and two large night-blooming Jasmine plants inside on each side of the back gate that spill over the fence. The buds are red but the flowers are white when fully opened up. The three Japanese maple trees are in bloom also, their buds being red against the lovely foliage.
I love hearing about other followers gardens, dolls and information they share and seeing the pictures they send for Jeanne to share. Thanks, Jeanne, for this idea for sharing.
Loved your plant descriptions. Think you should add orchid propagator to your resume. 🙂 I have had no success with them at all. 🙁
Night Blooming Jasmine. Oh I wish I could smell that. I have the fragrance from Bath and Body works and it’s one of my favorites. I’ve never heard of growing it here in Texas. I don’t know what the parameters are for growing it. Think I’ll look that up.
I set my first orchid out on the patio after it bloomed because the leaves were still nice and green. We had an enormous amount of rain that year, an El Nino year. I had not paid any attention to it, but I was sitting on the sofa a year later and looked up to see 3′ bloom spikes. Amazing plants. Where I live they are outdoor plants in containers. Barbara, mail order a Jasmine plant if you can’t find one at Home Depot or elsewhere. Actually mine blooms all day and everything is in bloom here. You’re right to look it up first, though, as some plants don’t do well in Texas heat such as the Japanese maples.
Our entire back yard needed to be landscaped as the previous owner didn’t have that completed in the short time they lived here. So we started on that. I don’t know all the names of some of the plants, trees and succulents but yesterday we planted 3 Jasmine’s and two Magnolia’s.
We enjoy the sweet fragrants of those. We also had two smaller palm trees put in and several blue and purple flowers dotting the various spaces in the gardens.
Some of the landscape plants are recovering from the shock of being re-planted. Next time we come back in the fall, hopefully we’ll see how the plants have grown.
Glad Cindy is coming. Enjoy your visit with her. Hope your Mom is feeling better.
I hope things are improved with your mom. As to what is blooming in north central Ohio? The glory of the snow as well as the crocus. The last of the snowdrops are hanging on and the scillas, tulips and daffodils are pushing up their green leaves, but no flowers yet. I have to check on the grape hyacinths as they are tucks under the lilac bush and things have been rather wet.
The pussy willows have all the fussy catkins on them. I just love those! I bought a couple of bunches of pussy willows at Kroger. They had bunches with perfectly straight stems. Our pussy willow are old and I didn’t want to cut them. I have the bought ones in a floor vase and they are lovely. They will dry perfectly and I can have them for years. You just blow dust off of them with compressed air.
Oh, I forgot the pansies. How could I forget them? I went to the garden store last week and bought a flat of them. They even had a couple of the frilled varieties. Pansies are so lovely with their cheerful little faces and come in the huge variety of colors like iris.
I love pansies. They are a winter flower here in Texas but were definitely a spring flower when I was growing up in PA. Here you have to plant them every year, but we had tons of them when I was growing up and my parents did not plant them every year. I love Pussy Willows. When I was in fourth grade I had a dress with pussy willows on it. It was my favorite dress.
Hi Barbara,
Yes, we have to plant pansies anew every year as well. I do have a black viola that is a perennial and I’m always delighted when it makes it’s appearance each year in the pathways, garden beds and grass. I also have a lot of wild violets that come up all over, love those. They are the old-fashioned purple, white and white with purple lines in the throat. I also have a violet I bought called “Freckles”. I’ve had it for over a decade and it does seed everywhere, but that’s great since it blooms before most things are out.
http://www.perennials.com/plants/viola-sororia-freckles.html
Your pussy willow dress sounds beautiful. I’ve never seen fabric with them on it.
You make me want to run out and buy some Pansies! :0)
Oh I love pansies! We do have pansies here too, but not in the yard—-yet! I hope to get a few out for Easter, but yes, they are pretty hardy and are usually harbingers of spring! I too love their cute little “faces”!
Pussy willows, are around, but I got mine at Pier One! They sit in a large vase on the floor with some yellow forsythia from—-Michael’s! So you see, no real Pussy Willows around here to cut off, and my last forsythia bush died several years ago.
Around here the grass and weeds are growing profusely and I will have to mow again in a couple days, but as for blooming things, my Creeping Phlox is blooming wonderfully. Around here it blooms at the end of winter and ceases blooming once it begins to get too warm. My roses are blooming and my azaleas are starting to bloom. I need to change their location because I don’t think they get enough sun. Everyone else’s are blooming beyond imagination. Some people have huge bushes of them and they are absolutely gorgeous.
Oh, I totally forgot. The amazing Texas wildflowers are in full bloom. We had such a wet winter that the Bluebonnets are profuse. A few years ago when we had little rain in the winter there were hardly any Bluebonnets and very few other wildflowers. I felt sorry for the people who travel here from all over to see the Texas wildflowers. They are a sight to behold. When I was on my way to Chorale rehearsal the other night I passed a field full of Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush and a few other flowers. The field was totally blanketed. Beautiful!
Oh after this forever winter we barely have the ground thawed so no flowers in Nebraska. Just lots of mud and yuck from flood waters. My niece gave me a cute little miniature rose for Christmas and it is in a south window and has a bud on it so that’s all we have for anything pretty.
Hope your sis and you will help your Mom thru her issues. She is so lucky to have you !
Hugs,
Blessings to you Jeanne and your whole family. I am in Missouri and we have a White Star Magnolia in bloom and a Pink Saucer Magnolia in bloom too. The Red Magnolia that blooms three times each year is just starting to open up. We also have a lot of Forsythia’s in bloom, and Daffodils up and tulips and some tiny little blue flowers that I dug up from our lake house and planted up here and they look like tiny teeny little grapes in a cluster. Not sure what they are but they bloom the fastest kinda like the Crocus do. Still chilly at night but Spring can’t be too far off, I hope! Loads of Love and Warm Hugs!