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Has Spring arrived?

17 years ago

Some of my plants believe it has.

Returned late Thursday from a 2 week trip to the GA coast and after the rain ended, just had to check on the garden.

Found my locally native Trout lilys (E. umbilicatum) was up and blooming. Many Trillium cuneatum (little sweet Betsy) are in full foliage, but no blooms yet.

Of course, there are a number of non-natives in bloom. They haven't become accustomed to our weird seasons.

Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star', M. x loebneri 'Merrill' and Rhodie x 'PJM' are in full bloom, as are most of the Helleborus, some Daffodils, Crocus, Iris retics, the winter blooming Cyclamen species and all of the Daphne odoras. One bloom found on Ranunculus ficaria, One of my Asian Arisaemas (Cobra lily) is now a foot tall.

Even found some leaf buds beginning to open on an Oakleaf Hydrangea and some ready to open on a H. macrophylla. The Camellias still look decent, so the temperatures must have treated them kindly during our absence.

The early blooming, native Florida Azalea (R. austrinum) have large swollen buds that will likely open next week. Magnolia x soulangiana (Saucer) will probably join them, as a few are already showing color.

Many blooms will probably not survive the cold temperatures (mid-20's) predicted for early next week.

Maybe I can enjoy them for one more day!

Rb

Comments (14)

  • 17 years ago

    I was out looking around yesterday. Yes the trout lilies are blooming - some actively, some just sending up fat buds so far. Hepatica is also blooming, and just starting, a patch of Houstonia (Bluets). One of Fly Poison (Amianthium muscitoxicum) plants has emerged. Here the trilliums are only visible if I pull away the leaves to look for them. I think my yard is in a colder area than yours.

    Buds are swelling on Buckeyes (the red ones, one of my favorite shrubs) and Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). Sweetshrubs, on the other hand, continue to look almost dead - they are late to show signs of life usually. A pair of chokeberries (formerly Aronia) that I planted last fall already show leaves and bloom buds ... hope they don't get zapped ... but they made it through the last round of below freezing temps. The blueberries that I bought last spring also seem more advanced than the ones I've had for 4 years.

    Daphne and daffodils are blooming like crazy right now - full show. The daphne lost about 1/3 of its leaves in the 10 degree episode, but the bloom buds survived to carry on.

    For now, rain, rain, rain. And the big question, will it snow?

  • 17 years ago

    We are getting snow here in Middle GA...hope this "wintry mix" (BTW, I'm starting to think that would be a great name for a band...) doesn't adversely affect your early bloomers!

  • 17 years ago

    Over 2 inches on the ground and coming down heavy right now on the mountain at Warm Springs. A beautiful sight but not what I want on March 1st.

  • 17 years ago

    I am a new, relatively inexperienced and probably bad gardener...and I'm so nervous about this snow! Will my day lilies that have started to sprout be okay? What about hydrangeas that have buds?

  • 17 years ago

    Your daylilies and hydrangeas should be fine. Back in 1993, we got 12 inches of snow! Everything lived, but some things had to sprout again.

  • 17 years ago

    several inches of snow here, enough for a big snowman!

    Everything looks beautiful, i took some pics of the garden in the snow -- a huge camellia covered in both snow and flowers.

    I made a "tent" out of pine straw bales and a big furniture blanket to protect the new plants i bought last week, i hope they make it.

    Gosh, 12 inches of snow, that must be a record for GA!

    Its supposed to be in the high 60s-70s next weekend...

  • 17 years ago

    I am at least glad that it is doing this NOW...maybe it means there won't be any more this year.

  • 17 years ago

    Did anyone get any damage to their plants? A couple of my wax myrtles had some branches that broke under the weight of the snow. I went out yesterday evening and shook the snow off all of the weighed-down shrubs, but too late for those. My Anise (Illicim parviflorum and floridanum) look rather unhappy, they were flattened almost to the ground and haven't perked up much since i shook the snow off.
    Daffodil flowers are all done!

    I hope no-one had any serious damage.

  • 17 years ago

    We got hardly any snow and our county schools are not even closed today.

    Illicium is my "weather detector" plant - if they are not in sun especially, they will droop in temps below 32 degrees. Once the temp rises above 32, they are back to normal. As of this moment, my I. parviflorum and I. floridanums in sun are fine, but the I. floridanum is shade is still droopy.

  • 17 years ago

    Spring is getting closer and closer. Will be 74 tomorrow! It does not mean we are out of the woods yet, though "green stuff" is getting bigger and richer. Every day there is something new poking thru the soil, and I feel like a kid discovering a new treat.
    Daffs are gorgeous, hyacinths, crocuses, freshness, birds, - I love it all! Possibility and promise of spring is in everything.
    Of course there is also a possibility of hard frost till April 15th (like last year). Being an optimist as I am, I choose to enjoy this moment.

  • 17 years ago

    Here in Central GA it is supposed to be 85...EIGHTY FIVE???...by the middle of the week! Crazy! Of course, it will drop down again when the rain comes at the end of the week, but...EIGHTY FIVE??? Wow. Planted some of that butterfly blue scabiosa this weekend, as well as five, dwarf variegated gardenia. Holding off a couple more weeks on the tomatoes though...just in case.

  • 17 years ago

    Spring has arrived at my house! I was out taking pictures of the tiny trout lilies today. I noticed that while the vast majority of them have vibrant purple stamens, I have one that has brown ones!

    {{gwi:561640}}

  • 17 years ago

    Two ways I know it's spring:

    My nanking cherries look like this:

    I see something like this on my southern window's ledge:

  • 17 years ago

    I have moved some tender plants outside, but not too far from the doorway! Forecast for next week indicates near freezing temperatures at night, during mid-week.

    Browsing the NOAA/NWS/CPC site revealed s forecast of below normal rainfall during the next 3 months, for the southern tier of states. So, what else is new!
    Rb

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