Burgundy

So it's not the color of passion, but it appears in various plants around the yard, usually in the form of foliage. There's also purple and pink.

Veronica spicata "Red Fox" with perilla.



Purple heart (or purple queen).



Etoile Violette clematis on the perennial bed arbor.



More bloody dock.



Thundercloud Plum.



Castor Bean.



Agastache "Golden Jubilee" and Perilla.



A sea of self sown Amaranthus and Crabgrass. Pink bee balm will bloom later in the summer.



Camellia sasanqua. This was the large pink flowering camellia that I cut down in the summer of 2008 to provide the backyard with more sunlight. It was probably 20' tall.



It's 63 degrees. The high today will reach the low 80s. No rain, plenty of sun.

Spring Eve.

One more day til Spring is officially here and the peach tree is starting to bloom.





The white daffs in my own garden are standing tall too.



My camellia.



Dame's Rocket, wintersown in December 2008, is sending up flower stalks.



Even She Who Will Not Walk On Grass made it outside yesterday.



And would you take a look at this forecast. Just incredible. No freezing temperatures for at least the next 10 days.



It's 43 degrees and clear.

Forgotten Camellia

Just beyond the top of the dead oak tree, there's a clump of shrubs that used to be part of the gardens here. They were likely planted years ago by Mrs. Russell, before the trees reclaimed the area. There's a stand of quince that bloomed even in heavy shade. I moved some of these to the yard two years ago, although mine haven't bloomed yet and seem unlikely to do so this year.

Surrounded by orange ditch lilies, crocus foliage, and mahonia, there's a single camellia. The blooms are the same as those on the shrub in the yard. I wonder if she took cuttings and propagated this one herself. I wandered out back yesterday to get a closeup. This spring, once there's new growth, I plan to take cuttings from this shrub myself. I'm thinking of planting a few along the back yard. Azaleas, abelia, and other blooming shrubs will be added when the time is right. I've already started propagating the spireas.







It's St. Patrick's Day. Wear something green. It's 36 degrees this morning. No frost. The forecast calls for 65 today.

9:33am - Spent the last hour "propagating" things. I've pruned some hardwood sticks and shoved them in the ground where I want them to grow. If it works, I'll have a backyard full of spring and summer blooms. If not, I've lost only an hour of time, outside, with a cup of coffee. I stuck Sweet Shrub, camellias, mock orange, forsythia, spireas, vitex, Korean lilac, weigela, althea, pussywillow, and crape myrtles. I think that's all.

New growth, new blooms, new foliage:

My fragrant, unknown spirea is starting to bloom.



The Korean lilac is leafing out.



Peonies.



My "dead" loropetalum isn't quite dead yet. Nell Jean was right.



Stuck cuttings of forsythia and mock orange. I may be too late for these to root, but the very wet soil should help.





Peach blossoms will be here by the weekend. The plums are smart, they're waiting.



New growth on the Oakleaf Hydrangea that I've tortured since finding it in the backyard in the summer of 2007.



Red Pussywillow is blooming.



And lookie here, my tulips are going to actually bloom this year. A testament to the cold winter we had. Only two out of the 40 bulbs I planted in the fall of 2007, but hey, that's two more than I had last year.



It's been a good morning already. I'm off to shower and work in a few.

Things are going to pop.

Violets. The weeds I've learned to live with.



Camellia blooms.



Wintersown seedlings ready to be planted out.





Fancy daffodils. I planted the Eucalyptus last fall.



Tulip foliage. Will they bloom? Planted in the fall of 2007.



Ancient tulip foliage.



New growth on the unknown shrub, possibly cornus mas, probably not.



Lilies?



It's exciting to see these things return or grow. Thunderstorms and heavy rain passed through last night. It's 52 degrees. The high today might reach 70. There's fog this morning. The clouds have rolled out.

Second cup of coffee stroll:

Across the street, forsythia is starting to bloom. My own, rooted last spring, are putting out new leaves, no blooms.



New daffs in the perennial bed.



Daffs on the front slope. 200 went in this winter.



The Belle of Georgia peach is coming to life.

I felt like I had to.

It reached 52 today. Standing outside in longsleeves, jeans, and a hat, it didn't feel like it. It's still cold to me. That didn't stop me from feeling like I just had to do something outside today.

So I moved all the big pieces of wood to the end of the driveway where they'll reside over the summer, no doubt collecting all sorts of critters and vermin. I brought the smaller pieces inside and split some as well. The next few weeks, I'll use it up overnight hopefully ending up with none by the time the weather finally warms.



All of my unsprouted 2-liters went into the garden bed that's not currently being used. They'll get more sunlight here, especially in the morning. I hope to see some activity in these soon.



The camellia that just won't quit. On the sunny side, all the blooms are brown and mushy. In the shade, they're huge. This one is nearly 4" across.



More color. Finally.



It wasn't much, but it did feel like I accomplished something. And I have my driveway back. One day next week, I plan to start a new bed. I'm going to need the planting space.

Foliage

Nell's right, I have plenty of foliage. Some of the more interesting ones in my yard include:

Nandinas



Dusty Miller and Heuchera



Miscanthus Cosmopolitan



A hardy fern



The old camellia that has sort of forgiven me



Daffodils (with blooms ready to break)



It's 39 and windy. It's still cold out even in the sun. Thursday may be nice at 50 degrees.