Those are some pretty blooms you have. I love your plum tree. It looks alot like one of cherry trees. I do love camellias too. SOOOOOOOOO PRETTY!!!!! BRING ON SPRING!!!!!

Absolutely GORGEOUS, Boxofrox. Wow, Thundercloud Plum is the most gorgeous plum and reminds me of cherry blossoms as well. Stunning as the prettiest Japanese painting (and the photograph as well is the same caliber of artistry). Thanks to this photo of Thundercloud Plum, I have an excuse to stalk to my heart's content, LOL! Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo! I've been waiting for the Camelias too. Hurray, I will have to tell Jim1961 to take a look at the cold spring Camelias. You mentioned that there is also another breakthrough plant as well, but my fuzzy brain can't remember which one it was that you mentioned (the one growing with the glass marbles...) that you were going to set up.

Well hey KG, I was just thinking of you :-)

I must apologize for those pictures. The forced bulbs were paperwhites (fragrant daffodills) but they got ahead of me and got so leggy and bloomed way before Christmas. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. I found out later that you either have to give them a straight shot of booze to stunt their growth or buy a more dwarf variety.

I have two other camellias that just didn't co-operate this year or I'd have more pics.

LOL, I have to do a more graceful ceremonial Japanese Tea Dance for the gorgeous plum blossoms instead of my usual Dosey-doe kooky happy Stalker dance hahaha!

LOL! a straight shot of booze, how about spiked rum Christmas fruitcake for the Daffodils to keep the daffodils quiet and sedate, LOL! I emailed Jim right away about you coming back to our Gallery, but he is literally swamped getting sump pumps ready for the Spring flooding tonight. But I'm sure he'll be back as soon as the flood weather warnings abate and will be joining the flock of admirers!

But I'm sure the rest of us are also thinking what? the camelias all seem to be cooperating to the MAX! Liberty Bell, Marie Bracie and Grandiflora all look amazing.Grandiflora I almost mistook for a beautiful striped rose myself, LOL, when I first saw it without looking at the label.

Goldheart is also a joy to see--I do remember you mentioning them way back as being one of your earliest bloomers.

Good to see you posting Boro and Serena!!! Spring is a comin

Yes, Spring is coming fast! Looks like boxofrox has the camera ready for another season. Great shots of your flowers!

Boxofrox, today I mentioned my rose-stealing ways about your Livin' Easy in another thread, insisting that it's a rose that Jim should get too, LOL! I keep saying that it's so beautiful and healthy in your garden...Sue loves only certain colors, and Livin' Easy is that winning color! I about wore out Jim the entire winter, blabbing about your Livin' Easy too. Our gardens are no spray, and so selection gets very obsessive when we worry about which roses to get.

Zyperiris the race is on for who gets to see the first bumblebee, who gets to see the first honeybee, LOL! for us zoners who get real snow, whoo-hoo, not just the first rose bloom, I say the first bee! I am thinking Boxofrox will win! He's got the most versatile of gardens, not just roses, so I'm thinking he will be the first. Any baby woodpeckers, Zyperiris, any woodchucks peeking out yet? The red-tailed hawks are already doing their mating dance starting last week. Hawks never normally circle, so that is how I can tell. They are getting fewer and fewer now that Kansas City is tearing up all the land and highways.

I am getting Astilbes to hopefully attract the bees in my shady, wet soil lot. I went crazy with my order of astilbes, LOL! since it's so hard to grow anything in that soil. So far only the lavenders do ok there.

That plum is gorgeous! And I love the camellias. The striped one looks like my MERRY CHRISTMAS one that I missed getting pics of due to the rain. And I love the bleeding hearts!! Just beautiful! Mine haven't come up yet. Thanks for sharing the early-spring beauties!

My pleasure Beth :-)

I've got some cherries and crabapples that should be in full bloom next week and then all my azaleas, kalmias, and rhodos get started.

wow, Lucky you to have some blooms this early,I have n othing blooming yet.But the roses are putting out leaves, at least some of them are,and daylilies are looking oretty and green.Love them Bleeding Hearts.Very pretty.

Jean

Oh how beautiful! It makes me want to run out and get a plum tree to replace the dogwood that got knocked down during Snowpacalypse.

Roses and perennials are leafing out and more blooms popping everyday. This is SnowFountain cherry with my wall of 'Easy' behind it and spiraea etc in front.

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Camellias.......

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I love your "rose" camelia! and whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo for your fabulous Snowfountain Cherry! It's like a willow but with a cascade of blooms instead of leaves. Amazing! The closeup of the cherry blooms are stunning like your Plum blossoms. Wow, I wish I could smell those blossoms on my computer right this verrrrry moment! Must be like heaven!

We have Robins, and a Bluejays..Stellar Jays they are called..a few squirrels..flickers...nothing real cool..lots of hummingbirds..we kept the feeders out all winter..We have moles...

