Sunday, March 28, 2010

Thundercloud

It's 45 degrees. The temperature will slowly rise to the low 60s this afternoon as the storms move in. We've got chances of thunderstorms and rain all evening and night.

In honor of the rain, the Thundercloud Plum has decided to bloom.





This plum tree has purple-red leaves and pink blossoms. It was transplanted in the fall from the perennial bed. It's about a week late in blooming this year. I suppose it could be the cold winter, or maybe the move. In any case, another few days will show it completely in bloom. Only a few scattered branches are showing any color yet.

The Belle of Georgia peach is still blooming away. The blossoms have turned a darker color. The leaves are coming on nicely.



Before work, I'll dig out the Lagerfeld rose in the Neighbor's Corner. I'm giving it to Marty, a customer at the store. She brought me beautyberry starts in the fall and seeds for a blue milkweed, Tweedia caerulea. I've already sown them. Soon, I'll start giving away the brugmansias to people who have asked about them. I also plan to sow the rest of my datura seeds in the new fragrant bed outside the basement door. I need to spread the broken bags of soil that have been sitting in the basement for weeks first.

9:11am - I've spread three bags of topsoil and a bag of pine mulch over the newest bed. For two weeks, I've been spraying the weeds and grass here with RoundUp. I'm sure the wire grass will continue to pop up through the season. It has in all the beds I've created along the retaining wall and basement door. I'll spot treat and pull whenever I see it. Datura, marigolds, and four o'clocks have been sown here.



A splash of rain passed through as I was digging the Lagerfeld for Marty. There was a bit of blue sky a few minutes later. The sun is shining now.



The "dead" Loropetalums are blooming.



The Eastern Redbuds are opening. They're pink. I don't know why they call them redbuds.



The first of 100+ muscari has pushed up a bloom stalk. There was supposed to be a blue stream amongst the daffodils on the front slope. So far, only a handful have pushed through the soil. This one is in the crape myrtle bed.



Peonies at the end of the driveway are up. I transplanted these from Virginia last March. I really hope they bloom a bit better this year. They don't like to be disturbed.



Larkspur by the perennial bed arbor.



It's still 45 degrees. We should start to climb soon. It's going to be a rough afternoon of storms from the looks of the radar.

8 comments:

Darla said...

Blue milkweed? hmmm.

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

Yep. From what I understand, it's a tropical milkweed that can become a vine where frost is minimal, zones 10 and above. In her yard, it's an annual and she sows seeds every year. I hope they germinate soon. I haven't seen anything yet.

eric @ my First Garage said...

Wow, you've got some great colors. My daff's have almost finished their run, but I think I'm much farther south than you (Texas). Our days are sometimes reaching 80° already

Anonymous said...

What kind of muscari do you have? My muscari foliage doesn't look like that?
Sallysmom

D said...

Tom, beautiful photo of your 'Thundercloud' blossoms. Ours has since blossomed and petals have disappeared into the earth... plum colored leaves now.

Should you like more of the muscari... we can send you a bucket of them. ;) they sure do multiply.

Unknown said...

It's amazing how quickly things are starting to "pop" now that spring is really here!

Jimmy said...

I can't believe how tall your larkspur and peonies are.

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

Jim, I would say it's the leaf mulch I used when I built these beds, but they're that size all over the yard. The ground here warms up very quickly in spring and cools down slowly in the winter. Some sites claim I'm an 8a zone. I still claim 7b, especially after the winter we had this year. The soil dries out very fast too, the rocks create very sharp drainage.