Them blossoms is purdy but nothing like the whiff of the daphne and osmanthus that is blooming right now. There are 3 different kinds of daphne, edgeworthia which is a daphne cousin, and several of the osmanthus which smells like an exotic honey :-)

I could live in your Thundercloud Plum tree and be very happy for the rest of my life. It's so nice to have you return to the gallery, Boxofrox.

Juliet

Why thank you Juliet, that's just about the nicest thing anyone's said to me all day :-)

Oh what a beautiful touch of spring----we are just starting to see daffys here in the northeast--

You cheered me up with these gorgeous pictures---

Florence

Wow!!! Heavenly!!!

Carol

Just re-stalking and re-visiting Boxofrox, tee-hee! and waiting for the bees to see if you are the first one to get a bee photo...

Zyperiris, in the late fall, I got a blue jay haunting my Linden tree, hurray. Just a few days ago, I was puzzling with Jim as to my two flowering Linden trees in the backyard. They have tiny trumpet flowers that have a very heavy honeysuckle scent. I would think that hummingbirds and bees would like it and that very day I looked it up on Google. And whaddya know it's supposed to be extremely attractive to the bees, and what do I get???? A big fat zero. Only the tiny wasps and itsy-bitsy native bees go there. Grrrrrrr. Zyperiris I hope the moles aren't bothering you too much. They're great for "aerating" the soil but most people want to do the whack-a-mole, LOL! But I have a hunch that if you have moles, you may never get a problem with JBs, because I'm sure that the moles would feast on JB grubs, I'm pretty sure, lol! I am probably the only person on earth who think that they are "cute" with such soft velvety fur. I'm sure everyone would love to send me their moles. I'm sure I'd keep my mouth shut then, LOL! Hopefully you'll get to see your pileated woodpeckers with their youngsters.

Ooooo-ooo, I want to see the Daphnes, Boxofrox! I used to think daphnes were yellow, mixing them up with daffodils and narcissus but when I googled, I was wayyyyy off-base. LOL! By the way there is actually a kind of narcissus which are also called paperwhites... I am intrigued....

KG,

This being an El Nino, the PNW is much warmer than normal and I had sarcococa and daphne blooming in January that were absolutely covered in bees. Right now I have daphne transatlantica 'Summer Ice', daphne odora aureomarginata, and daphne rollsdorfii 'Wilhelm Schacht' along with edgeworthia chrysantha 'Gold Rush' all in bloom along with the osmanthus burkwoodii I mentioned earlier. Very fragrant stuff and lots of bees. I'll see if I can get a bee or two to grace my lens. Daphne flowers are so small though that Google would probably have better pics :-)

Wow, bees in JANUARY!!! That is so cool! Well, just like a Summa Cum Laude landscape artist (ranks above Magna Cum Laude), you always have everything so wonderfully planned that your garden is always graced with blooming beauty. Ideal as your climate is, so few can keep it looking so gorgeous during the winter months. Even your winters are filled with berries and keep the birds happy.

I just finished playing with Eluane in the snow but have to go back outside. She is throwing fits like you wouldn't believe!!!!! I could only stay outside for about 10 minutes at a stretch because it's too icy and blowing snow outta the wazoo!!!! Eluane is thrashing on the carpet right now. It started with this morning. I was supposed to bring her to "puppy school" or the packed dirt agility run, but I broke my promise. She knows that there is a traveling crate still packed in my car. But the packed run agility event got canceled because of the snow which keeps getting worse and worse and the roses were completely covered from head to base with sprouting red healthy buds. Well, that's Kansas for you. Crazy fluctations in weather, it was just 63 degrees and then heavy snow 5 hours later. But at least the last 3 years our snow would only last one or two days and we only got snow about 3x a year, nothing at all like this!!!!

P.S. on Henrik's Secret Place garden, he had a second lovely photo of several roses in his former garden. It had Abraham D'Arby, which reminded me to ask about my absolute favorite rose of yours Abraham D'Arby. I was predicting that your garden would be the first one with the bees and indeed it is!!! Well, I am thinking that your first rose will be Abraham D'Arby as well, because it lasted the longest into the fall. I really miss your Abraham D'Arby. Hot Cocoa is my second favorite and the third your Sunset Celebration, but everyone else's (the big garden growers)will be very excited about your Pretty Jessica, Dark Lady, L.D. Braithwaite all the dramatic big blooms coming soon, soon, soon, we all hope! and we are all waiting for year 2010 Momma's Bouquet! whoo-hoo!

I'm thinking I'm still a ways away from blooms although I finally am getting some buds. So here's some more new spring stuff.

This is the start of my aubrieta 'Rokey's Purple' which will eventually be all purple no green when it's done.......

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First 2010 Tulip

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First rhododendron, the bluish 'St Broward'

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Flowering crabapple 'Sentinel'

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Cascading cotoneaster.............

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whoo-hoo, wha-ha, yeeeah! I am soooo ready to start rose-stalking Abraham D'Arby! Hurrrray!!! buds and more buds starting up! And the great thing is that D'Arby does a fantastic job of going from bud to bloom, one after the other, unlike my other Abraham Lincoln counterpart opposite-end-of-the-spectrum (way too laid back and slow for crazies-for-the-rosies like me, LOL).

haha, I love it, more purple and no more green the way Rocky is rockin' with that purple!

Birds will be going as wacky as me over your Cotoneaster!

I love the crabapple and tulip shot too.

Stalking, stalking, stalking AD, I can't wait, tee-hee!

Serena, We don't have JB's here..I am ignoring the moles so far. No new damage of late..so perhaps they have moved back behind my house in the forest. I am trying not to kill anything

Here's a few more shots whilst I'm still awaiting roses. This is Tom Knudsen camellia in a shade bed....

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Sentinel crabapple

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St Broward rhodo

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Front leafing out

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Absolutely GORGEOUS, Boxofrox! The front view is absolutely heavenly! I love how the Rocky Purple cascades over the retaining wall and the layering of the shrubs on each stone division. The trees are perfectly nestled.

Sigh! I am having quite a time with my unhappy neighbor, LOL! He and his wife are verrrrry nice and they are trying so hard to be tactful, lol in their hints. My lawn runs into his, poor neighbors! but my tree is getting in the way. It badly needs to be pruned back and bordered, but I have no money left! How I wish I could do something about my tree. The roots are also popping up and killing the grass around it and what I need to do is have a huge circle of retaining wall to keep it in and hide the ugliness. My neighbor needs someone like you! Your trees are beautifully bordered! And they have the loveliest blossoms! Mine is a Linden tree, just a mass of itsy bitsy trumpet flowers and that's about it, not at all like your gorgeous flowering plum and crabapple. When I bought my house I had no idea of the huge issues my trees would create for both me and my neighbor. Those roots are even invading several yards away into my patio.

It's so cool to see the entire rhododendrun St. Brorad. I love this version of rhododendrun in which you get the narrow leaves. I got this version but the flowers will be a different sort of flower, much smaller and pink. I love yours! Mine hasn't bloomed yet. I bought it when it was past the blooming stage. I just love how big the flowers on your rhododendrun are; they are much more dramatic than mine will be.

Did you ever decide to order miniature roses to border your fountain? I remember you were once contemplating this.

My Dad would love your red camelias! He loves that type of shade and this shape of flowers and I will show him yours tonight. I will be very excited to see the full bush shot of your Grandiflora "rose" camelia! That is my personal favorite (smiley face). I love striped flowers like your camelias and Henrik's tulips! Strange that I still haven't gotten a striped rose yet! I keep forgetting to do this! Maybe for 2011 perhaps!

Boxofrox,

That 'Rokey's Purple' of yours is awesome! Snap a pic when it's all purple, would love to see that!
I see your larger trees in the front are leafing out.
Keep the great pics coming!

Jim,

It's not quite there yet but we're headed for Palm Springs so here's a few shots before we go. By the time we get back, it should be full tilt boogie :-)

KG, I gave up on the minis and the fountain for this year, with this economy my budget is zero :-( Plus I lost two full pathways of groundcover from a December freeze.

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Awesome shots, Boxo! Hey, before you go on your vacation, I have to ask you something regarding another wonderful rose forum in England. I mentioned your name in that Forum and how spectacular and gorgeous your landscaping is and how inspiring. I even mentioned the very special touches in your garden with the copper decorations. Another gardener is doing some landscaping for his garden, and I just had to mention your name...

I will PM about the details. They would love to be able to see a top-notch American garden! However, my computer is seriously botched up, I can't even open Outlook and get your original emails and address so I have to go through webmail and Gardenweb in order to email. Look for the animate@galileomediaservices.com, in case it gets stuck in your Spam folder...

Boxo, actually Jim and I have been keeping good wishes for you that your business will recover and rebound! I am just happy to hear that Palm Springs will give you that chance to take a break and to be refreshed anew! And it's just 2 more days until Easter! That is one thing we can really celebrate!

Thanks KG, just wasting time with these shots till the roses start. I love this time of year. All my acid lovers start sequencing. First the camellias, then the rhodies and azaleas. The rhodies bloom in order, not all at once. That blue one is first and the next one is named 'Elsie Watson' and is just starting and should be in full bloom when we get back........

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We are really looking forward to PS. A huge storm blew in here last night and it's 86 there, great timing, eh? I'll take some more shots of the flora down there and share when we get back.

You have a great Easter too KG, here's a sunshine bouquet from last year to honor the occasion :-)

Wow! I love that purple! LOL . Great photos Boxofrox, i'll be looking for more when you get back ;-)

Just gorgeous Boxo, your Elsie Watson is the same type of rhododendron that I have, rather than the purple St. Broward's rhododendron. I like your Elsie much better than mine. Mine had your gorgeous color in the bud formation but once it opened it was very pale in color. But it was still charming and lively at least! When you get back I'll have post my photo in a KG Pre-Lumpy Garden thread.

Funny 'Rokey's' story.....we are coming home from the airport and I am giving directions to the Indian born taxi driver when we round the corner and the purple pops out from a block away. He says something I can't understand which ends up being something like where are you from the place with the pretty purple flowers ;-)